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drainage management to reduce nitrate loads from michigan agriculture
The Great Lakes Regional Water Program works with regional and national partners to advance management practices that can mitigate the negative impact of drainage, and integrate, synthesize, and recommend effective research and strategies. The goal is to identify and advance solutions that minimize nitrate loss while maintaining productivity in agricultural fields. In 2008 as in past years, the initiative’s drainage management team |met with the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force (a technical work group that includes members from the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, Land Grant universities, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the private sector) to address regional drainage issues.
A successful five-state NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant program is underway, in collaboration with the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition that represents the drainage industry. This grant has funded demonstration sites in each state (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) that will result in national recommendations. Field Days have allowed contractors to participate in installation, and fostered farmer learning about the practice. This effort will promote and characterize drainage water management at a larger scale than has previously taken place in the Midwest region. A database of the different sites, with their soil, crop, drainage system, slope, climate, and other relevant factors will be developed. Results from the different sites will be analyzed to explain similarities and differences in effectiveness.
Contact:
Jane Frankenberger
Purdue University
(765) 494-1194
frankenb@purdue.edu
midwest cover crops council
The Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC), comprised of researchers, Extension educators and specialists, NRCS staff and farmers from the Great Lakes States and Canada, improves the ecological and environmental functioning of the predominant annual cropping systems in the upper Mississippi and Great Lakes Basins by incorporating cover crops on agricultural land.
 The Council is implementing five-year action plans in policy, communications, research, education/outreach, and fundraising to increase funding for research and development, enhance public awareness and support for cover crops, develop policy incentives and programs to increase farmer adoption of cover crops in the region, and provide education and training necessary so that farmers and agencies can make the appropriate shifts to facilitate this adoption.
In 2008, a new effort was launched to develop a web-based regional cover crop selection tool to assist farmers in making cover crop decision and foster the adoption of cover crop systems. The tool is under development and will be available in 2009. In addition, an MCCC website and listserv were established.
Contacts:
Dale Mutch
Michigan State University
(269) 671-2412 ext. 224
mutch@msu.edu
Eileen Kladivko
Purdue University
(765) 494-6372
kladivko@purdue.edu
cover crops help keep bacterial contaminants in the root zone
The need to better understand the fate and transport of pathogens in land-applied manure was identified as the top research priority at the 2004 conference, “Liquid Animal Manure Application on Drained Cropland: Preferential Flow Issues and Concerns” in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the need for pathogen-based BMPs in animal waste management was identified in 2005 by the Great Lakes Water Program as one of the top priorities research priorities.
 The specific objectives of this project were to: 1) increase the use of cover crops on farm ground for water quality protection, and 2) evaluate the bacteriological water quality of tile line effluent (following manure application over tile lines with vegetative and non-vegetative surface covers.
The project has demonstrated that with low-disturbance pre-tillage and controlled (low) liquid manure application rates (e.g. 6,000 gallons per acre), there is little risk of rapid movement of manure contaminants to subsurface drains on the Blount loam soils in no-till cropping systems characteristic of SE Michigan and NW Ohio. These recommendations have become the basis for discussions with livestock producers regarding the adoption of new manure management practices that protect surface and groundwater from manure contamination.
The project increased the awareness and understanding of potential water quality impacts from manure application, improved the understanding of factors contributing to bacterial contamination. The work provides a foundation for a balanced management approach that expands the use of conservation tillage and cover crops, and provides new knowledge for developing pathogen-based BMPs for manure land application that protect water quality. A research report is in progress.
Contact:
Tim Harrigan
MIchigan State University
(517) 353-0767
harriga1@msu.edu
Visit the Midwest Cover Crops Council Website
removal and recycling of phosphorous from wastewater
This initiative created an umbrella project to research and provide outreach/education on phosphorus removal and recycling of on-site generated wastewater and animal manure from agricultural facilities. The project tied together several ongoing novel research and education/ outreach efforts. Specific objectives included:
- examining regeneration, recovery and beneficial re-use of media that removes phosphorus from water;
- conducting an economical analysis of current and novel phosphorus removal systems;
- developing outreach and education materials on phosphorus removal from these sources; and
- developing a strategy to expand the umbrella project by increasing the number of partners, identifying demonstration sites throughout the great lakes region, and identifying potential funding opportunities.
The project directly increased the professional capacity to understand and engineer water treatment systems relating to phosphorous for the seven undergraduate students who worked on the project. These students were previously unaware of the challenges facing professionals in researching and designing technologies for high priority pollutants and did not have either the knowledge of conventional treatment approaches or the knowledge and skills to research the potential of novel technologies. Additionally, a presentation to approximately 50 professionals was given at the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference on the novel phosphorus treatment techniques.
Contact:
Steven Safferman
Michigan State University
(517) 432-0812
safferma@msu.edu
reducing nitrate loads using drainage water management
In 2007, we continued to work with the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force to promote increased collaboration among research, extension, industry, farmers and professionals. Research focused on watershed-scale analysis of the potential of this practice to reduce nitrate loading.  Education and outreach focused on enabling producers and contractors to understand drainage management alternatives and benefits, and utilized the regional extension bulletin described below. We also conducted an analysis to estimate the potential for drainage water management in Indiana based on soil drainage class, agricultural land use, and slope. These estimates will be used to help in promotion and analysis of the practice’s potential. Although drainage management is still not widely used, the groundwork is being laid for a mindset that drainage can no longer be unmanaged. The extensive demand for the publication demonstrates the broadening interest in drainage water management.
Contact:
Jane Frankenberger
Purdue University
(765) 494-1194
frankenb@purdue.edu
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