Basin Electric partners with Mercer County for soil health and conservation

Basin Electric and Mercer County Soil Conservation District have partnered to help improve soil health on land near Stanton, North Dakota. As part of that partnership, about 25 people representing Basin Electric, Mercer County Soil Conservation District, and the Natural Resources Conservation District gathered on Aug. 18, 2025, for demonstrations and tips on soil health and conservation.

“This project is so exciting because it’s a bit unique with the energy industry partner,” says Sarah Tunge, district manager of the Mercer County Soil Conservation District. “We haven’t really done anything this extensive, and I’m excited to see where this demonstration site goes.”

Several topics were discussed, but some things stood out more than others. “The biggest takeaway is that you cannot keep taking from the land without putting something back into it, and artificial inputs – fertilizers, chemicals, etc. — will only take you so far before they become cost prohibitive,” she says. “The better option is to work on building up the biology of the soils to improve yields while decreasing inputs.

Tunge says the group learned about soil health and conservation practices, including tactics to armor the soil and minimize soil disturbance; and maximize the use of farm animals, such as cattle and sheep, to help the soil develop stronger resistance. 

It's positive when a diverse group comes together like that to share experiences and ideas – and accomplish a goal – she says. In this case, the goal was to learn how to better meet the needs of the producer: increased productivity; the goals of the district: being good stewards of the landscape while marrying production agriculture and conservation; and the needs of industry: highlighting not only their commitment to the local environment but also to the people they work with as co-operators.

Erin Laverdure, Basin Electric’s project coordination representative, who attended the event, says the setting near the cooperative’s first power plant, Leland Olds Station, is the perfect backdrop for this partnership.

“Care for the land is woven into the fabric of who we are at Basin Electric,” Laverdure says. “We were the first utility in the country to require land reclamation from our first coal supplier for Leland Olds; in fact, that reclaimed land is across the highway from this test plot. We’re proud to continue that legacy by working with Mercer County Soil Conservation and our landowners to improve local soil health.”

Conversations about forming the partnership with Basin Electric and Mercer County started last summer, according to Tunge. She expects the partnership will continue to strengthen ties between landowners, the soil district, and the cooperative, and that there will likely be more hands-on events in the future to learn about soil conservation and health.

“We want to take production of agriculture from transactional to transformational,” Tunge says, “with the goal to make the landscape work better for us. This mindset will help us as we seek to implement generational farming practices. Meaning what we do today, tomorrow, and next year is setting up our operation for the future. Investing in improving soil health is investing in the next generation.”