As you may be aware, a study released by the University of Michigan Water Center last week suggested a variety of mostly non-practical scenarios are needed to meet nutrient loading reduction targets in Lake Erie and curb toxic algae blooms. Much media attention has been given to this study, and its merit and feasibility has been called into question.
The study analyzed a dozen scenarios using various management practices to try to achieve the 40 percent phosphorus reduction target set by the governments of Ohio, Michigan and Ontario. One such scenario deemed successful would immediately remove 30,000 acres from traditional crop production (the equivalent of 128 farms in the Maumee River watershed) and convert it to switchgrass. Read other scenarios in the original report.
There’s no question that farmers and agribusinesses play a significant role in reducing nutrient runoff into Lake Erie, and the study certainly portrays the challenges that lay ahead. However, there is reason for concern with the report’s validity and feasibility.
The Michigan Agri-Business Association shared in a release last week that the study used 15-year old data, compiled between 1987 and 2001, ignoring improvements in agricultural practices, including consistent decreases in fertilizer and manure applications, precision agriculture practices based upon advanced soil testing and more.
Ohio agriculture organizations, including OABA, that have contributed millions of dollars in collaborative funding to address agriculture’s role in water quality issues, and have been supportive of several new laws to address the situation, also find the report troubling.
“Our biggest concern with the report is that it proposes some very impractical solutions that could have severe economic and social consequences,” Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Spokesman Joe Cornely said in a Hannah News Service story about the study. “Worse, it creates unrealistic expectations among the public. There are no scenarios under which the problem gets fixed immediately.”
In addition, farms and agribusinesses in the Maumee River watershed were specifically singled out by the study, giving the impression that the whole problem can be fixed by farmers in a single geography. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cites the watershed as contributing 40 percent of the nutrient load in Lake Erie; not the 85 percent estimated by the University of Michigan study.
Despite its flaws and impracticalities, the study’s results overwhelmingly support the importance of programs like the OABA-administered 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification program. In just under two years since its inception, the program features 28 certified facilities providing the best 4R nutrient stewardship recommendations and practices to over 4,500 farm-based clients covering approximately 1.9 million acres, with over 1.3 million acres in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
We know Ohio’s farmers and agribusinesses are serious about reducing nutrient runoff and improving water quality, and the program is proof that they are already voluntarily adopting many of the practices identified in the study at an impressive rate.
The reduction of nutrients into Lake Erie and the rest of our state’s waterways is a priority for all of us. There are many challenges ahead that will require a great investment of time, resources, studies and testing, and it will require much more than a one-size-fits-all approach.
It’s our responsibility to work together to gather reliable and actionable information, set shared goals, demand innovation, and provide honest and practical assessments of existing and new programs, policies and partnerships to achieve the desired levels of success we seek.
OABA will be at the forefront, sitting at the table, working toward solutions good for all while keeping you informed, productive and profitable along the way.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 614-326-7520 or chenney@oaba.net.
Chris Henney
President and CEO