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Rewriting Ohio’s Phosphorous risk index may help watersheds

 

 

By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER

Ohio Correspondent

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The On-Field Ohio project seeks to revise the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Phosphorous Risk Index to be more useful in predicting the risk of phosphorous moving off farm fields.

Libby Dayton, a soil scientist in the Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, is conducting the three-year study. Monitoring equipment has been installed on farm fields in the Scioto, Grand Lake Saint Marys and Western Lake Erie watersheds, the last two being the most problematic watersheds.

The Phosphorus Index is a tool used to assess the potential for phosphorus (P) to move from agricultural fields to surface water, according to the USDA-NRCS. The index considers soil and landscape features as well as soil conservation and P management practices in individual fields.

Dayton’s project has three main objectives, she said. The first is to evaluate and improve the Ohio P Risk Index. The second is to increase the best management practices available to farmers in the index. Third, Dayton wants to improve the way farmers receive the information.

"We want to have some sort of an online delivery mechanism that would be easier to use, a little more user friendly, so that farmers can evaluate their own fields and calculate their own P Risk Index score," Dayton said. "They also would be able to then look at a suite of best management practice options."

Dayton has monitoring equipment on 30 fields. On most fields, she has edge-of-field monitoring equipment on both the tiles and the surface runoff.

"We’re measuring total undissolved phosphorous sediment (and) total undissolved nitrogen on all of the water samples and flow – total of volume of water – that is moving off the field," Dayton said. "On the fields side, we are measuring soil P in five different ways. We are looking at organic matter, soil texture, we’re getting the full suite of the farmer management practices of our participating farmers."

Dayton is collaborating with USDA-NRCS in Columbus, and they collect samples at least once a week from the edge-of-field monitoring equipment. The samplers are programmed to collect water on a rain event basis.

"Right now, the P Risk Index is issued as part of a nutrient management plan," Dayton said. "The revision part is to make sure that whatever P Index score you get more accurately reflects the risk of phosphorous transport from your field."

Currently the study is a three-year study, but Dayton is working to extend that, she said. She would like it to continue for many years. Farmers in the program are already using a range of different management practices, and the fields have a broad range of soil test P.

"In subsequent years, if we need to target a practice or if we need more information about a particular practice, we could then ask our participating farmers if they would either install a practice or if they would refrain from a practice so that we can collect additional data," Dayton said.

Dayton’s project is supported by a $1 million USDA-NRCS conservation innovation grant, which required a one-to-one match. The matching funds came entirely from Ohio agriculture. Dayton said she appreciates the support of the Ohio agricultural community.

"I want to add how much we appreciate the participation of our cooperating farmers, their willingness to allow us to have our sampling equipment on their fields, and share with us all of their management records, which makes this project possible," Dayton said.

7/23/2014