Minnesota’s new groundwater protection rule became effective this week. It is designed to reduce the risk of nitrate from fertilizer impacting groundwater in areas of the state where soils are prone to leaching and where drinking water supplies are threatened. Minnesota Corn Growers Association President Brian Thalmann says they were involved in helping develop the regulation.

He says it’s a positive regulation and that his organization will be helping their members understand how it works.

Thalmann says the GPR outlines a multi-level approach involving farmers and agronomists working to mitigate nitrate losses in the areas with high nitrate in groundwater.

Farmers in the elevated nitrate level areas will be subject to four levels of mitigation which range from voluntary to regulatory.