U.S. Farmers Taking Proactive Steps To Reduce Nutrient Runoff Into Waterways CNAPSA)—Runoffof agricultural fertilizers into streams, rivers and watersheds is a major environmental concern, but U.S. farmers are aggressively adopting more environmentally sound crop production methods and technologies that address this problem. One major concern—the agricultural use of phosphorus (P) fertilizers—is getting increased attention from farmers who are taking steps to minimize runoff of this vital plant nutrient. “Farmers American farmers have found some ingenious ways to protect that runs off into watershed from agricultural fertilizer runoff. take the hit for the phosphorus areas, but agriculture is not the streams, rivers and watersheds only culprit,” says Dale Bar“In the Midwest, AVAIL is often tholomew, a certified crop adviser used with phosphorusfertilizers with a key agricultural retailer in in no-till production systems that who overapply lawn fertilizers horn says. “This tandem approach Caledonia, N.Y. “Homeowners also contribute to the problem.” New York State is second only to California in the development and enforcement of stringent reg- reduceor eliminate plowing,” Tux- helps reduce the amount of phos- phorus that gets tied up in the soil, makes more of the nutrient available for plant uptake and ulations designed to keep P and minimizes the off-site movement major water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Great where you putit.” other nutrients from flowing into Lakes. According to Bartholomew, farmers in the region are being increasingly proactive in their efforts to not only meet those reg- ulations but also to exceed them in the interest of being good environmental stewards. “Increasingly, our farmers are usingfertilizer enhancers and sta- pilizers that ensure more uptake of phosphorus and other nutrients ofsoil through erosion.In this scenario, the phosphorus will stay Dr. Barney Gordon, professor emeritus at Kansas State Univer- sity and an expert in soil fertility andfertilizerefficiency, notes that a lot of farmersfavor fall applications of P following harvest. “Applying phosphorus with AVAIL in thefall allows the nutrient to be worked into the soil by natural moisture over the winter,” Gordon says. “As a rule, fall weather is conducive to by crops, versus leaving those fertilizer applications due to good “Other proactive steps include use ers have the time to make the nutrients in the soil,” he says. of precision application techniques and less reliance on plows and tillage to minimize soil erosion.” conditions and thefact that farm- applications, versus applying fertilizer in the spring when they should be focused primarily on getting Indeed, soil erosion is a big their crops planted. The weather in part of the challenge, as nutrients the spring tends to be more unpreattach themselves to soil particles dictable and can prevent the and are then vulnerable to runoff farmer from making timely phosinto waterways. Dr. Gary Tux- phorusapplications.” horn, an agronomist for United A good case in point is the Suppliers, a major provider of heavy spring rains across much of inputs for agricultural retailers headquartered in Ames, Iowa, the Midwest and Northeast in 2013 that delayed planting and wreaked havoc with spring fertilup in the soil and remain unavail- izer applications. “Improved plant able for plant uptake. It can uptake of phosphorus is key to remain fixed for long periods of healthy crops and better yields, notes that P tends to become tied time following application if a and it also translates into less rus Fertilizer Enhancer is not can be lost through erosion,” Gor- product such as AVAIL Phospho- used. phosphorusleft in the soil, which don emphasizes. SFP and AVAIL are registered trademarks ofSpecialty Fertilizer Prodwets (SFP), LLC. 2013, All rights reserved.
