Ann Wessel

Ann Wessel

Ann Wessel is an information officer with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources whose mission is to work with partners to improve and protect Minnesota’s land and water resources.

Author's Archive

Cattle move through a pasture in a rotational grazing operation. (Photo by Ann Wessel, BWSR)

Rotational Grazing | Pipeline to Water Quality and Soil Health

Ann Wessel reports on a Fillmore County farmer who is converting CRP ground into productive pasture.

Tom Scarponcini, left, and Dean Thomas look over Scarponcini’s flock of Île-de-France sheep in September 2023. With technical advice from Thomas, a regional grazing specialist, and with assistance from NRCS, Scarponcini established a strip-grazing setup within 20 acres of a blufftop pasture: “We’re really here borrowing land from future generations.” (Photos by Ann Wessel, BWSR)

Area Sheep Producer Boosts Productivity with Rotational Grazing

Ann Wessel visits a sheep farm north of Rushford where rotational grazing improved productivity.

Josh and Steph Dahl and their three children are pictured on their 450 acre farm south of Rushford. The Dahl’s operate a 160-cow dairy and are involved in the Root River Field to Stream Partnership to control runoff and soil erosion. (Photo by Ann Wessel, Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources--BWSR)

Root Causes, Root Solutions

A Houston County dairy farmer, working years with government agencies, invested in environmentally sound practices to control nutrient runoff and soil erosion. Everyone benefits.

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