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OSU College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
More Than
10,000 Ohio Farmers Have Received Water Quality Training
From Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County
COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a little over a year, Ohio State University
Extension has trained more than 10,000 Ohio farmers on best practices
to apply fertilizer for optimum crop yield, reduce the risk of nutrient
runoff and improve water quality throughout the state. And more
training opportunities are scheduled to reach even more farmers.
Known as Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training (FACT), this
program allows farmers and commercial fertilizer applicators to meet
the educational requirements of Ohio’s new agricultural fertilization
law. Passed in 2014, the legislation requires individuals who apply
fertilizer to more than 50 acres to become certified by Sept. 30, 2017.
FACT was developed by researchers and educators with the College of
Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State
University and is offered in partnership with the Ohio Department of
Agriculture. The training provides research-based tactics to keep
nutrients in the field and available to crops while increasing
stewardship of nearby and downstream water resources.
Experts say soluble phosphorus runoff from farms is a contributor to
the harmful algal blooms plaguing Lake Erie and other bodies of water
in recent years.
“Since we started offering this training in the fall of 2014, we have
reached more than 10,000 farmers statewide, averaging about two
training sessions per county,” said Harold Watters, an OSU Extension
field specialist for agronomic systems. “I expect we will be at about
11,000 farmers when the winter training season ends this April 1.”
OSU Extension is the statewide outreach arm of the college.
According to 2015 U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the
average Ohio farm is 188 acres. Using this figure, 11,000 farmers
trained would represent a little over 2 million acres of farmland
impacted so far by FACT.
“We need to reach a total of approximately 25,000 farm owners that need
to be certified,” Watters said. “We are less than halfway there but are
planning to offer summer field days and additional training before the
fall to capture more farmers before we hit the next winter meeting
season, when the bulk of the training takes place.”
Each three-hour training session focuses on teaching farmers and
commercial applicators the methods and management techniques needed to
achieve the appropriate rate, timing, placement and source for
fertilizer applications.
“The main goal of this training is to help farmers continue to achieve
high levels of productivity while reducing input usage and cost by
keeping more of that fertilizer in the soil where crops can use it,”
said Greg LaBarge, also a field specialist for agronomic systems with
OSU Extension.
“These practices will then translate into better water quality because
less nutrients will be washed off farmland and end up in water sources.”
The training also provides information on the link between phosphorus,
harmful algal blooms and agriculture; best management practices for
phosphorus and nitrogen applications; and soil testing as a valuable
tool for confidence and adaptive management.
Watters said a big part of the training revolves around awareness of
the link between farm fertilizer runoff and water quality issues.
“I would say about 90 percent of participants have a level of
acceptance of the role of agriculture in the current water situation,”
he said. “We try to explain their role in the problem and how they can
help improve water quality through the techniques and practices we are
teaching them.”
LaBarge added that FACT has helped farmers and applicators understand
the issue of water pollution better and to see the connections between
production and environmental stewardship.
“Farmers receiving this training see that we are talking about issues
of importance to them both in terms of economics and the environment,”
he said. “All these issues relate to production, as we are trying to
help them better match the inputs that go in the soil with the yield
that comes out.
“Nutrients lost to runoff impact production and water quality at the
same time, so it’s in everyone’s interest to reduce that loss.”
Watters and LaBarge agree that training and implementation of best
management practices represent a long-term process and that it will
take years to see quantifiable results.
“We’re early in the process and need to be patient,” Watters said. “We
need to do more, but we are headed in the right direction.”
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