Farmer-led Efforts to Improve Water Quality - Sean McMahon, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, from the 2016 Iowa Pork Congress, January 27-28, Des Moines, IA, USA. More presentations at http://www.swinecast.com/2016-iowa-pork-congress

1. Iowa Agriculture Water
Alliance
Farmer-led Efforts to Improve Water Quality
Pork Congress
January 28th, 2016

2. Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
Mission
Increase the pace and scale of farmer-led efforts
to improve water quality
Founding organizations
Iowa Corn Growers Association
Iowa Pork Producers Association
Iowa Soybean Association

3. U.S. Corn Production and Nutrient Use

4. Water Quality – National
>100,000 miles of rivers and streams
166 coastal hypoxic areas or “dead
zones” nationwide
“nutrient pollution is widespread”: 27%
river and stream miles have high N, 40%
have high P
Stream biological condition:
55% poor, 23% fair;
(9% more “good” N condition, 19% fewer
“good” P condition )
Source: 2013 EPA website: http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/riverssurvey/index.cfm ,
http://www2.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/effects-environment ,
http://www2.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/where-occurs-lakes-and-rivers

5. http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/upload/EPA-MARB-Fact-Sheet-112911_508.pdf
Water Quality – Regional
Wadeable Streams with High Nutrients

6. Gulf Hypoxia

7. <1
1 to 10
10 to 100
100 to 500
500 to 1000
>1000
<0.01
0.01 to 0.1
0.1 to 1.0
1.0 to 5.0
5.0 to 10.0
>10.0
kg km-2 yr-1 lbs/A/yr (approx.)
USGS Estimates of Loss and Delivery of N
and P to the Gulf
SPARROW - Modeled Estimate of N and P Discharge in
Watersheds of the Mississippi R. Basin
Alexander et al. Environ. Sci.
Technol. 2008, 42, 822–830

8. USGS SPARROW Modeled Sources of Annual
N Load to Gulf of Mexico
Robertson and Saad. 2013. J. Environ. Qual. 42:1422–1440

9. USGS SPARROW Modeled Sources of Annual
P Load to Gulf of Mexico
Robertson and Saad. 2013. J. Environ. Qual. 42:1422–1440

10. EPA Hypoxia SAB report
suggested
45% less total N
AND
45% less total P
discharge to the Gulf to reduce
hypoxia

11. Water Challenges – Regional
Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
David, et al., 2010. JEQ 39:1657-67
Impact on the Gulf

12. Iowa Water Challenges

13. • Nutrient content of water has more
to do with historic changes in land
use and hydrology than inputs by
farmers.
• Current major cropping system leaves soil
vulnerable to erosion and nutrient leaching.
• Markets and Technological Advances have
shifted cropping patterns and increased
productivity.
• Have the most tools available to date and
will still continue to develop and adopt new
technologies
Soils Vulnerable to Leaching

14. Changes in Land Use
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
acresharvestedinthousands
year
Corn, Hay, Small Grains, & Soybeans Harvested Trends
1866-2008
Barley
Corn Grain
Harvested
Flaxseed
Hay Alfalfa
Hay Other
Oats
Rye
Sorghum
Soybeans
Harvested
Wheat

15. Microbial production of
nitrate from native soil
(100-400 lbs N /acre/year)
Fertilizer to Corn
(~150 lbs N/acre/year)
Nitrate leaching to water
(~30 lbs N/acre/year)
Corn Grain Harvest
(~100 lbs N/acre/year)
Gaseous Loss
(~10 lbs N/acre/year)
Corn Nitrogen Cycling & Budget
Native Soil Organic Matter
Nitrogen ~ 10,000 lb N/acre
NITRATE
Microbial re-uptake of nitrate
(150-350 lbs N/acre/year)
Corn Nitrate Use
(~165 lb N/acre)
Corn Residue Return
(~65 lbs N/acre/year)
3

16. Microbial production of
nitrate from native soil
(100-400 lbs N /acre/year)
Nitrate leaching to water
(~30 lbs N/acre/year)
Soybean Grain Harvest
(~165 lbs N/acre/year)
Gaseous Loss
(~2 lbs N/acre/year)
Soybean Nitrogen Cycling & Budget
Native Soil Organic Matter
Nitrogen ~ 10,000 lb N/acre
NITRATE
Microbial re-uptake of nitrate
(150-350 lbs N/acre/year)
Soybean Nitrogen Use
(~230 lb N/acre)
Corn Residue Return
(~65 lbs N/acre/year)
Atmospheric Fixation
(~100 lbs N/acre/year)
Soybean Nitrate Use
(~130 lb N/acre/year)
4

17. Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Leads
• Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources
• Iowa State University
• Released May 2013, after public comment period
• Living document meant to be adjusted as technologies are developed and
understanding of these systems/practices improves.
• Goal of 45% Reductions in Total Nitrogen and Phosphorous

18. Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Transformational change will be required to
meet these targets, cost upwards of $4B
No single practice will meet these reductions
Current rate of adoption and investment –
centuries; best case – decades
NRCS Photo

19. Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
Conservation Practices
Cover Crops
Nutrient Management
Strip Till / No-Till
Bioreactors
Saturated Buffers
Nutrient Treatment
Wetlands
Drainage Water Management
Buffers, Grass Waterways, Terraces, Prairie STRIPS
NRCS Photo

20. Cover Crops
 NRCS Cover Crop Project:
Integrated project with OFN on
developing a cover crop planning and
evaluation protocol for Iowa farmers.
Includes demo trials, field days, and
communication/outreach.
 IDALS Cover Crop Project: A cover
crop research project in the Upper
Cedar River watershed to evaluate
economic, agronomic, and
environmental risks/benefits on the
implementation of cover crops. The
project includes an evaluation of the
hydrologic impacts from cover crops,
and overall farmer interest on the use
of cover crops in their operation.
Includes demo trials, field days, and
communication/outreach.

21. Edge of Field Monitoring
•NRCS EQIP Standard IA-799
•Monitoring of BMP’s
•6 producers enlisted with 9 total
contracts

22. 2013 Boone River EOF monitoring

23. ISA EPS – 22
Bioreactors
- 12 actively
monitoring
- Project with
Iowa
Nutrient
Research
Center
Drainage Water Treatment
Woodchip Bioreactor

24. Drainage Water Treatment
Woodchip Bioreactor
Greene County Bioreactor
Oct Apr Jul Oct Apr JulJan09 Jan10
Nitrate-N,mg/L 0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
Incoming, Nitrate, mg/L
Outgoing, Nitrate, mg/L
Maximum Contaminant Level
Woodchip Bioreactors for N
removal. An innovative
practice being applied in
watersheds with nitrogen
resource concerns. Water
monitoring data to validate
performance.

25. Re-saturated Riparian Buffers

26. = reconstructed prairie
= corn and bean row crops
ExperimePPnPtal Treatments
12 small watersheds – 1-8 ac:
Random Incomplete Block Design:
3 reps X 4 treatments X 3 blocks
0% 10% 10% 20%
Prairie STRIPS

27. 100% crops
90% crops :
*60% reduction in water runoff; *88% reduction in N;*89% reduction in P
with just 10-20% of watershed converted to prairie.
*sediment loss was reduced by more than 90 percent.
100% prairie
Images:JoseGutierrez
Sources: Zhou et al. 2012, Helmers et al. 2012, Hernandez-Santana et al. 2013; Zhou et al. 2014

28. SubfiProFfit and
ROI

29. Subfield Financial Product Design:
Current Practices
Summary
50 Year Yld Ave: 170 bu/acre
50 Year Yld STD: 38 bu/acre
Profit Average: $47 $/acre
Profit STD: $235 $/acre
Years Profitable Ave: 31
Years Profitable STD: 14
Percentage of Field
Profitable: 74%

30. Subfield Financial Product Design:
Release Acres
Summary
Discontinue ops on areas with ave
loss > $250/acre with risk adjusted
ins prem’s and int rates
Profit Average: $76 $/acre
Profit STD: $124 $/acre
Percentage of Field
Profitable: 72%
Percentage of Field
Used Profitable: 81%

31. ROI Focused Agronomic Management
No Cost Zone
Expense Limited Zone
Revenue Zone

33. Initial Estimated
Costs
Initial Cost: $5.0m
($117/ac)
Yearly Cost: $750k
($45/ac)
Water Quality – Watershed Scale
First Draft Rock Creek Watershed Management Plan
*Update – after
completion of watershed
plan, Mitchell SWCD
applied and received
WPF/WSPF funding from
IDALS. $174K/year one;
$962K total request.

34. Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
Questions?
Sean McMahon
515-334-1480
smcmahon@iowaagwateralliance.com