SITE A/Bajumpaa
General Location: 15 miles N. of Breckenridge; Wilkin County.
Goals: To protect crops and increase yields.
Description: Two .5-mile long field windbreaks spaced 1,320 feet apart were planted in 1995. Each windbreak consists of 1 row of common hackberry spaced 8 feet apart.
Results: The windbreaks appear to be doing well.
CONTACT: Don Bajumpaa
Wilkin Co. SWCD
1150 HWY 75 N
Breckenridge, MN 56520
ph: 218-643-2933
fax: 218-643-3663
drb2@mn.nrcs.usda.gov
Additional contact: Jim Vavricka, Landowner ph: 218-557-8804
SITE B/Bajumpaa
General Location: 7 miles E. of Breckenridge; Wilkin County.
Goals: To protect crops and increase yields.
Description: Three one-mile windbreaks were planted in 1995. Each windbreak consisted of one row of green ash spaced 12 feet apart.
Results: Because the first year was dry, dieback was significant. The trees appear to be growing well now, but it is too early to evaluate the results.
CONTACT: Don Bajumpaa
Wilkin Co. SWCD
1150 HWY 75 N
Breckenridge, MN 56520
ph: 218-643-2933
Additional contact: Mike Bergquist, Landowner ph: 218-643-5960
SITE C/Hennen
General Location: 3 miles N. of Ghent; Lyon County.
Goals: To provide protection for corn and beans in a very open area.
Description: In 1987, black hill spruce and poplar were planted in 3 windbreaks, totaling 3 miles long.
Results: The spruce are growing slowly and appear to be having a positive effect on yields. The poplar, however, was removed in 1995 because of dropping branches and low leaf cover negatively affected yields.
CONTACT: Conrad Hennen, Producer/Landowner
RR2 Box 75
Minneota, MN 56264
ph: 507-428-3254
SITE D/Hopwood
General Location: 3 miles E. of Ada on Hwy. 200; Norman County.
Goals: To decrease wind erosion on sugar beet fields in the Red River Valley.
Description: Over 12 miles of windbreaks were planted throughout the farm in 1987-88. The windbreaks consist of 1 row of dropmore elm or green ash and are planted at .25-mile-intervals throughout the farm.
Results: The windbreaks are very effective in controlling wind erosion.
CONTACT: Chuck Hopwood, Producer
Rt 1, Box 54
Ada, MN 56510
ph: 218-784-4643
SITE E/Mattson
General Location: Near Elk River; Sherburne County.
Goals: To improve quality and increase quantity of trees on the farm, to improve aesthetics, and to provide screening from adjacent developed areas by restoring a degraded windbreak.
Description: The Oliver Kelly Farm is a "Living History" farm which portrays life in Minnesota in the mid-1800s. It contains a variety of agricultural and land use systems prevalent in central Minnesota at that time. They are working on improving an existing Scotch pine windbreak by incorporating more trees and shrubs into it.
Results: It is too early to evaluate success of the windbreak itself, though it has been an excellent means to stimulate interest in tree planting in Sherburne County.
CONTACT: Jim Mattson
MN Historical Society - Oliver Kelley Farm
15788 Kelley Farm Rd
Elk River, MN 55330
ph: 612-441-6896
SITE F/Olson
General Location: 15 miles N. of Benson; Swift County.
Goals: To provide wind protection and increase yields on a corn and bean farm in W. Minnesota. The landowner also wanted to provide wildlife habitat in this intensely cultivated area of the state.
Description: A windbreak, .5 miles long and comprised of 1 to 5 rows of trees and shrubs, was planted in 1990. Three other windbreaks were planted in subsequent years. Species include red cedar, dogwood, cottonwood, and chokecherry. The windbreaks are spaced throughout the farm, perpendicular to the prevalent wind pattern.
Results: Most of the windbreaks are still too young to provide noticeable benefits.
CONTACT: Sherman Olson, Producer/Landowner
740 100th Ave SW
Danvers, MN 56231
ph: 320-567-2383
SITE G/Pabst
General Location: 3 miles S. of Sanborn; Cottonwood County.
Goals: To reduce wind erosion and damage and to increase yields on corn and bean fields.
Description: The landowner has established 4 windbreaks, each 1 mile long approximately .25 miles apart. Each windbreak consists of 1 row of mixed trees and shrubs. Species, correlated with soil types, include green ash, honeysuckle, red osier, dogwood, caragana, Manchurian apricot, and amur maple.
Results: The landowner has noticed definite improvements in crop yields in fields protected by windbreaks. In dry years his corn yields are more than 50% greater in the areas protected by windbreaks.
CONTACT: Ralph Pabst, Producer/Landowner
Rt 1, Box 80
Sanborn, MN 56083
ph: 507-648-3612
SITE H/Post
* Also listed under Farmstead Windbreaks
General Location: 1.5 miles E. of Prinsburg on Hwy 7; Kandiyohi County.
Goals: To provide shelter for crops and farmstead and reduce blowing and drifting snow.
Description: A total of 5 field windbreaks were planted in the 1980's. All range from .25 to 1 mile in length. The plantings are made up of 1 row of green ash spaced roughly 10 feet apart. The farmstead shelterbelt was planted in 1985 and consists of 1 row of blue spruce and 1 row of Chinese lilac. The shelterbelt is planted on the west side of the farmstead to shelter the area from wind and drifting snow.
Results: The windbreaks function well and are effective in reducing wind erosion. Limbs are trimmed to reduce amount of shading of adjacent crops. During the memorable winter of 1996-97, the snow fence planted in 1985 resulted in drift 10 feet deep along the shelterbelt, but prevented drifting over farmstead buildings and the driveway. Other benefits include increase in wildlife and aesthetics.
CONTACT: Richard Post, Producer
8295 19th Ave SW
Prinsburg, MN 56281
ph: 320-978-6981
SITE I/Ristad
General Location: 8.5 miles E. of Hallock; Kittson County.
Goals: To control wind erosion on a small grains farm in the Red River Valley.
Description: Approximately 10 windbreaks were planted on the farm in 1990. Each is .5-to-1-mile long and consists of 1 row of Norway poplar or dropmore elm.
Results: The windbreaks are functioning well and reduce wind erosion.
CONTACT: Eric Ristad, Producer/Landowner
RR1 Box 159A
Hallock, MN 56728
ph: 218-754-6761
SITE J/Rolling
* Also listed under Silvopasture and Living Snow Fences
General Location: 6 miles E. of Ivanhoe; Lincoln County.
Goals: To protect grazing animals from winter winds, prevent winter injury to pasture plants, provide pasture with more water due to better snow distribution throughout fields, and to use replicated trials to test the performance of a variety of different shrub species in living snow fences.
Description: Siberian larch and a variety of shrubs were planted in pattern windbreaks/living snow fences in existing pasture in 1998. All 200 acres of the farm's rolling terrain are grazed by sheep or hayed. The plantings are in a very windy area of the state on well-drained soil which formerly supported native prairie.
Results: It is too early to evaluate the results.
CONTACT: Joseph Rolling
PO Box 64
Arco, MN 56113
ph: 507-487-5742
Additional contact: Paul Porter, U of MN Extension Service, ph: 507-752-7372
Elizabeth Dyck, U of MN Extension Service, ph: 507-537-6454
SITE K/Schafer
General Location: 3 miles E. of Hector on Hwy. 212; Renville County.
Goals: To control wind erosion and drifting snow.
Description: A single 3.25-mile row of green ash and Colorado blue spruce planted in 1976.
Results: Plantings have been effective for both soil conservation and snow management. Ash is most effective because it spreads the snow out evenly over the field; the density of the spruce and shrub windbreaks create drifts that impede planting in the spring.
CONTACT: Jim Schafer, Producer/Landowner
Renville SWCD
RR2 Box 126
Hector, MN 55342
ph: 612-833-2083
SITE L/Schwandt
General Location: 7 miles E. of Redwood Falls; Redwood County.
Goals: To reduce wind erosion and increase yields.
Description: Five windbreaks were planted between 1976 and 1984. Each windbreak consists of 1 row of a single species and is approximately 2,000-feet long. Species include black hill spruce, caragana, green ash and lilac.
Results: The windbreaks are effective in reducing impacts from wind.
CONTACT: WilliamSchwandt, Producer
39428-310th St.
Morton, MN 56270
ph: 507-249-3833
SITE M/Stensing
* Also listed under Alleycropping /Tree Intercropping & Living Snow Fences
General Location: 4.5 miles S.E. of Waskish off Hwy. 72 on Co. Rd. 110; Beltrami County.
Goals: To use tall, woody, berry-producing shrubs as snow fences to trap snow between rows which insulates and protects the blueberry bushes.
Description: In 1987, rows of tall berry-producing shrubs (snow fences) were planted throughout a 2.5-acre blueberry field. Shrubs used include: highbush cranberry, plum, chokecherry, juneberry, raspberry, sandcherry, buffalo berry, and pin cherry. The rows of tall berry-producing shrubs are 265-feet long and 16 feet apart with the blueberries planted in the areas between the rows. Blueberries are harvested for commercial purposes. Some berries are harvested from the snow fences.
Results: The rows of tall berry-producing shrubs are very effective in creating snow drifts that cover the blueberries. The snowdrifts successfully insulate the blueberries and reduce winterkill. The snow fences attract wildlife and provide intermittant shade, which appears to benefit the blueberries.
CONTACT: Jerry Stensing, Producer
SWCD Stewardship Forester, Beltrami SWCD
Co Rd 110
Waskish, MN 56685
ph: 218-755-4339
SITE N/Swenson
* Also listed under Riparian Buffers
General Location: 10 miles E. of Bemidji; Beltrami County.
Goals: To provide a windbreak for the farmstead and protect lakeshore area. The landowner intends to harvest Christmas trees from the plantings.
Description: Spruce and Norway pine were planted in a windbreak and also in a 2.5-acre riparian area in 1941. Trees have been added to the original plantings over the years.
Results: The windbreak and the riparian area are both well established and effective in protecting the lakeshore.
CONTACT: Albert Swenson, Producer
12753 Cattail Ln E
Bemidji, MN 56601
ph: 218-751-4112
SITE O/Tenneson
General Location: 2 miles S. of Frost off from Interstate 90; Faribault County.
Goals: To protect corn and soybeans from wind damage.
Description: Over 2 miles of windbreaks were planted throughout this 340-acre farm. The windbreaks consist of 1 row of green ash and honeysuckle, or 1 row of hybrid poplar with dogwood. The first windbreaks were planted in 1972 with others planted in subsequent years.
Results: The windbreaks provide protection from wind and probably increase yields.
CONTACT: Milton Tenneson, Producer
5339 480th Ave.
Frost, MN 56033
ph: 507-878-3251
