Progress 09/15/01 to 09/14/05
Outputs
This project uses a coalition of producers, agency personnel, and researchers at the University of Minnesota to evaluate best management practices (BMPs) implemented at the watershed scale to improve water quality. This project uses two adjacent 2800 ac agricultural watersheds in Nicollet County, Minnesota. At the mouth of each watershed we have collected water quality samples for the last three years. One of the watersheds was designated as a control, where no BMPs were installed. BMPs were implemented in the treated watershed on about 49%, 63% and 56% of the treatment watershed for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 crop years, respectively. These BMPs include grid soil sampling for phosphorus (41% of crop acres), conservation tillage on corn ground (70% of eligible acreage, 20% of total watershed acreage), fall no-tillage of soybean residue (10% of eligible acreage), manure hauling, replacing surface tile inlets with buried rock inlets (33% of inlets), replacing surface tile
inlets with hikenbottom risers (20% of inlets), and installation of riparian buffer strips (12 ac along 1 mile of drainage ditch).
Impacts
Erosion modeling with RUSLE2 showed a 41% reduction in sediment delivered from fields that had been converted from moldboard plowing to combination tool plowing. Implementation of BMPs was estimated to reduce phosphorus risks from high or very high on 20% of the watershed area to very low, low or moderate risks. Water quality monitoring data to date have not shown significant differences between sediment, phosphorus or nitrogen loads at the mouths of the control and treated watersheds. This is likely due to several factors, including the length of time needed to see water quality changes as a result of installing BMPs, large confidence intervals for water quality monitoring data, and larger storms that occurred on the treated watershed in comparison to the control watershed.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
Farmers want to take an active role in identifying practices that improve water quality. Agency personnel want to know which practices effectively improve water quality while maintaining agricultural productivity. This project uses a coalition of producers, agency personnel, and researchers at the University of Minnesota to evaluate best management practices (BMPs) implemented at the watershed scale to improve water quality. This project uses two adjacent agricultural watersheds in Nicollet County, Minnesota. At the mouth of each watershed we have collected water quality samples for the last three years. Farmers operating within both the treatment and control watersheds have been surveyed for three years to establish farm management practices. After a one-year control monitoring period, farmers in the treatment watershed were visited to discuss the types of changes in management they would be willing to make to improve water quality. BMPs were implemented on about 42%
and 48% of the treatment watershed for the 2003 and 2004 crop years respectively. We have found that farmers are willing to make changes in their management practices to improve water quality. The level of adoption depends on their age, farm size, and production characteristics. Suitable BMPs vary from farm to farm to accommodate the inherent differences in each of the operations.
Impacts
Survey findings show a wide range of management practices in the watersheds, and point out the need for a correspondingly wide range in BMPs.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
Non-point sources of pollution from agricultural watersheds are a major contributor to impaired waters in the Upper Midwest. There is great interest in finding economical ways to reduce the loss of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen from these watersheds. This paper describes a paired watershed approach involving a coalition of producers, state and county agency personnel, and researchers and extension faculty at the University of Minnesota. Our goals are to 1) accelerate the voluntary adoption of BMPs, 2) improve water quality, 3) evaluate the economics and water quality impacts of BMPs, and 4) allow farmers to decide what strategies for water quality improvement work best. Our approach involves paired agricultural watersheds in Nicollet County, Minnesota. These are adjacent to each other, and each consists of approximately 2800 ac of corn and soybean fields, along with several animal operations involving hogs and dairy cattle. Automated water quality samplers
collect storm event data from each watershed, these are analyzed for sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Farm management surveys have been conducted for two years in both watersheds, covering 90% of the cultivated area. The high participation rate is attributed to the involvement of local farmers and an agronomist in the project.
Impacts
Survey findings show a wide range of management practices in the watersheds, and point out the need for a correspondingly wide range in BMPs.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
This project involves a coalition of producers, state and county agency personnel, and researchers and extension faculty at the University of Minnesota. We are collectively working on a project whose goals are to: (1)-Accelerate the voluntary adoption of BMPs in the Minnesota River Basin; (2)-Achieve measurable improvements in water quality using a paired watershed approach; (3)Evaluate the effectiveness of farmer-selected BMPs to improve water quality; and(4)-Develop and disseminate farmer led and farmer sanctioned water quality initiatives in the MN River Basin. Our approach involves two agricultural watersheds in Nicollet County, Minnesota. These are adjacent to each other, and each consists of approximately 2800 ac of corn and soybean fields, along with several animal operations involving hogs and dairy cattle. Automated water quality samplers were installed at the mouth of each watershed in the summer of 2001. Water samples were analyzed for total suspended
solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), and ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N). Monitoring data showed significant concentrations for all pollutants at certain times of the year. Each farmer with more than 40 ac of cultivated land in the watersheds (86% of watershed) was surveyed about their farm management practices, including land ownership, labor and machinery costs, tillage and drainage practices, planting and harvesting operations, crop yields and yield goals, fertilizer and manure management, and crop protection products. The main findings from the farmer and field surveys were: (1)-Half of farmers used moldboard plowing on corn residue; (2)-22% of cultivated land had more than 30% residue cover after planting; (3)-Of the fields having phosphorus soil test results, 75% were in the very high category (>21 ppm Bray-P); (4)-Manure is applied to 20% of the cropland, and 30% of the manure is surface applied; (5)-Total rates of N from
both fertilizer and manure ranged from 50-383 lb N/ac; (6)-Total rates of P2O5 from both fertilizer and manure ranged from 20-405 lb P205/ac. Farmers in the treated side of the paired watershed implemented BMPs in the fall of 2002, while farmers on the control side made no changes. Water quality will continue to be monitored on both sides for the next two years.
Impacts
This project has demonstrated an effective process by which farmers can be motivated to make improvements in farm management for water quality benefits.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/01 to 12/31/01
Outputs
1)Work with producers and agency personnel to develop a menu of nutrient BMP options that are feasible for adoption, maintain crop and animal productivity, and are effective at reducing nutrient losses from cultivated cropland to the Minnesota River Basin. 2)Measure the extent of water quality improvements in two minor watersheds after implementation of nutrient BMPs relative to paired watersheds without BMP implementation. 3)Estimate the costs and benefits of water quality improvements achieved in paired watershed studies, and assess the potential for differential economic impacts of specific nutrient BMPs based on selected producer characteristics. 4)Develop public education programming to increase the adoption of the demonstrated nutrient BMPs throughout the Minnesota River Basin, thereby improving water quality and maintaining farm productivity. Two sets of paired watersheds, Huelskamp Creek and Seven Mile Creek, have been selected for study in Nicollet County,
Minnesota.
Impacts
Results from the first year of monitoring show that average flows, TSS concentration, TP concentrations, and nitrate-N concentrations from the two watersheds are roughly equal.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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