City property disked for Wetland Reserve Program

Recently, a 40-acre property owned by the City of Hastings, located west of Hastings Middle School, was disked. The property, pictured below, is located in a Wetland Reserve Program through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The City of Hastings has a contract with the NRCS to manage the wetlands. Through this process, the NRCS annually surveys the wetlands and conducts maintenance practices. Maintenance includes yearly spot spraying to control noxious weeds and volunteer trees. 

Maintenance also includes disking, which occurs every three to five years. Disking can effectively control invasive species in the wetland such as cattails and river bulrush. It also promotes early successional species, which is important to the wetland ecosystem, providing plentiful forage for migrating waterfowl. Disking also exposes seed in the underground seed bank, which can invigorate wetlands.

Published Date: 10/24/2022

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