Bay Farms: A Regional Nutrient Use Efficiency Initiative

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• Bay Farms A Regional Nutrient Use Efficiency
  Initiative

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Overall Project Objectives

• Address four barriers to nutrient runoff
• Lack of good information on crop nutrient needs
• Need for voluntary, incentive-based programs to
  promote innovation in nutrient use efficiency
• Significant number of Plain Sect farmers in the
  region who generally do not participate in
  publicly funded programs
• Regional excess of nutrients as manure and litter

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Overall Strategy

• Foster a coordinated, multi-partner,
  farmer-driven approach
• Leverage innovative tools for improving on-farm
  nutrient use efficiency
• Leverage leading sources of agricultural
  conservation assistance to implement those tools
  both governmental as well as non-governmental

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Partners are KEY

• Center for Conservation Incentives at ED USDA
  Natural Resources Conservation Service in PA, MD,
  and CT Cooperative Extension from Penn State,
  University of Maryland, and University of
  Connecticut TeamAg Inc. Brubaker Consulting
  Lancaster, Chester, and Cecil County Conservation
  Districts Lancaster Farmland Trust Little
  Britain Ag Supply AET Consulting and others.
• The farmers themselves all kinds and all sizes
  are the core of the project.

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Why Lower Susquehanna Basin?

• Agriculture is fundamental to the region,
  including Lancaster County
• Socially
• Economically
• Culturally

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Lancaster County

• Produces more products than any other
  non-irrigated county in the nation -- 1 billion,
  1 in 5 jobs in the county
• Is the most animal-intensive county in the Bay
• Has an excess of nutrients fertilizer and
  manure/litter and
• Is in a good position to leverage new nutrient
  use efficiency tools

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Why This Approach

• Solutions to nutrient challenges must be
  economically viable if they are to last
• Solutions to nutrient challenges are far more
  successful in the long term if farmers take
  ownership of the initiative
• Impact on nutrient challenges will be far greater
  if model is easily replicated elsewhere

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What Is Our Approach

• On-Farm Nutrient Use Efficiency
• PSNT, chlorophyll meter, and CSNT
• Replicated test plots
• Variable Rate Nutrients
• Farmer Discussion Groups
• EQIP

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What Is Our Approach?

• Excess of manure/litter nutrients
• Collaboration with composting company to expand
  their capacity
• Create and continue to grow an economically
  viable outlet for farmers with too much manure or
  litter

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Project Specifics

• 2004 22 farms, 3,708 acres 400 fields tested w/
  PSNT, 421 w/ CSNT 1 winter meeting
• 2005 27 farms, 8,600 acres 694 fields tested w/
  PSNT, 685 w/ CSNT 4 winter meetings (large
  dairy, small dairy, hog and poultry)
• 2006 55 farms, 12,000 acres, including 16 Plain
  Sect farmers

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Project Goals On Farm

• Outreach and education reach 2,000 farmers in
  Lancaster, Chester, and Cecil Counties
• Implement PSNT/chlorophyll meter and CSNT testing
  on 300 farms, including at least 50 Plain Sect
  farms
• Work with 20 farmers to implement test plots
• Implement VRN (GPS-based mapping and variable
  rate technology) on about 2,000 acres
• Monitoring and evaluation through recordkeeping
  and aggregate data analysis

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Project Goals EQIP

• Expand and improve on-going special EQIP project
  in Lancaster County
• Collaborate to develop performance-based standard
  that can be used in other counties and states

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Project Goals Regional Excess

• Advance regional composting project with Terra
  Gro to take excess manure/litter from farms in
  region
• Terra Gro then turns that manure/litter into
  value added compost that is being sold as far as
  Charles County, MD for turf and parks
• Specifically, expand Terra Gros capacity by 50
  this fall through construction of additional hoop
  structure in future, work with Terra Gro to
  develop additional sites.

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Nutrient Benefits

• VRN 27,000 lbs N and 18,000 lbs P (2,000 acres)
• Composting project 104,000 lbs of N and 91,000
  lbs P
• PSNT/chlorophyll meter and CSNT 2.1 million lbs
  N (average of 50 lbs N/acre over 42,000 acres)

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Transfer to Other Watersheds

• Leveraging EQIP to disseminate PSNT, CSNT,
  chlorophyll meter, and VRN in PA and MD alone has
  potential to significantly improve nutrient
  management on up to 112,000 acres
• Creation of farmer-to-farmer network spread
  within project area and model for others
• Demonstration of regional composting model

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What Happens in 2009?

• Nothing stops!
• EQIP program continues Work with NRCS to
  expand role of EQIP
• Farmer to farmer network create network that
  takes on life of its own (additional funding
  likely necessary for coordination and additional
  TA needs)
• Composting initiative operating without reliance
  on subsidies

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• Project Contact
• Suzy Friedman
• Center for Conservation Incentives at
  Environmental Defense
• 802-878-4313
• sfriedman_at_environmentaldefense.org