Felton Producer Achieves Water Quality Certification
Caliton Ntahompagaze, proud owner of Caliton Family Farm, has recently become water quality certified under the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP). This voluntary program has certified over 1,800 producers throughout the state who use conservation-minded practices to protect water quality after a required in-depth examination of field characteristics, crop rotation, tillage, nutrient management, and pesticide management, depending on the type of operation.
“I am honored to have certification as it showcases all our hard work and the goals we’ve achieved since setting them in 2023,” Ntahompagaze said.
The journey to the founding of Caliton Family Farms began in 2018 when Ntahompagaze completed a Wholistic Farm Management Class. Upon completing the class, he founded the New Roots Farm Incubator Co-op and served on its board for three years. Afterward, Ntahompagaze hatched from the incubator co-op and was able to purchase approximately 12 acres of farmland and apply the knowledge and experience he gained on his own farming operation. Today, Caliton Family Farms rotate between specialty crops such as eggplant, corn, soybeans, and 20 other varieties of vegetables for local customers and farmers’ market customers on roughly two acres, and alfalfa pasture/hayland on the remaining ten acres. On the vegetable acres, reduced tillage is utilized to aid in weed suppression while cover crops are no-tilled in after each harvest. Goats and free-range chickens are incorporated on the pastureland to help fertilize the specialty crop rotation.
Reduced tillage limits the number of soil-disturbing activities and distributes crop residue uniformly across the soil surface, while no-till doesn’t disturb the soil at all. Cover crops can be defined as any non-cash crop grown to the primary cash crop. In conjunction, these practices have the potential to improve soil organic matter, reduce erosion, and promote water infiltration.
“To look after oneself and others means to also care for the soil that provides us with food,” Ntahompagaze said. “To do that, we need to keep our local soil and water quality healthy.”
In the future, Ntahompagaze hopes to expand on his organic certification by diving more into agroecology farming and biodynamic compost processing to further his farm’s sustainability. Because of the current and future best management practices implemented on Caliton Family Farms, Ntahompagaze officially became water quality certified on February 27, 2026.
“Without MAWQCP practices, we would be preventing future generations from having healthy soil and water quality,” Ntahompagaze said. “We need to live within an ‘it’s not my land; it is my legacy’ mindset.”
