COLUMBUS, Ohio — Phosphorus is vital to any farming operation, but runoff from this chemical has been blamed for bad water quality – and growers are feeling the brunt of the blame.

With this in mind, The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) is ramping up its efforts to improve Ohio’s water quality through a new fertilizer applicator certification training program. It is designed to help growers increase crop yields using less fertilizer more efficiently, thus reducing the potential for phosphorus runoff into the state’s watersheds.

Introduced last month as part of Ohio’s new agricultural fertilization law, the program has already trained 777 growers who farm some 522,250 acres of farmland.

“Offering the certification training program is part of the college’s goal to improve the state’s water quality, by informing growers how to lessen the use of phosphorus and keep more of it on the field, while increasing crop yields and boosting farm profits,” explained Greg LaBarge, an extension field specialist and one of the leaders of Ohio State’s Agronomic Crops Team.

“The training covers water quality and crop production best management practices, including encouraging growers to adhere to the principles of applying the right fertilizer at the right rate at the right time and in the right place,” he said. “By advocating the continued improvement in nutrient use and efficiencies, the training can help growers boost farm profits by using just enough nutrients to maximize yield, which reduces the potential for water quality impact off-site.

“The training benefits farmers and Ohioans by reducing the water quality issues that we have in the state.”

The training, which is offered by extension agronomists in partnership with the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), fulfills the education requirements of the state’s new agricultural nutrients law, which requires farmers who apply fertilizer to more than 50 acres of farmland to become certified with ODA.

Experts say soluble phosphorus runoff from farms is a source of harmful algal blooms plaguing Lake Erie and other lakes in recent years. In August, a toxic bloom in western Lake Erie led to a two-day drinking water ban in Toledo.

According to LaBarge, the training offers guidance on nutrient management, the links between phosphorus, harmful algal blooms and agriculture, yield and water quality impacts and best management practices for using phosphorus.

“Of the participants who have completed the OSU extension program, 89 percent say the training improved their knowledge about nutrient management,” LaBarge said. “Additionally, 77 percent of farmers in attendance agreed that farm field phosphorus loss is a significant problem to Ohio water resources.”

A majority of those participating in the first training classes (held in Fulton, Hancock and Paulding counties in October) farm in the Maumee River watershed area that drains into Lake Erie. “Most farmers in that area are willing to take at least one additional action to reduce nutrient loss on their farm if they feel like the action will both benefit their farms as well as water quality,” said Robyn Wilson, a CFAES associate professor of risk analysis and decision science.

“Most farmers are willing to adopt a new conservation practice if they believe that nutrient loss from their fields will have a negative financial impact on their crop production. They believe that if they put best management practices in place on their farms, the techniques will work.”

More training dates for farmers and nutrient applicators to obtain the educational requirement for the Agricultural Fertilizer Applicator Certification will be offered by extension, with sessions likely to be in December and the early months of 2015, LaBarge said.

According to the new law, the deadline for growers and chemical nutrient applicators to complete the certification process is Sept. 30, 2017. The certification is valid for three years, at which point the applicator will require re-certification.

Participants will be required to pre-register for these meetings. For more information, contact LaBarge at 740-223-4040 or labarge.1@osu.edu