Land of 10 Thousand Lakes and 20 Million Turkeys

From USDA:

Posted by Dan Lofthus, Minnesota State Statistician, National Agricultural Statistics Service, on January 15, 2015 at 2:00 PM

Minnesota may have 10,000 lakes, but it has a lot more turkeys! Check back next Thursday for another state spotlight drawn from the 2012 Census of Agriculture!

As we’re bracing for another arctic winter blast here in Minnesota, it is the perfect time for me to get indoors and introduce you to our state’s agriculture with the help of the results from the most recent Census of Agriculture.

While, according to the Census Bureau, less than 1 percent of our state’s population are involved in agriculture, our state ranks fifth in the United States for the value of agricultural products sold. In 2012, Minnesota farmers sold nearly $21.3 billion worth of products.

Just as with other Midwestern states, our top agricultural products are corn and soybeans. Our growers planted more than 8.3 million acres to corn for grain and more than 7 million acres to soybeans in 2012.  Looking at a more unique crop, our growers lead the nation in sugarbeet production in 2012. That year they harvested more than 12.3 million tons of that crop.

Crops may be the larger portion of our agriculture, but Minnesota livestock sector is not too shabby either. In 2012, our livestock producers sold more than $7.4 billion worth of livestock, poultry and their products, such as eggs and milk. We are especially proud of our turkey industry. You may not know this, but Minnesota is the #1 producer of turkeys in the United States. The latest Census of Agriculture counted nearly 19.5 million birds on our state’s farms.

Our farmers take many steps to make sure Minnesota residents have access to fresh locally-grown food. In 2012, there were 4,213 farms in our state selling products directly to individuals. In addition, 305 farms in Minnesota participated in Community Supported Agriculture programs, bridging the relationship between farmers and consumers. To meet consumer demand for organic products, our farmers also produced and sold more than $67 million worth of organic products in 2012.

This is just a small sample of what the Land of 10,000 Lakes has to offer. Don’t forget, the Census of Agriculture also gives us details of our farms and those who tend to them. I didn’t get a chance to discuss farmer demographics here, but you can check them out by visiting www.agcensus.usda.gov.

Santo Domingo Pueblo Tackles Drought with NRCS Help

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Mark Smith, NRCS New Mexico, on September 3, 2013 at 12:00 PM

A healthy alfalfa field in the Santo Domingo Pueblo as a result of improved soil health and a new irrigation system.

Just off the Rio Grande River, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., sits Santo Domingo Pueblo, a community surrounded by fields of alfalfa, oats and Sudan grass for horses and cattle, and small gardens filled with corn and green chili peppers.

But this green idyll is in danger of drying out. Over the past few years, New Mexico has been struggling through one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Little rain and a dwindling river have threatened many of the Pueblo’s fields and gardens.

After partnering with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, Pueblo residents have found a way to grow more using less water and keeping their fields and gardens healthy.

Pueblo residents worked with NRCS to save water by improving soil health through conservation practices such as rotating crops and planting cover crops. Healthy soil retains more moisture, allowing for less water to be applied during irrigation.

They also installed an efficient underground water irrigation system to replace some of the aging earthen irrigation ditches to 50 fields that stretched across more than 200 acres.

Residents of the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico worked with NRCS to run an efficient underground irrigation pipeline.

The new watering system and conservation practices have made all the difference. The once-parched fields of the Pueblo are flourishing—a notable feat even in non-drought years. And now fields that used to take two days to irrigate can be watered in just 4 hours.

In late June, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Pueblo to see its successes first hand. Vilsack said he hopes that other communities and tribes will look to Santo Domingo Pueblo’s improvements as a possible solution for drought-affected agricultural operations across the west.

The tribe received financial assistance from NRCS through USDA’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. The national initiative addresses high-priority funding and technical assistance needs in rural communities in 16 states, including New Mexico, with a special emphasis on historically underserved communities and producers in counties with persistent poverty.

Because of their water and time savings, Pueblo residents are now looking to continue upgrading the remaining earthen irrigation systems in order to be able to feed the entire community with locally grown foods.