EDUCATION IMPROVES NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT COMPLIANCE

SITUATION
All farms that mechanically apply nutrients must have a Nutrient Management (NM) plan that accounts for all nutrients applied to each field.  After January 1, 2008 farms can be required to follow nutrient management plans. Some will be required without cost sharing if; 1) required by local manure storage or livestock siting ordinances; 2) participating in the Farmland Preservation Program; 3) regulated by a WPDES permit; 4) accepting cost share for manure storage; or 5) causing a discharge.  Others not falling under these requirements can be compelled to follow a NM plan if 70% cost sharing, of $28/acre over 4 years is offered. 

RESPONSE
In 2006, personnel from the Conservation, Planning and Zoning Department (CPZ), approached me for help with the nutrient management education.  This made for several reasons; 1) the educational curriculum used for producers to develop their own “qualified” plan was created largely by UW-Extension specialists, 2) CPZ needed to partner with another agency(s) to educate and train producers that still needed to comply with the law, and 3) agriculture focus groups and the Partnership for Progressive Agriculture (PPA) had indicated nutrient management education was vital to the continued success of dairy operations. Initially, I helped plan the educational response with other partners, including Northcentral Technical College, NRCS, PPA, and CPZ. My role included teaching educational modules and small group training of the SnapPlus nutrient management software. In 2008, a nutrient management education planning meeting was coordinated by myself and CPZ staff. Agronomists, consultants, and agency staff from a multi-county area participated and had suggestions for future training. Additional awareness of the issue was raised by writing articles in the AgLink newsletter (reaching 1350 producers and agribusiness people), direct-mail pieces, newspapers, and on the web. In July and August, I facilitated specialized web-based training for consultants and producers on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

RESULTS
Nutrient management education classes for 2007/08 resulted in twenty-four additional farms with a “qualified” NM plan. These farms are now complying with state law, and reducing the potential for adverse environmental impacts from their operations.  Most farms also realized a substantial cost savings due to crediting the N, P, and K nutrients that are applied from livestock manure...something that the pre-workshop survey showed most producers were not doing prior to developing a plan. Based on fertilizer prices obtained in Nov, 2008, the value of N, P, and K nutrients in the manure and alfalfa (50 acres) for a typical 100-cow dairy are worth nearly $33,000, and nearly $35,000 when incorporated in the soil. Through the collective efforts of local agribusiness and agriculture agencies (including UWEX) there were 147,917 acres of cropland under a qualified NM plan in Marathon County. That ranks first, of all Wisconsin counties for total acres, and 39,000 acres more than in 2007. In 2009, the same process used in Marathon County since 2006 will be expanded into 5 counties; Price, Marathon, Clark, Taylor, and Lincoln. By working together, we have found efficiencies in planning, publicity, and other logistics. More than $150,000 in grant dollars is sought and should be available for Marathon County cost sharing on specific practices, such as adopting a new qualified plan. Two 2009 Multi-Agency Land and Water Education Grants (MALWEG) successfully obtained funds for the 5-county group’s efforts in nutrient management education and will be used to reimburse students (producers) and agencies for related staff costs. Currently, CPZ/Land Conservation, UW-Extension, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and Northcentral Technical College (NTC) are all actively involved in the planning and implementation of 5-county nutrient management education.

Mike Wildeck, Director/Dairy Agent - 2008 Success Story

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