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 The
Neuse River Basin drains 1.2 million acres in central and eastern
North Carolina (NC), including rapidly growing metropolitan areas,
productive farmland, and extensive forests. The Neuse River Estuary
has experienced harmful algae blooms and fish kills over the past
two decades, resulting in state regulations that mandate a 30% reduction
in annual nitrogen loading from all sources by 2003. Agricultural
land uses throughout the river basin are estimated to contribute
more than half of the total nitrogen load to the estuary, meaning
that farmers are responsible for implementing best management practices
that reduce nitrogen export by over 1 million pounds annually. At
the same time, pesticides used in the region are under intense scrutiny
by the US Environmental Protection Agency as it implements the Food
Quality Protection Act.
The Neuse
Crop Management Project was initiated in 1998 with the goal of
increasing the use of production practices that improve the economic,
agronomic, and environmental performance of corn/cotton/wheat/soybean
farmers in the Neuse River Basin. The project established an unprecedented
partnership among farmers, crop consultants, agribusinesses, grower
organizations and NC State University research and extension to
reduce unnecessary nitrogen and herbicide use and losses, thereby
protecting water resources in the Neuse River Basin. Specific
accomplishments include:
- more
than 105,000 acres of nutrient management plans written and
implemented;
- a
23% reduction in the amount of fertilizer nitrogen applied per
acre of cropland; and
- a
greater than 40% reduction in soil-applied preemergence herbicides;
 Nutrient
management training materials were developed and distributed to
NC Cooperative Extension Service county agents, who then educated
farmers about nutrients in the environment, how best management
practices reduce nutrients, nutrient management planning and eight
crop commodity modules. In 2001 and 2002, nutrient management
training was offered throughout the Neuse River Basin to 1,240
farmers and turf managers.
 To
meet the challenge of developing nutrient management plans for
thousand of acres, project personnel developed two innovative
approaches. A simplified computerized nitrogen fertilizer spreadsheet
was developed for commercial fertilizer plans. In addition, group
nutrient management planning sessions were introduced. The farmers
brought field information and project personnel worked with the
farmers to write nutrient management plans. Two cost-benefit analyses
were conducted during the life of this project. One analysis was
for the best management practices, such as controlled drainage,
cover crops and buffers, and the other was for nutrient management.
The nutrient management cost-benefit study found that many farmers
can save $20-40 per acre of cropland by using nutrient management.
The best management practice cost-benefit analysis found that
the benefit of the best management practices was highly dependent
on the practice and the physiographic region.
To help producers make better herbicide use choices, and thus
reduce preemergent soil-applied herbicides, the project selected
to use a computer-based decision support system called HADSS (Herbicide
Application Decision Support System) that allows farmers, commodity
specialists, or crop consultants to determine the most cost-effective,
environmentally sensitive, and effective herbicide. By making
decisions on a field-by-field basis (termed site-specific), more
precise selection of herbicides, application rates, timing, and
placement of weed control measures are possible, and can minimize
the application of unnecessary or inappropriate herbicide treatments.
During the project, however, the weed control situation changed
dramatically when Roundup Ready technology was introduced to NC
farmers. Growers quickly embraced the Roundup Ready system for
cotton and soybeans. In 2002 over 90% of the soybean acreage and
upwards of 60% of the cotton acreage are in Roundup Ready varieties.
Using acreage data on corn and shifts into Roundup Ready varieties,
one can conservatively estimate a 40% decrease in the use of soil-applied
preemergence herbicides. The rapid acceptance and increase in
soybean and cotton acreage of Roundup Ready crops has dramatically
accelerated the reduction in soil-applied preemergence herbicides.
The Neuse
Crop Management project demonstrated that nitrogen management
is an effective and cost-efficient means for controlling nonpoint
source nitrogen from agricultural sources. Before the project,
many producers used their soil tests for lime, not phosphorus,
and they applied nitrogen at standard rates. Two-thirds of the
participating growers reported that they decreased their nitrogen
application rates as a result of project recommendations. Some
examples of estimated nitrogen rate reductions due to the project
are 15 to 20% on cotton, 14 to 28% on corn, 15 to 24% on tobacco,
and 4 to 20% on wheat. One farmer stated, "The project helped
us think through what we were doing and not just apply fertilizer
according to tradition, which is how a lot of us farmers work."
The
project's success was based on a unique set of circumstances:
the existence of the Neuse Education Team and the many other agencies
and organizations working in the Neuse River Basin; the extensive
consultation and feasibility study at the beginning of the project
which led to the creation of strong working relationships that
made the project successful on a very significant scale; the ability
to obtain funding from multiple sources; a highly competent staff;
the multidisciplinary, multiagency, and multipartner nature of
the project structure; the willingness of the farmers to be part
of the solution, having project technicians that allowed intensive,
one-on-one work with growers; an egalitarian structure that allowed
staff to make decisions and do their work relatively independently;
and the regulatory pressures for nitrogen reduction.
One
of the project's advisory board members, who is also a farmer,
summarized the project, "This project provides an opportunity
for farmers to provide leadership in implementing solutions to
solve regional problems" – Charles Alexander, Pamlico County producer.
 For
more information, contact
Project Manager
Deanna Osmond
Soils Extension Specialist
North Carolina State University
E mail: deanna_osmond@ncsu.edu
Website: NCSU
Neuse Project Website
View
the Final Report
View
the Press Release (PDF file
size approx. 150K)
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