Right Now.The Right Time for Nutrient Stewardship is Right Now

2011 Agribusiness Showcase - Des Moines, IowaLara Moody, Director of Stewardship Programs

Agriculture is Being Challenged• Population growth will continue to increase

demands on production efficiency

• Increased scrutiny related to land and resource management

Growing Population & Demand• Population increase of

2 billion people by 2050• Production demand met

by intensified production, not increased land use• Seed industry predicts 3-4%

yield growth per year• Require optimal fertilizer

inputs for greatest success

Increased Scrutiny of Land and Resource Management

• Negative headlines effecting public opinion

• EPA aggressively pursuing rulemaking affecting agriculture

• Environmental organizations litigating to force regulatory action

Headlines USA Today - Fertilizer Overloading Earth's Plant Life Fertilizer use has exploded, overloading plants worldwide, likely altering ecosystems for decades to centuries, scientists report Thursday.

Des Moines Register - Chet Culver: Limit Use of Fertilizer by FarmersIowa should consider limiting how much commercial fertilizer farmers apply to crop fields, Gov. Chet Culver said Monday.

Baltimore Sun - Farmers aren't doing enough to prevent pollution Farms in the Chesapeake Bay region are not doing enough to prevent soil and fertilizer from running into the estuary, according to a draft report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

HeadlinesInside EPA - Activists Say Pact Sets Precedent For Enforceable Nonpoint Runoff Limits Activists say recent settlement agreement in Oregon sets national precedent for establishing enforceable limits for nonpoint sources of water pollution, an approach they say could be replicated in other regions to address the nonpoint runoff from farms, which EPA has said is one of the remaining hurdles to improving water quality.Inside EPA - EPA Vows To Extend Controversial Florida Nutrient Plan To Mississippi Basin A key administration official says it is "vital" that EPA and states extend to key portions of the Mississippi Basin and the northern Gulf of Mexico the controversial numeric approach the agency is poised to issue in the coming days to limit nutrient pollution in Florida waters despite widespread state and industry opposition.Environment & Energy Daily - Report Blames Agribusiness for U.S. Waterway Ills Corporate farming is responsible for some of the worst U.S. water quality problems, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Environment America.

What EPA Has Been Saying…….

• There are 14,000 nutrient related surface water impairment listings in 49 states• Over 47 percent of streams contain medium to

high levels of N and P

Row Crop N & P Contributions to theGulf of Mexico & the Chesapeake Bay

From Sept. 2010 EPA Presentation

What EPA Has Been Saying…….

EPA says “ALL MAJOR SOURCES OF NUTRIENTS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR

CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROBLEMS”

What EPA is Doing……

• “Coming Together for Clean Water” strategy• Change water quality standards to strengthen anti-

degradation policy• Work with states to more effectively implement

TMDLs and watershed-based nonpoint source plans

• Numeric Nutrient Criteria implementation

• Chesapeake Bay TMDL implementation

What EPA is Doing……

• Pursuing strategies in the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico Watershed• Convening Hypoxia Task Force• Investing in nutrient modeling and monitoring• Encouraging states to prepare nutrient reduction plans

• N2O Greenhouse Gas Emissions on their radar• EPA’s GHG inventory indicates fertilizer application and

cropping practices contribute to 68 % of U.S. N2O emissions

Florida NNC• July 2008 – Environmental

groups sued EPA for failing to promulgate NNC in Florida

• January 2009 – EPA deemed narrative criteria insufficient to address impaired waters and required NNC

• Spring 2009 – State begin effort to develop NNC

Florida NNC

• August 2009 - EPA settled the lawsuit filed against it by entering a Consent Decree to develop NNC;

• October 2009 – Seeing direction of EPA, the State withdrew effort to develop NNC;

• November 2010 – EPA released NNC Final Rule for lakes and streams

Criteria for Streams & Rivers

Concentrations are annual geometricMeans not to be surpassed more thanOnce in a 3 – year period.

Florida NNC - Industry Concerns• Cost estimates to agriculture from $224 Million

to $1.095 Billion, annually over 30 years• EPA dismisses 3rd party economic analysis

• Even after implementing technology upgrades, analyses shows some industries won’t be able to comply 100 percent of the time• The NNC is not scientifically defensible• NNC based on pristine streams• NNC disregards inherent regional variation

Environmental Groups Using Litigation to Pursue EPA• Florida Lawsuit - July 2008 • Resulted in development of N & P NNC

• Wisconsin Notice of Intent to Sue – Nov. 2009 • Resulted in development of P NNC

• Kansas Notice of Intent to Sue – Spring 2010• Nov. 2011 – EPA entering settlement talks with

Friends of the KAW

• Missouri Notice of Intent to Sue – Summer 2010• NNC are under development

What Has NRCS Been Saying?Based on UMRB & Chesapeake Bay CEAP reports

• Conservation practices work

• Comprehensive planning is needed• Suites of practices work better than single practices• Without nutrient practices, erosion control practices

can increase subsurface nitrogen losses

• Reducing subsurface loss of N is the most critical issue

Based on UMRB CEAP Report…

• About 60 % of the acres needs additional nutrient management

• Right Source – Apply nutrients in plant available forms• Right Rate ─ Nitrogen is applied at rates greater than 1.4

times removal at harvest on 66 % of the acres• Right Timing ─ Nitrogen is fall-applied on 45 % of the acres• Right Place ─ Nitrogen is not soil incorporated, banded, or

foliar/spot treated on 44 % of cropland acres

What Has NRCS Been Doing?• Preparing CEAP reports for other US watersheds• Updating the 590 Technical Standard• Addressing source, rate, time, and place• Encouraging use of a suite of practices• New 590 will offer “enhanced” nutrient mgmt. option

• NRCS National Nutrient Strategy• Developed as a result of CEAP reports• Provides $’s for management systems addressing

N & P concerns• Encourages no fall application of N

Responding to the Challenges

Essential Goal of Agriculture• Simultaneously improve productivity & efficiency• Increasing societal demands• Global financial stress• Growing concerns on impact to air and water quality

• Efficiency without productivity• Increases pressure to use marginal lands

• Productivity without efficiency• Squanders resources & increases environmental impact

4R Nutrient Stewardship• Improve agricultural production while contributing

to social well being and minimizing environmental impacts (benefits water and air quality)

• 4R represents the use of fertilizer BMPs to ensure:• the right source • at the right rate • at the right time• in the right place

Sustainability – the capacity to endure

Economic

SocialEnvironmental

Susta

inabilit

y

Communicating Outside of Agriculture• Agriculture needs to understand agriculture’s

role in sustainability

• Policy makers and the public need to understand agriculture’s role in sustainability

• 4R provides a means to communicate how farm management contributes to sustainability

4R Nutrient Stewardship

• Match nutrient supply with crop requirements and to minimize nutrient losses from fields

• BMPs effecting fertilizer Source, Rate, Time, & Place are site specific• Practices chosen for a given field are dependent on

soil, climate, and management conditions, crop selection, and other site specific factors

Framework for management systems and education based on basic universal scientific principles1. Supply in plant available forms2. Suit soil properties3. Recognize synergisms among

elements4. Blend compatibility

1. Appropriately assess soil nutrient supply

2. Assess all available indigenous nutrient sources

3. Assess plant demand 4. Predict fertilizer use efficiency

1. Assess timing of crop uptake2. Assess dynamics of soil nutrient

supply3. Recognize timing of weather factors4. Evaluate logistics of operations

1. Recognize root-soil dynamics 2. Manage spatial variability 3. Fit needs of tillage system 4. Limit potential off-field transport

Slide from IPNI

Implementing a 4R Plan

1. Identify economic, social, & environmental goals that cropping system objectives should address

2. Select site specific BMPs to address goals3. Integrate BMPs for all goals and adjust4. Document the plan

Example Goals• Economic• Improve net farm income• Contribute to regional economic development

• Social • Improve productivity of farm labor thru use of

appropriate technologies to increase efficiencies• Improve access to information sources to assist in farm

management decision making

• Environmental• Maintain or reduce unwanted losses of nutrients to

the environment

Example Fertilizer BMPs• Source• Select appropriate fertilizer nutrient source, consider

fertilizer form, consider enhanced eff. fertilizers

• Rate• Grid or zone soil testing for rates, nutrient budgeting to

plan management and application, address spatial variability; in season methods for in season decisions

• Time• Follow recommended times for nutrient applications, split

apps to improve uptake, enhanced eff. fertilizers

• Place• Utilize app. methods that limit losses, incorporate

fertilizers, couple apps. with appropriate soil conservation

ASA/IPNI series on 4R Nutrient Stewardship5 CEUs in nutrient management

Crops & Soils 42(2): Mar-Apr 2009

Crops & Soils 42(3): May-Jun 2009Crops & Soils 42(4): Jul-Aug 2009

Crops & Soils 42(5): Sep-Oct 2009 Crops & Soils 42(6): Nov-Dec 2009

Know Your Fertilizer Rights: Right Place by T.S. Murrell (IPNI), G.P. Lafond (AAFC), and T.J. Vyn (Purdue U.)

Want More 4R Info?

• Lara Moody contact: lmoody@tfi.org

www.nutrientstewardship.org – available March 2011