Wintertime farming practices can help or worsen water pollution and algae blooms

28 01 2023

By Michelle Woodhouse, Water Program Manager, Environmental Defense • Reposted: January 28, 2023

If you’re a reader of our blogs or a lover of Lake Erie, you may already know that excess amounts of fertilizer are making their way into our waterways and are a key culprit in contributing to toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie and other freshwater bodies. Some of these fertilizers are chemicals, but some are just old-fashioned manure. 

Using a natural fertilizer such as manure is a good practice – but there are still some rules that need to be followed to minimize negative impacts on the environment. 

Fertilizer management best practices are called the “4 Rs.” Applying the right fertilizer source at the right rate, at the right time, and in the right place – are considered the rules of thumb for fertilizer application. These rules apply to manure as well as chemical fertilizers. And when it comes to applying manure, winter is the worst time.  

What are the risks of winter spreading?

Winter spreading of manure is a practice that is under intense scrutiny because of the elevated risks for nutrient losses and its effect on water quality. The risk of runoff to surface water increases when applied on frozen or snow-covered ground. Frozen soils have limited, or no infiltration, so immediate runoff occurs if rainfall or snow melts before the soil thaws. With winter applications, no growing crops are available to absorb the nutrients. 

Winter spreading of fertilizer is actively discouraged within the agricultural community and by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. However, it still occurs, and the practice of winter spreading is not only inefficient but also harmful to the watershed. 

One of the main reasons manure is applied in winter is due to insufficient manure storage capacity. Therefore, increasing manure storage capacity is a simple way to alleviate much of the need for winter spreading. A more heavy-handed approach taken by some governments is to ban winter spreading altogether to try and enforce full compliance within the farming community. 

What protections exist in Ontario to protect the Great Lakes from agricultural runoff and nutrient pollution? 

Several pieces of legislation exist in Ontario that make it an offence to allow manure to enter waterways. The main pieces of legislation are the Environmental Protection Act, the Ontario Water Resources Act, and federally, the Fisheries Act. The Nutrient Management Act regulations are also most restrictive for winter applications. Farmers are also required to follow nutrient management plans when fertilizing crops and managing animal waste, which includes ensuring enough storage capacity for manure. 

Despite these laws, however, excess nutrients are making their way into the watershed year-round, including in the wintertime. Only a limited number of farms that produce and use manure are included under the requirements of the Nutrient Management Actand its regulations. Governments are also relying too heavily on education and outreach to ensure that farms self-report whether they meet the conditions set out in the regulations. In the past, it has also been found that in Ontario, the Ministry of Agriculture has not followed up on issues of non-compliance and rarely used punitive measures – such as issuing offence notices – that may result in fines set by provincial courts. 

Satellite photo by NOAA, 2019

What more needs to be done? 

These weaknesses in the Nutrient Management Act contribute to year-round issues with nutrient losses and runoff, including in the winter months. All of this contributes to a deteriorating situation for the health of the Great Lakes and the toxic algae bloom issue that plagues Lake Erie annually. Governments need to strengthen the regulations requiring farms to have nutrient management plans. For the farms that do require plans, greater monitoring and enforcement of compliance are required. 

Every year, scientists from NOAA and the Great Lakes region warn us that Lake Erie is approaching a tipping point, and if we don’t get our act together in the near term, we could lose one of our greatest global treasures. Bringing an end to the winter spreading of manure is one of the critical actions we need to take if we want to avoid this devastating loss.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/01/26/wintertime-farming-practices-can-help-or-worsen-water-pollution-and-algae-blooms/

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Closing the gap between good intentions and actually adopting farm conservation practices

24 01 2023

Photo: BG Independent News

By Jan Larson McLaughlin from BG Independent News • Posted: January 24, 2023

Most farmers want to be good stewards of the land. And most acknowledge that some crop practices can help protect the region’s water quality.

But somewhere between believing in conservation methods and actually practicing them is a gap. Those good intentions do nothing to keep harmful nutrients from reaching local waterways, stressed Dr. Robyn Wilson, of the Environmental and Social Sustainability Lab at Ohio State University.

The professor of risk analysis and decision science at OSU would like to help close that gap. Wilson, who spoke last week to the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club, comes to conservation from the unusual perspective of growing up on a farm near Findlay and being trained as a behavioral scientist.

This region – the Great Black Swamp – poses significant challenges for farmers. Because the landscape naturally holds onto water, farmers have worked for centuries to drain the swamp. Their efforts to get rid of the water as quickly as possible have resulted in great crop production.

But the wetlands that previously acted as a filter to runoff, no longer function to slow down the drainage into public waterways, Wilson said. And as climate changes create warmer, wetter and wilder conditions, the problems are exacerbated.

Big spring rains drive nutrients – fertilizer – into ditches, rivers and Lake Erie, leading to harmful algal blooms and poor water quality.

Research has shown that two farming practices could greatly slow the runoff of fertilizer, Wilson said. Planting cover crops and injecting the nutrients under the soil could help solve the water quality issues, she said.

“We know what’s causing it and we know how to fix it,” Wilson said. “We could solve Lake Erie’s water quality problems.”

But while farmers believe these practices could help, fewer than a third have actually implemented the methods, she said. A study of farmers in the Great Black Swamp area showed 65% see themselves as good conservationists.

“Good farmers care about soil health and water quality,” Wilson said. “But we have plenty of farmers with strong conservation identities who are doing very little.”

If 70% of farmers adopted these practices, she said, the region would experience a big difference in water quality.

“It’s the failure we have as humans to follow through with good intentions,” Wilson said.

Farmers have been slow to participate in cover crop programs, despite all the benefits. The cover crops can prevent soil and wind erosion, combat nutrient and soil runoff into nearby waterways, improve the soil and add nutrients, suppress weeds, improve the availability of water in the soil, and break pest cycles.

Surveys of Ohio farmers showed they think differently about cover crops depending on the time of year due to fluctuations in financial stability, the amount of work to do, and stress. In January and February, farmers are more likely to be financially stable, think more clearly, and have time to consider conservation practices. 

“Cover crops is one of the trickiest things to ask farmers to do,” Wilson said.

Growing up on a farm and studying as a behavioral scientist, Wilson understands the importance of how conservation topics are presented to farmers. She knows better than using the politically polarizing term “climate change” in a survey.

“They’re all going to throw it away,” if the issue is presented as climate change, she said. The phrase “changing weather patterns” is more acceptable in the farming community.

“All farmers know the climate is changing,” she said. However, there is disagreement over whether the changes are caused by humans.

“I think we have a ways to go on that front,” Wilson said.

To see the original post, follow this link. https://bgindependentmedia.org/closing-the-gap-between-good-intentions-and-actually-adopting-farm-conservation-practices/


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