Woody Plants Highlight Minnesota Forestry Tour

Don Hanson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and David Lewis, A1 Cooperator of the Year, talk to the tour. Image by Debe Walchuk.

On September 1, Minnesota's Area 1 Plant Materials Committee conducted a tour of applied conservation practices for NRCS and Soil and Water Conservation District employees in the area. This year's tour highlighted the use of woody plant materials.

It was a foggy morning when everyone met at the Bagley Field Office to begin their caravan across the countryside. The mission for the day was to observe the results of various site preparation, planting, competition control and deer predation control techniques.

The first stop was a visit to the farm of Area 1's conservation cooperator of the year to view a CCRP riparian buffer. The planting included the use of chemical site preparation, the application of deer repellent to seedlings prior to planting, machine planting and follow-up mowing. Don Hanson of the Bagley Area Department of Natural Resources Forestry accompanied the group on the tour to discuss the projects and answer questions. At this stop, he demonstrated a quick-and-easy method for determining stocking rates for newly planted practices.

The second stop was to view an Environmental Quality Incentives Program tree planting where oats and alfalfa were seeded by mistake before the trees were planted but the oats ended up serving as a good cover crop for the trees. The producer clipped his oats high enough to avoid topping the tree seedlings and the plantation was free of weeds.

The third stop offered a view of a Continuous Conservation Reserve Program snow fence and windbreak which were planted on soils with relatively high water tables, located in the rice paddy area of Clearwater County. Keeping the deer from browsing the cedars will be a major management concern for this determined landowner.

The sun finally came out and after lunch in the Bagley City Park by Lake Lomond the group viewed the DNR's newly constructed tree storage facility and looked over the DNR's tree planting machines. The use of tree tubes was demonstrated and the use of bud caps and tree mats were discussed.

The next stop featured a CCRP riparian buffer which had to be replanted after a failed first attempt. The group viewed aspen trees that were planted into sod prepared with herbicided strips using a planter with the scalper attachments removed. Because the producer followed the recommended site preparation the second time around his trees are expected to survive.

The last stop of the day. This shows how effective Transline Herbicide is for killing thistles in this planting of conifers and deciduous trees, and also shows the fencing installed to exclude draft horses. Image by Debe Walchuk.

The final stop was another CCRP riparian buffer that was planted along Mosquito Creek and included fencing to exclude draft horses from the creek and the buffer. The group observed the successful use of Transline herbicide to kill thistles that emerged within the rows, which resulted from exposure of the bare soil by the scalpers of the planting machine.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the drive past the hilly pastures, woodlands and fields of recently frozen crops in the area to observe how tree and shrub practices are applied in the eastern part of Area 1.

By Debe Walchuk, District Conservationist, Bagley Field Office.