As the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes, a farmer-owned cooperative, we at Truterra appreciate that farmers need support to transition to more sustainable farming practices. With a successful bid in the USDA Climate Smart Commodities Partnership project, Truterra, American Farmland Trust, Soil Health Institute, and The Federation of Southern Cooperatives are introducing a range of programs that will deliver agronomic assistance to farmers, facilitate data collection, and help more farmers connect to more resources.

Truterra is an associate member of the ACWA, a nonprofit comprised of ag retailers working together to improve water quality in the Raccoon River and Des Moines River watersheds located in Iowa. Members of the organization help farmers implement best environmental practices to preserve and protect Iowa’s water and soil.

Truterra is working with Ceres Solutions, The Nature Conservancy, the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), and local NRCS office to mitigate risk through nutrient management and planting cover crops in the Big Pine Watershed located in Indiana. Through the project, they hope to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment that flow into the watershed by more than 50 percent.

Truterra works with the Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP) as part of the Cannon River Agricultural Partnership.  The collaborative program provides farmers with the tools they need to conserve the land and water surrounding the Cannon River in Northfield, Minnesota. Other partners include Central Farm Service (CFS), Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District, Rice County Soil and Water Conservation District, Steele County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cannon River One Watershed, One Plan, Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, Great River Greening, and Jennie-O.

The Cedar River Watershed Partnership is a unique public-private-nonprofit collaboration providing farmers with tools and resources to help them adopt new farm management strategies that improve the soil, water and economic health of their farms and address water quality challenges in the Cedar River Watershed in southeastern Minnesota. Truterra has collaborated with ag retailer Central Farm Service, Environmental Initiative, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with farmers on impactful and practical farming strategies.

Environmental Initiative is a nonprofit organization working with business, nonprofit, government and community leaders to address complex environmental issues through voluntary and collaborative approaches. Truterra partnered with EI to help facilitate engagement of the various partners and development of the Cedar River Watershed Partnership and Cannon River Agricultural Collaborative. Truterra is also an annual sponsor of EI’s Awards Event.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Minnesota Agricultural Water) Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) works with farmers and ag retailers to help protect Minnesota’s natural water resources through its voluntary certification program. Truterra is helping streamline the certification process and deliver additional insights to those farmers that take the lead in water conservation practices. Truterra also provides thought leadership as a member of the MAWQCP Advisory Committee. More than 750,000 acres and 1,050 producers have been certified by MAWQCP since the program’s launch in 2013.

Farmers in Dubuque County, Iowa can be rewarded for their stewardship through Dubuque County’s Land Stewardship Initiative. The first-of-its-kind pay-for-performance sustainability program is a collaboration between Truterra, Dubuque County, the Dubuque Soil and Water Conservation District and local Truterra ag retailer Innovative Ag Service. Using the Truterra™ Insights Engine, participating farmers can benchmark their stewardship performance and earn financial rewards when they implement conservation practices that improve soil health and water quality. The program was introduced in February 2021.

IAWA works with farmers and convenes partners to further drive the adoption of conservation practices and other innovations that improve water quality. As a member, Truterra collaborates with IAWA to develop private-public partnerships that advance water quality efforts and helps farmers assess and implement the most impactful and cost-effective conservation practices for their fields.

Truterra’s partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)supports conservation specialists deployed alongside agricultural retailers, who serve as one of farmers’ most-trusted advisors, building knowledge and capacity in order to support conservation practices around the country.