By Carrie Muehling
BLOOMINGTON – Voluntarily reducing nutrient runoff from farm fields is the goal of farmers and other members of the agriculture community in Illinois.
About 150 people attended a meeting Wednesday at the McLean County Fairgrounds to learn more about the proposed Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. The Illinois EPA plans to release a final strategy next month. The effort is a response to the U.S. EPA’s larger goal of reducing the size of the hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the need to protect local water supplies.
Agriculture groups are collaborating to provide the research needed to recommend best management practices for Illinois farmers. One example is the Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC), which was established in 2013 with a $.75 per ton assessment on fertilizer sold in the state. NREC is currently funding 20 research projects in Illinois to prove best practices farmers can use voluntarily to reduce nutrient runoff, according to Jean Payne, president of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association.
“We’re going to be asking our members and their farmer customers to please not put fertilizer on frozen or snow-covered ground. I think that’s an important thing. It’s not a difficult thing for us to give up. We do it, maybe because we can. But, I don’t think that’s a luxury that we have. We have to prove that we recognize it’s susceptible to loss,” said Payne. “We’re going to put fertilizer on earlier in the fall, get it incorporated a little bit so we don’t lose it with rain, and then make sure we’re managing our fall-applied nitrogen with those 50 degree temperatures and make sure we’re using those inhibitors, because as the research shows, they work to protect the nitrogen in the soil.”
Payne said the association will be launching a 4F Code of Practice: right source, right rate, right time and right practice. While it takes more time, Payne said farmers see yield benefits when they manage nitrogen more effectively and it is more available to the crop. Then it becomes more of a benefit than an expense.
“Managing fertilizer is going to take more effort than what I think we were used to 10 years ago,” said Payne.
NREC also funded 11 meetings across the state to help get the information out to farmers. Presenters included the Illinois Council on Best Management Practices, Illinois Corn Growers Association, University of Illinois, USDA NRCS and others.
“We’ve actually invited them all to bring in water samples, so they could pull a sample from their tile line and we have folks who will monitor that for nitrates. So, it’s just a snapshot but it can show how their work on their farm would impact that larger picture,” said Lauren Lurkins, director of natural and environmental resources with the Illinois Farm Bureau.
More information will be available after the final strategy is released. In the meantime, agriculture groups will continue to collaborate on a proactive approach.
“Being proactive allows you to control that issue, and also ensures environmental groups that you are well aware and working towards these goals and you don’t need regulation because you’re on a path to get there with the right science,” said Payne.
Carrie Muehling can be reached at [email protected].
Listen to the interview with Jean Payne here:
