By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — While conservation programs administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) face budget scrutiny on Capitol Hill, the results of a USDA study verifying the success of soil and water management programs implemented by farmers was released to the public earlier this month.

Data from the Watershed Assessment Study – which quantifies the results of NRCS conservation practices regarding planting techniques, fertilizer applications and harvest and after-harvest processes – was distributed to members of Congress. They will decide the fate of many NRCS programs that reward producers for implementing soil and water conservation practices on their farming operations.

Bill Gradle, state conservationist with the Illinois NRCS, said the study represents the first phase of research being conducted by the USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) in 12 agro-ecological regions across the country. “The very first one the agency took on was the Upper Mississippi Basin (including Illinois),” he said.

“The agency used a number of different models to look at what we’ve been doing. No one had actually taken a look before, though we’ve known that conservation practices have worked very well. Congress finally gave us the authority to research and verify that what we are doing actually makes a difference.”

According to him and the NRCS, the findings show USDA conservation programs have changed the face of farming and “made a huge difference in micro-environments found on farms and in the larger environments and ecosystems of rural America.”

CEAP data from the Upper Mississippi River region shows sediment loss from erosion was reduced by 69 percent, total phosphorous loss was reduced by 49 percent, surface nitrogen (N) loss was reduced by 46 percent, total N loss was reduced by 18 percent and in-stream sediment was reduced by 37 percent. In addition, the study concluded pesticide risks to human health had been reduced.

“We’ve made great strides, especially in sediment reduction, which we’ve never been able to look at without the CEAP,” said Gradle.

The study, initiated in 2004, also shone a spotlight on what areas NRCS needs to address in order to improve its water and soil conservation programs. For instance, although the study reflected surface N losses are down 46 percent, subsurface N losses were reduced by a mere 5 percent.

The data seem to indicate that without compatible nutrient management practices in place, erosion control pesticides may accelerate subsurface N losses. In addition, conservation solutions and structures may re-route nutrient-carrying water directly into water sent to unprotected subsurface flow pathways.

“We’ve got a ways to go on subsurface losses, and we’re addressing that with some alternatives in the drainage water management arena,” Gradle announced. “This gives us some good baseline data as to where we’re at and where we need to go.”

With Congress still debating aspects of the 2012 budget, the future of some of the NRCS’ most popular programs, such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), remains in limbo. Gradle stopped short of identifying the impending budget decisions facing Congress that affect NRCS conservation programs as the primary catalyst for the CEAP study series, however.
“One of our jobs is to make sure we’re informing the public as to what we’re doing, and also our elected officials. They’re going to need to make some tough decisions, and we’re trying to provide them with as much information as we can so they can make the right decisions,” said Gradle.

In the U.S. House 2012 budget, conservation operation funds for NRCS initiatives such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and various wetlands preservation and enhancement programs face cuts, according to Gradle. “The Senate hasn’t taken it up yet,” he said. “It’s still dynamic because we only have half of the equation.

“I would say there are going to be many programs in the federal government that are going to be cut, and NRCS is making as many efficiencies as we can right now to make sure we’re going to be able to deliver our services to the American public no matter what cuts we sustain.”

On the heels of NRCS calling attention to the CEAP study of the Mississippi River Basin, the agency released another statement touting the 2011 CSP in Illinois. More than 200 state farm and forest land operators successfully enrolled in CSP in 2011, covering approximately 163,380 acres, according to an Aug. 10 news release.

One hundred eighty-nine contracts were awarded for production agriculture land and 15 for non-industrial private forest land, with yearly payments averaging $17,063 per contract. More than $3.4 million in payments were made to farm families this year, according to Gradle, who praised Illinois producers and landowners for their stewardship.

Producer interest in NRCS conservation programs remains high because of a number of factors, Gradle said.

“I think that here in Illinois that we have a lot of landowners that are good stewards of the land and want to do the right things,” he said. “You have regulatory pressure out there, and our astute producers know they need to stay ahead of that. One of the ways to do that is to participate in some of the programs we have available to them.”

To learn more about the data, visit NRCS’ new website at www.nrcs.usda.gov and search for “CEAP.”