USA - Tools available for reducing phosphorous loss

17.03.2020 179 views
In 2014, water quality issues in Northwest Ohio were brought to the forefront. For over 70 years, the Wood Soil and Water Conservation District has worked with local farmers to improve their farmland while protecting our natural resources. Many of those efforts are currently aimed at reducing soil loss and keeping phosphorous out of our ditches, river and Lake Erie.
Driving through Wood County, one might notice that fewer farmers are planting right up to the ditch bank, and there is grass established for 30 to 300 feet. These buffer strips filter surface runoff, catching loose soil particles and the phosphorous attached to them. Some buffers are “working buffers” and can be used for hay.
Within these buffers, you might notice boxes or tubes sticking up out of the ground. These controlled drainage structures allow a farmer to control how much water is leaving his field tile. In the summer, the producer may choose to raise the water table in his field to ensure the crop has enough available soil moisture. However, the water quality benefit really happens in the winter. If a farmer keeps the boards down all winter, they reduce the amount of dissolved phosphorous leaving their field by 40%.
Many growers have also changed what they’re doing within a field. They’re being much more precise with phosphorous placement by testing their soil on a grid pattern and only applying fertilizer to the acres that need it. These Variable Rate applications may not reduce the total amount of phosphorous that is applied, but they make sure it is only placed on the part of the field that needs it.
They’re also upgrading equipment so that fertilizer and manure products can be placed under the soil surface, where it is less likely to wash away with the next rainfall. Instead of broadcasting fertilizer across an entire field, they’re dosing phosphorous and nitrogen right along the root zone of the growing crop. With these practices, if phosphorous isn’t taken up by the plant root, it can be caught by the soil surrounding the application strip.
Conservation isn’t free; Wood SWCD has worked with the Wood County Commissioners, state and federal agencies, and also some non-profit grant sources to help farmers offset the costs of conservation practices.
These cost-share programs help to cover some of the expenses of seeding a cover crop or installing a controlled drainage structure.
They can also help a co-op invest in new technology if they know a group of farmers will be looking to hire a new service.
Clearly the farm community and Wood SWCD have many tools at our disposal for reducing phosphorous loss, but it isn’t an overnight fix.
Due to poor field conditions and prevented planting, phosphorous applications dropped dramatically in 2019, yet the amount of phosphorous reaching Lake Erie was higher than most “normal” years.
It will take some time for today’s rivers to stop carrying phosphorous that was lost from a farm field a decade ago. Source - https://www.sent-trib.com
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