Like humans, plants need nutrients to grow. When a crop is harvested from a field, some of the nutrients are also removed. This means that farmers need to replace these lost nutrients by adding manure and/or fertilizers each year in order to keep their soil productive and healthy. Farmers also annually analyze or "test" their soils to determine exactly which nutrients needs to be added. They use the test results to create a "nutrient management plan", a strategy which ensures that only those nutrients which are required are added back to the soil, eliminating any possibility of water pollution.

Taking care of the environment is something our family takes very seriously. I´m the fifth generation to manage this farm here and everyone before me has taken good care of it so that it´s in good shape for me. And my brother Greg and I wish to do that for the future generations.
Rodney Wright, farmer