On Tuesday's AM Minnesota program, Brad Redlin with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will be my guest. Brad is the program coordinator for the Minnesota Agriculture Water Quality Certification Program. The program is voluntary for farmers, letting them take the lead on protecting Minnesota's waters. Farmers will work with their local Soil and Water Conservation District by doing an assessment of their current practices to see if they meet the standards to be eligible to become a Water Quality Certified farm.

It there are areas that need to be improved, there will be a priority for technical assistance. However, I understand a large percentage of farms already qualify and they just need to do the program application and assessment process. When a farmer is certified they will get recognition and will receive regulatory certainty. That means certified farmers are deemed in compliance and will be exempt from any new water quality laws or rules during the period of certification. Hopefully after the AM Minnesota program Tuesday morning, we will know more about the program.

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