Wysocki Produce Farm showcases its Nitrogen Optimization Grant project fields
By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common’Tater
The McCain Foods Innovation Hub Field Day, August 14, 2024, at Wysocki Produce Farm, in Bancroft, focused on soil fumigation alternatives and grant opportunity projects through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (WDATCP).
The purpose of McCain Innovation Hub Field Days is to showcase field trials and research that address environmental challenges unique to each local region on a commercial scale.
The growers, in this case, Wysocki Produce Farm, share their knowledge and field trial findings with other local partners during the field days.
Field day attendees enjoyed breakfast snacks and refreshments at the field before rotating through several stations where they received an overview of McCain’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
Created under the 2014 Farm Bill, the RCPP is a five-year initiative aimed at improving soil health through potato supply chains. McCain hopes to enroll 35 growers from Wisconsin and Maine who will work with the company’s Soil Health Institute to adopt a soil mapping and sampling, and cover cropping and rotation plan.
Awarded $7 million by the Department of Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), McCain growers are afforded the opportunity to apply for RCPP grants. Grant recipients will each enroll 240 acres into a three-year project focusing on:
- Pest management
- Cover cropping
- Nutrient management
- Reduced tillage
At the field day, growers were provided clear guidance on the application process, eligibility criteria, and the financial incentives available to participants.
For example, set goals of the Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP) are to improve commercial nitrogen efficiency across Wisconsin, reduce nitrate in surface water and groundwater, and improve producer profitability.
DATCP offers a maximum grant award of $40,000 to agricultural producers to conduct two-year on-farm NOPP research projects. Trials include four nitrogen (N) rates (0, or control, 240, 270, and 300 lbs. N/acre), four replications, and timed fertigation events (early and late season, and both).
