Creekside conservation

SPRING HILL — At the beginning of the year, when temperatures hover around zero, there is not a lot of conservation work Steve Welle can do on his family farm. However, the Conservation Reserve Program work he has done so far to shore up his land, water and wildlife has earned him recognition as the 2025 Wildlife Habitat Steward for Stearns County and Minnesota.

“I did all these projects so my family, nieces and nephews could enjoy it and that (the land) would be established for future generations,” Steve said. “I enjoy the family members and people coming over to hunt the land and see the benefits.”

While Steve is honored by the award, he knows his work has been a great benefit to himself and his family, along with the environment. The county and state, though, have been impressed with his dedication toward improving his farm.

“I was blown away by the map of Steve’s land put into numerous conservation programs, a bit like a patchwork across the landscape for different areas as he retires his dairy farm,” said Justine Meyer, Stearns Conservation District board chair. “Steve Welle and his family have ongoing dedication to caring for the land and wildlife and are very deserving of this recognition.”

Steve’s parents, Ray and Alverna Welle, purchased the farm on Stony Creek and raised their nine children there, of whom Steve was the youngest. He never moved off the farm or went to college, and he eventually took over the land; at the time, the farm was a dairy, but Steve and his wife, Diane Welle, sold the cows around 2021 and transitioned to beef cows.

When Steve initially heard about CRP about 30 years ago, his interest grew when he realized it gave him something to do with his mostly unused land on the north end of his property.

“My dad initially had (one) whole field in CRP,” he said. “The option was there, so that’s why I did it.”

So far, Steve and Diane have successfully enrolled 32.67 acres of their 320-acre property in CRP, and this year, they plan to add two more fields to the program. Their land is under the Riparian Buffer Initiative, a conservation practice that establishes vegetative buffers along waterways to enhance water quality and general ecosystem health.

“The water would drain straight through here and go straight into the creek,” Steve said. “I had U.S. Fish and Wildlife (Service) come maybe 20 years ago; it was in the fall, it was dry and they made a dike out here.”

Now, the land behind the dike fills up with water in the springtime, and if there is overflow, it goes into Stony Creek.

Additionally, the Welles have restored nearly four acres of wetland alongside the USFWS separate 3.1-acre wetland restoration on their property, and the family recently completed a project to exclude their cattle from Stony Creek to further improve its water quality.

“The cattle used to go down into the creek all the time to get water,” Steve said. “They were eroding the creek bottom, so I fenced it off.”

On the farm itself, the Welles practice conventional tillage but leave the residue on top to help keep the soil from washing away. They also cultivate nearly two acres of food plots annually, rotating through nutrient-rich crops such as corn, soybeans and brassicas; these plots ensure a constant food source for the wildlife.

The Welle family has planted about 13,000 trees on the land, and Steve estimates about 40% of them are still growing, which is a healthy number.

“The trees look great out there,” he said. “You can see all the evergreens straight north.”

Thanks to CRP, the Welles have seen more wildlife on their land — and they have brought some of that wildlife home.

“We hunt a lot,” Steve said. “I bow hunt as much as I can. … When you drive up the driveway, you see the tracks (from the deer). Year after year, they learn there’s something here when the winter gets cold. … I’m spoiled. Whenever I want to hunt deer, turkey or pheasants, I’m out my back door, and I can watch and see the benefits of it.”

Beyond hunting, Steve also enjoys watching the wildlife on the trail cameras he has set up in his CRP area.

Future CRP projects the Welles have in mind include enrolling additional farmland into native prairie restoration. Steve also has his eye on a nearby cattail patch, which, state permitting, he could dig out and turn into a pond to serve as another wildlife habitat.

Steve was notified about his nomination for the Wildlife Habitat Steward award for Stearns County in August 2025; he was not interested in the recognition at first, but SCD wildlife habitat specialist Jason Selvog, who worked with the Welles on many of their projects, insisted on it.

“I didn’t tell anybody until (press releases) started coming out,” Steve said. “I told my family and wife, but … then Jason contacted me, saying they’d nominated me for the whole state.”

Steve will be presented with his state award at the Stearns County Pheasants Forever Banquet March 28. As he accepts the recognition, he encourages other landowners to get in touch with their area conservation districts and see what programs they may have available.

“There are lots of programs out there that fit every situation,” Steve said. “(The conservation district) will walk you through a lot of stuff, and if you like it, you like it, and if you don’t, you don’t. If it doesn’t fit what you want to do, you don’t have to do it, but there’s lots of stuff out there.”