TARGETED FERTILIZER APPLICATION REDUCTION PROGRAM: A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP BENEFITTING WATER QUALITY & AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Transcription

1 TARGETED FERTILIZER APPLICATION REDUCTION PROGRAM: A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP BENEFITTING WATER QUALITY & AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION Program Partners: Clearwater River Watershed District, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and local farmer cooperatives: Centra Sota Cooperative of Watkins, MN, Cold Spring Cooperative of Cold Spring, MN, and Consumer Cooperative Association of Litchfield, MN

2 Overview Background The Problem The Program What / Why Where / How Findings, Surprises, Responses, Barriers & Solutions What s Next? Questions?

3 Background 1980 s: Clearwater Chain of Lakes Restoration : TMDL Studies and Implementation Plan To meet goals, 80%+ load reductions required from non-point sources in watershed How do we address these sources?

4 CRWD: Minnesota Microcosm

5 The Problem: Impaired Waters

6 The Problem: Impaired Waters Lake Betsy Current Annual Phosphorus Budget Internal: 7,080 lbs Goal: 354 lbs Reduction: 6,726 lbs Atmospheric + Groundwater: 205 lbs Goal: 205 lbs Reduction: 0 lbs Septic Systems: 21 lbs Goal: 0 lbs Reduction: 21 lbs Upstream Lakes: 4,887 lbs Goal: 733 lbs Reduction: 4,154 lbs Direct Watershed: 9,850 lbs Goal: 1,547 lbs Reduction: 8,303 lbs Total Phosphorus Budget: 22,043 lbs Goal: 2,868 lbs Reduction: 19,175 lbs Direct Watershed Upstream Lakes Septic Systems Atmospheric + Groundwater Internal

7 The Problem: Impaired Waters 800 Lake Betsy Historical Summer Mean TP Concentrations TP Concentration (ug/l) Summer Mean TP Concentration TMDL Goal TP Concentration: 40 ug/l Average Summer Surface TP: TMDL : 269 ug/l TP Recent 10 year, : 184 ug/l TP Recent 5 year, : 151 ug/l TP Recent 3 year, : 126 ug/l TP

8 The Problem: Impaired Waters Lake Betsy Subwatershed: 70% Cropland Typical Fertilizer Application: Uniform Rate, lbs./ acre Opportunity: optimize fertilizer application Farmers: Improve yields and input controls CRWD: Decrease fertilizer load to lakes / streams

9 Why do this? Soil P Varies

10 Soil P: In Field Variability

11 Program Goals Accelerate adoption of Variable Rate Fertilizer Application Demonstrate effectiveness of working with cooperatives Develop resources for others interested in the program

12 How the Program Works: Enroll up to 16,000 acres (54% of crop land in target area) Local farmers coops recruit participants Pay for soil testing ($8-$10 / ac) Grids 2.0 to 2.2 acres Pay for higher application costs for variable rate fertilizer application ($2.50 / ac) Avg. cost: $7,000 for a 250 acre farm (2 years) Runoff testing (on-going) Control fields & Participant fields

13 Variable Application Rate

14 Enroll Fields: 54% of cropland Enrollment Requirements: Field(s) must be in targeted subwatershed Farmers and Cooperatives must sign agreement forms Data from soil testing & GISaided application is shared Data is viewed on aggregate level

15 Program Findings / Surprises 2009 CRWD-funded field trial (1,500 ac) 1,427 acres enrolled (we turned people away) Mostly crops in sensitive areas 25 ton reduction in phosphorus fertilizer application Could be over ½ the reduction needed for Lake Betsy Cost: $110 - $410 per lb. of phosphorus removed (variable due to local practices and conditions) Federal Grant (16,000 ac) ~13,000 acres enrolled so far Only 55% data in so far 46 ton reduction in phosphorus fertilizer application to sensitive areas (55% reported) Overall, 4 ton increase in fertilizer application Cost: TBD

16 Stakeholder Response Cooperatives recognize the program as a revenue stream Producers recognize the program as a way to maximize yields and gain better control over inputs District recognizes delivery system results in less administrative burden

17 Barriers / Solutions Barriers New program Lack of trust Lack of staff Language barrier Data privacy Benefits exceed costs? Solutions Flexibility, standardization Cooperatives Cooperatives Cooperatives, LISTEN!! Clear requirements & communication Demonstrate cost-benefits

18 Next Steps Receive, review and process data (soil testing, fertilizer application, yield, soil phosphorus depletion, etc.) Complete collection and process water quality data Create, send, and process surveys to enrolled producers Publish final program report and handouts for producers and government units Determine the optimal funding level and ROI for the program to become self-sustaining

19 Other Programs Targeting Agriculture CRWD Programs Targeting Agriculture Hayed buffers Permanent buffers Tile intake buffers Grass waterways No-till to spring Partnerships with other entities Alternative tile intakes Sampling of Programs Targeting Agriculture in MN FarmWise (Freshwater Society, Nat l Parks Service) Field Stewards (Env t Initiative, MN Dept. of Ag.) Discovery Farms MN (MN Ag. Water Resource Center, MN Dept. of Ag.) MN Agriculture Water Quality Certification Program (MN Dept. of Ag., USDA NRCS)

20 Acknowledgements Robert Schiefelbein, CRWD Board Chair Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (Section 319) Farmer Cooperatives: Centra Sota of Watkins, MN, Cold Spring Cooperative of Cold Spring, MN, and Consumer Cooperative Association of Litchfield, MN Rebecca Kluckhohn and Wes Boll, Wenck Associates, Inc. The Citizens of the Clearwater River WD

21 Questions? Cole Loewen Clearwater River Watershed District 75 Elm Street East, Annandale, MN O: F: E: W: