April 5, 2018 By Desirae Jarett

Andresen named Chippewa County Conservationist of the Year

Mike Andresen, of Montevideo, has been named the 2016 Chippewa SWCD Conservationist of the Year.

The Chippewa Soil and Water Conservation District nominated Andresen, and he received the honor at the Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation District’s (MASWCD) annual state convention recently held in Bloomington.

He was one of 64 other conservationists who were honored from other counties in the state.

Andresen farms a corn and soybean rotation with conservation tillage on 125 acres.

He has previously been an Minnesota Pollution Control Agency water quality volunteer.

In 2015 he worked with NRCS and the SWCD to install two water and sediment control basins and one grade stabilization structure.

He also installed a native grass wildlife habitat planting and seeded a critical area planting in 2015. From 2013 to 2015 he maintained nutrient/pest management on 205 acres.

Andresen has 4,700 feet of established field windbreaks on one of his farms, as well as a farmstead shelterbelt.

He has a total of 74.86 acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and has 28 acres of pasture land.

Mike is also a conservation contractor and did all of his own work, installing the erosion control practices on his own.

Andresen is also an avid sportsman. Recently, Mike and fellow members of the Tri-County Sportsman Club built and opened Mills Creek Gun Range on five acres of Mike’s land just north of Montevideo.

He was recognized locally at the SWCD board meeting in early December with a gift from the Chippewa SWCD, which was a rustic, custom made sign that was made out of black walnut, deer antlers, and a painting of a whitetail deer scene by local craftsman and artist Doug Pederson.

Mike Andresen, of Montevideo, has established conservation practices on much of his land in Chippewa County, including 28 acres of pasture land and 74.86 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program.