Illinois
Fertilizer Conference Proceedings
January 28-30, 1991
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Francis Thicke1
With the growing public concern about water quality and other environmental
issues today, there is increasing pressure for regulation of fertilizer and
pesticide use. We are being asked to reassess our use of agricultural chemicals
and to minimize potential threats to the environment. The USDA maintains that
American agriculture can use chemicals in an environmentally sensitive manner
on a voluntary basis and has
initiated -a variety of programs to serve that purpose. Nevertheless, many regulations
are already being implemented--particularly at the state and local levels.
"Perception is reality" is a cliche often heard in our nation's capital. Public opinion--based on values shaped by perceptions--is he reality policy makers deal with on a daily basis. It is tempting to advocate that policy makers should just "stick to the facts." However, this ignores the reality that 1) science seldom has all the facts on emerging controversial issues and 2) value judgements are an inevitable part of the decision-making process in a democratic society. Value judgements result from the interpretation of perceptions, scientifically substantiated or otherwise. Even when all the "facts" are in, opposing factions will still tend to interpret the facts in terms of their perceptions of the potential benefits, detriments, or risks to them that are associated with various policy options.
The programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are based on a voluntary approach, the premise that given sufficient research, education, and technical and financial assistance, producers will voluntarily adopt and use production practices that protect water quality and the environment. Some people, both inside and outside the government, prefer a more regulatory approach. They argue that time for a voluntary approach to protecting our nation's water resources has already run out. But by giving USDA the lead role in the President's Water Quality Initiative, President Bush has clearly come out in favor of a voluntary approach--at least for now. However, a senior examiner of the Administration's Office of Management and Budget has emphasized that "Agriculture is the remaining major unregulated source of environmental, primarily water, pollutants ... (the voluntary approach) is a choice that can be revoked. And pressure is increasing to do just that (1)."
Below is a brief outline of some of USDA's programs that address environmental concerns. This is followed by some examples of regulatory approaches that are already in effect or have been proposed for the future.
In its leadership role, USDA has developed and begun implementing a comprehensive five year plan to support the Presidents Water Quality Initiative (2). The plan coordinates the water quality efforts of 11 USDA agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The five-year plan has three major components: 1) research, 2) education and technical assistance, and 3) the development of water quality databases.
The main goals of the research component are to assess the seriousness and extent of agriculture's impact on groundwater, quality, and to develop new and improved agricultural systems that are cost, effective and enhance groundwater quality. One major emphasis of the research activities is the "Midwest Initiative." In this effort, five sites have been selected in the Midwest (in IA, MN, MO, NE, and OH) for intensive development and testing of crop production systems that protect water quality.
The goal of the education and technical assistance component of the Water Quality Initiative is to increase the adoption of management practices and systems that reduce or prevent contamination of ground or surface water (3). One emphasis of this effort is to accelerate the training of field staff in water quality principles and to develop needed program materials in order to expand the capacity of Extension and the Soil Conservation Service field staff to be able to provide water quality education and technical assistance to producers.
As part of the USDA five-year plan, 74 projects, called "Hydrologic Unit Areas," have been initiated in selected watersheds nationwide. In these watershed areas--which were previously identified as having water quality problems--education, technical assistance, and (in some cases) financial assistance programs are being implemented to help producers meet water quality goals without undue economic hardship. Two of the Hydrologic Unit Areas are in Illinois: the Illinois River Sands Project in Mason County, and the Little Vermilion River Project in Champaign, Edgar, and Vermilion Counties.
Also as part of the education and technical assistance component, 16 large-scale Demonstration Projects have been initiated. The objective of these projects is to demonstrate the effectiveness of selected practices for treating specific nonpoint source pollution problems, and to accelerate the adoption of those practices.
The third component of the Water Quality Initiative is to build nationally coordinated databases on agricultural chemical usages and on crop acreages and farm practices related to usages. As part of this effort, surveys have been initiated to estimate pesticide and fertilizer usages on cotton, corn, and soybeans.
The Conservation Title of the new Farm Bill contains four new environmental programs. Each oŁ these voluntary programs requires participating farmers to develop and implement an approved plan in order to receive the benefits of the program. Below is a brief outline of these programs; the detailed rules and regulations are still being written.
The Water Quality Incentives Program will pay producers to implement practices that reduce the release of nutrients, pesticides, animal wastes, and other agricultural pollutants into the environment. Participating producers will receive an incentive on a per-acre basis for 3 to 5 years, not to exceed $3,500 per year. Base and yield will be protected if rotations out of program crops are required by the plan. Additionally, producers may receive up to $1,500 over the life of the contract for practices that preserve and enhance wetlands or wildlife habitat. Eligible lands include those in wellhead protection areas, karst areas, and critical areas within watersheds identified by states as having problems from agricultural nonpoint sources of pollution.
The Integrated Farm Management Program Option allows producers to plant "resourceconserving crops" (forage legumes, grasses, and small grains--except wheat and malting barley) on commodity base acres. Producers will receive the deficiency payments of the program crop on these acres, and base acreages and yields will be protected. At least 20X of the enrolled base acreages must be planted to resource-conserving crops, but these crops cannot be hayed or grazed during the five-month period in each state during which haying and grazing is not allowed on conserving use acres.
The Wetlands Reserve Program will compensate producers for easements and will provide cost sharing for conservation practices on eligible lands, including farmed wetlands, converted wetlands, wetlands in CRP, and riparian areas. Easements will be either permanent, 30 years, or the maximum allowed by state law. Compensation is not to exceed the value of the land minus the value of the land with the easement.
The Environmental Easement Program will also compensate producers for easements and provide cost sharing on eligible land, which in this case includes riparian corridors, critical habitat for wildlife, and other environmentally sensitive areas. These easements are to be permanent (or the maximum allowed under state law), and existing cropland base and allotment history for the land will be permanently retired. Compensation is not to exceed the lesser of the value of the land or $250,000.
The Research Title of the Farm Bill contains a subtitle on "Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education." This subtitle reauthorizes the Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture Program (LISA). It also establishes a federal-state matching grant program for state sustainable agriculture research, extension, and education programs. This subtitle also requires USDA to develop and make available handbooks and technical guides on sustainable agriculture within two years. Additionally, it establishes a National Training Program in sustainable agriculture and requires that all Extension agricultural agents complete the training program within five years. The Farm Bill authorizes funding for the above programs, but only the LISA program has funds appropriated in the 1991' budget ($6.725 million).
Although the federal government, through the Water Quality Initiative and the 1990 Farm Bill, currently favors a voluntary approach to water protection from agricultural chemicals, many states are already enacting regulations. In 1989, over 300 groundwater protection bills that would affect agriculture were introduced in 44 state legislatures (4). At least 84 of those bills have become law. Many of these bills center on voluntary adoption of best management practices, but some mandate specific practices.
New regulations in Wisconsin require producers to have a pesticide mixing and loading pad if they apply more than 1,500 pounds of active ingredient per year (5). And, producers applying less than 1,500 pounds will have to load in the field. New rules in Iowa will limit atrazine application to 3 pounds of active ingredient per acre statewide and 1.5 pounds on sensitive soils (5). This limitation is proposed as a label change for atrazine use nationwide in 1991.
Connecticut passed the Aquifer Protection Act in 1989 as a result of contamination problems that had been identified in stratified drift aquifers in that-state. Under this law, producers in designated Aquifer Protection Zones will be required to develop and follow Resource Management Plans specifying nutrient and pesticide management practices. The required plans will be developed according to guidelines of a manual on best management practices that is being developed jointly by the Soil Conservation Service and the Connecticut Extension Service. This regulation will go into effect in July, 1992 in zones having aquifers serving over 10,000 people and in 1995 in zones having aquifers serving over 1,000 people.
Legislation passed in Nebraska in 1986 empowered the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control to designate special groundwater quality protection areas where nonpoint source pollution is considered to be a problem (6). Once an area is so designated, the local Natural Resources District must prepare a management plan to address the problem. As a result of this legislation, the Central Platte Natural Resources District (CPNRD) has imposed "voluntary" regulations for nitrogen fertilizer use. In areas of that district in which the average groundwater nitrate level is over 12.5 ppm (of which there are 440,000 acres), regulations call for producers to be certified to apply nitrogen fertilizer. Regulations also require producers in those areas to annually test their irrigation well water, take deep soil samples, take appropriate credits for nitrate in the soil and irrigation water, and complete a farm report. Also, fall application of nitrogen is restricted in these areas.
Under the Nebraska "voluntary" regulatory program, many producers in the CPNRD have still been applying excessive nitrogen fertilizer. Analysis of the 1988 farm reports found that, on average, producers were applying 15 pounds per acre of excess nitrogen due to unrealistically high yield goals, and 42 pounds per acre of excess nitrogen for the yield goal they had selected (7).
The Clean Water Act is up for reauthorization in 1991 and the Safe Drinking Water Act will be reauthorized in 1992. Congress is considering what changes or additions are needed in these pieces of legislation. In a recently released report to Congress required under the Clean Water Act, EPA recommended that agricultural producers (presumably all) should be required to develop nutrient management plans (8). The report further recommended that at a minimum, plans should be required of all producers applying nutrients in identified priority watersheds.
In a recent "Nitrogen Strategy" draft paper, EPA recommended that states be required to identify nitrogen-related problems and to develop and implement EPA-approved, water-quality-oriented, nutrient management programs. An alternative recommendation given is to require farmers in problem areas to have nutrient management plans. Suggested requirements of the plans include record keeping on all nutrient applications and the use of specific practices (e.g. side-dressing, fall/winter bans, fall cover crops). In the draft strategy, EPA also indicated that it is exploring the use of the Toxic Substance Control Act to require fertilizer dealerships to store and handle fertilizer to protect water in coordination with FIFRA rules on pesticide storage and disposal.
The USDA continues to maintain the position that regulation of agrichemical use is not necessary at this time. Nevertheless, many regulations have been implemented in the last few years, most of them at the state and local levels. Already it is clear that it is not a question of whether or not agriculture will be regulated, but how much. It appears that we will ultimately have a mix of voluntary and regulatory programs to achieve our nation's water quality goals. The balance of that mix will depend on the success of our voluntary efforts. It will take the combined efforts of all of us-researchers, consultants, industry, extension educators, and producers. If we fail to convince policy makers we can use agricultural chemicals wisely on a voluntary basis, "Big Brother" will surely tell us how to use them through regulation.
1. Offutt, Susan. 1990. Agriculture's Role in Protecting Water Quality. J. of Soil and Water Cons. 45(1):94-96.
2. USDA Water Quality Program Plan to Support the President's Water Quality Initiative. July, 1989.
3. Water Quality Education and Technical Assistance Plan. July, 1990. USDA Agriculture Information Bull. 598.
4. Hauck, Roland. Groundwater Legislation Abounds. Successful Farming, mid-February, 1990.
5. Holmberg, Mike and Preston Smith." Groundwater Laws are the Rule. Successful Farming, mid-February, 1990.
6. Moravek, M. 1988. Central Platte Natural Resources District's Groundwater Management Program. Proc. Agrichemicals and Groundwater Protection, October 24-25, Freshwater Foundation, St. Paul, Minnesota.
7. Fee, Rich. You'll Face More Limits on Nitrogen. Successful' Farming. mid-February,1990.
8. Section 319, Final Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 1989. September 17, 1990.
