Lake Huron Basin Update - U.S. Side
Innovative Approaches to Addressing Stormwater Pollution in the
Saginaw Bay Watershed
By Karol Smith, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that some
70% of all water pollution stems from stormwater runoff. For
the Saginaw Bay watershed, which drains part or all of some
22 counties, stormwater runoff from agricultural fields is a major
concern for the health of area waterways and the bay itself. The
following story, reprinted by permission from the U.S. EPA website,
describes one group of farmers working to change all that.
The Innovative Farmers of Michigan is a group of agricultural
producers, supported by more than 60 partners representing the
agricultural industry, lenders, equipment
companies, commodity groups, and
federal, state, and local agencies. The
group’s two primary objectives are
reducing the amount of sediment
entering the Saginaw Bay and altering
farming practices to reduce nutrient and
pesticide runoff while retaining profitability
for the farmer. “All my fields
drain to large ditches, to larger ditches,
and eventually to Saginaw Bay,” says Pat
Sheridan of Tuscola Innovative Farmers,
“and I don't want my soil in the bay.”
In 1996 the Michigan State University
Extension in Huron County received
a section 319 grant of $71,863 for a
3-year Innovative Farmers project. The
Innovative Farmers aimed to reduce
soil erosion, improve soil health, and
increase family farm income by using
reduced tillage, cover crops, and a totally
integrated system.
Confronting Traditional
Farming Practices
Before the Innovative Farmers, reducedtillage
corn and soybean cropping
systems had been successfully used
throughout the Midwest. Michigan
farmers, however, were reluctant to use
high-residue cropping systems for beans
and sugar beets because such high-value crops would still make
fall-spring tillage profitable. In addition, many farmers in the area
assumed that it wasn't possible to warm the soil in the spring,
prepare a good seed bed in heavier soils, and achieve adequate
weed control without tilling in the fall and the following spring.
The key to the Innovative Farmers’ success was that rather than
relying on research and information provided by other sources, the
group designed and conducted the studies themselves. In one of the
first studies undertaken by the group, 14 producers collected 127
water samples from their tile outlets. Concentrations and flow rates
were used to determine the extent of nutrients and the associated
dollar loss from their fields. This activity helped producers better
understand the nutrient and soil interactions, as well as the impacts
on water quality.
Valuable Findings
Studies conducted by the Innovative
Farmers yielded many valuable findings
for area farmers. Conservation
tillage did not reduce yields of sugar
beets, corn, and dry beans when
compared to conventional tillage. In
fact, corn yields significantly increased
at one of the demonstration sites.
Farmers also learned that the soil’s
capacity to supply nitrogen to a
growing crop increases with conservation
tillage. Although phosphorus
applications ceased for 6 years, the
soil fertility levels did not decrease.
At the end of the project, the water
holding capacity and water infiltration
rates were also higher for the
limited-tillage sites. Conservation
tillage reduced the potential for
soil erosion from water by up to
70 percent and from wind by up to
60 percent, as compared to conventional
tillage.
These results are making a difference.
Several farmers in the area have converted
their operations to zone till in
the past 2 years. (In zone till, only a
small area is tilled at planting. The
result is a conventional seedbed in the
immediate seed zone while the rest of the field remains untilled and
covered with residue to promote soil conservation.) Innovative
Farmers members also report the increasing use of the chisel tillage
system and cover crops by their neighbors. As these systems are
used on a wider scale, others will adopt them as they see the success
of fellow farmers. That is just what the Innovative Farmers hoped to
accomplish.
For more information:
Karol Smith, Michigan DEQ, ESSD-RLOCS
Constitution Hall, 3rd Floor South
P.O. Box 30457, Lansing, MI 48909-7957
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.
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