@MN_DrainDrop

Native Okie living my best life in MN. Researches how to keep ag drainage clean. Lots of #bioreactor tweets. Sometimes feat. #ConservationBabies

 Minnesota, USA
Joined May 2016
  • Tweets3.3K
  • Following1K
  • Followers1.4K
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Finally got to see first-hand the “famous” drainage research plots at Waseca, MN @UMN_SROC! Drainage plots like this are the best way to see how what we do on the surface (crops, fertilizer) impact nitrate leaching in tile drained areas. Huge thx @jvetsch2
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I don’t know what soil type this would be but the layers in my coffee this morning are sweet.
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Tile pipe’s second best use spotted at the pumpkin patch. #TileDrainage #DualWall
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The #ConservationBaby heritage sunflower experiment was a (colorful) success! …also made me value advances in agriculture like variety development because it would be hard to harvest all these different heights.
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Nuthin’ a little miracle gro couldn’t fix.
Laura Christianson@MN_DrainDropJul 15
Accidentally ran a nitrogen trial with our two planter boxes. One had old left over soil (can you guess which?). I did not expect it to be so dramatic.
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Accidentally ran a nitrogen trial with our two planter boxes. One had old left over soil (can you guess which?). I did not expect it to be so dramatic.
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Our experience with woodchip #bioreactor liners has come in handy for the #ConservationBabies ice skating rink. #MNlife ⛸️
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Just read your commentary on "Biostimulant or biological?" Thx Conner, nicely explained for this rapidly changing landscape.
Connor Sible@ConnorSible10 Jul 2025
Replying to @ConnorSible
And right on schedule, our commentary on the matter! acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.c… We identify the differing use of biostimulant and biological and discuss/challenge the idea the living inoculants be jointly regulated with non-living substances (humics, extracts, etc.)

Biostimulant or biological? The complexity of defining, categorizing, and regulating microbial...

Biostimulants versus biologicals terminology differs between interest groups. Direct effect of microbial inputs on plant growth are often overlooked to prevent stricter plant growth regulator-level...

acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Just in case you think I only talk about nitrate... lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Sulfate? I thought we were talking about nitrate.

Another interesting aspect of this field trip to Sweden is that Dr. Roger Herbert and his intrepid PhD student Laura Nina Bettoni are also assessing bioreactors for sulfate removal in addition to n…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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Laura Christianson retweeted
ISU ANR Extension@ISUANR18 Jun 2025
🚜 Conservation Drainage School | Aug 26–28 • Nashua, IA Learn the latest subsurface drainage practices for water quality: oxbows, bioreactors, controlled drainage, wetlands, and more. 🔗 Register now and learn more: extension.iastate.edu/news/c…
Attendees at Conservation Drainage School

ALT Attendees at Conservation Drainage School

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Bioreactors have taken us to the ends of the earth --- Arctic style! Bundle up for this one. lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Bioreactors at the ends of the Earth

We’ve flown to Kiruna, Sweden, inside the arctic circle, to see the “coolest bioreactor in the world”. We were very kindly hosted by Dr. Roger Herbert (Uppsala University) who coo…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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Nothing fishy about bioreactors for aquaculture lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Nothing fishy about bioreactors for aquaculture

Although I’m most always thinking about tile drainage, one important application for woodchip bioreactors is the aquaculture industry. Many fish farms are classified as “point sources” of pollution…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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Day 2 of 2 of our personal tour. No rolling stones here. lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

SEGES Tour Day 2

If you ask a geologist for a tour, you’re bound to get a lot of rocks. The theme of day 2 was ”stones”. We learn about the Egyptian pyramids and Great Wall of China as kids, but it was nice to put …

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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SEGES Tour - Day 1 lostdropraider.wordpress.com… Post conference tour -- Day 1 of 2

SEGES Tour – Day 1

Post-conference tours + workshop were organized by Flemming Gertz of SEGES, an independent non-profit that bridges research and implementation in agriculture and sustainability. The extra activitie…

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Still on our quest for similarities and differences... Read more about what is happening in Denmark. lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Similarities and differences (work edition)

As the LuWQ Conference drew to a close, we’ve continued to wrap our heads around similarities/ differences for the EU/ USA approaches to water and agriculture. I suppose we were mainly listening fo…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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First post from Europe. Thanks for tuning in! lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Things that have surprised us the most (so far)

We’ve been in Aarhus, Denmark for a couple days so wanted to note some differences. It’s only appropriate that the walk signals are Vikings. Follow the Viking’s orders for walking…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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Final packing: This is it! lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Final packing: This is it!

We’re in the final stretch before the trip, so we’re doing our final pack… and the final-final step of removing at least one thing from the bags. Our priority is packing light sin…

lostdropraider.wordpress.com
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Need a break from it all? How about a stay-cation to Scandinavia? Join us (electronically) this summer. #Bioreactors #ConservationBabies Pre-trip nerves lostdropraider.wordpress.com…

Pre-trip nerves

I’ll admit, we’re nervous about a couple things (well, more than a couple things actually…). Traveling with the Conservation Babies will have its challenges, and so we’re setting our bar low. But i…

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Laura Christianson retweeted
memes.xlsx
@ExcelHumor22 Jan 2025
new executive order signed today forbids merging cells in excel
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Ramen noodle challenge unlocked! (No ramens were hurt during this experiment because I accidentally bought the kind no one likes)
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