To reduce the nutrient loss - specifically nitrates from farm fields - and keep the nutrients from entering the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers and their tributaries
Below is a news release from ACWA.
Public comment
response to nutrient management strategy proposed.
Please be advised that ACWA supports the nutrient management
strategy that has been proposed for adoption in Iowa. Since its formation, our organization has
been actively monitoring the waters of the Raccoon and Des Moines River
watersheds on a voluntary basis for over 12 years. The knowledge gained from our initial
monitoring work led to a variety of pilot initiatives and demonstration
projects aimed at improving water quality.
There have been successes. Key
conclusions from this effort have proven that there is no one size fits all
solution and that informed producers want to adopt those practices that can
impact improved water quality. We
believe a science based approach for producers to implement the most effective
practices specific to their farms can be the most powerful resource to achieve
water quality improvement on a broad scale.
On Nov. 19, Governor Terry Branstad was joined by representatives
of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University and
unveiled a draft strategy emphasizing voluntary efforts to continue reductions
in non-point source nutrient loading from farm fields.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Iowa Department of
Natural Resources have put their full support behind this alternative approach
that relies on voluntary efforts rather
than top-down regulation. They will prioritize the top watersheds in Iowa
and focus resources to make improvements in coordination and cooperation with
landowners. Iowa State University has developed a technical assessment of the
best management practices available to reduce nutrients, their effectiveness
and implementation costs.
The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is the first, real-world and
comprehensive assessment done of the effectiveness of farming conservation
practices with respect to achieving nutrient reduction in surface water. But
there are many outside of agriculture who believe it would be better to simply
regulate water quality.
The Strategy would benefit from hearing real farmers
By receiving this correspondence
we are seeking your input as farmers to share your experiences and
successes with farming practices which improve soil and water stewardship.
Please
provide your personalized comments by January 18 through the ISU website,
it is very simple. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy with supporting
information and the place for sending comments online can be found at
www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu. You can also mail comments to: Nutrient Reduction Strategy, ANR Program Services, 2101 Agronomy
Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011-1010.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has requested $2.4
million for an agricultural water quality initiative as part of the Iowa
Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship’s fiscal year 2014 budget
request. The 2014 request would provide $575,000 for marketing and outreach,
$1.68 million for water quality initiative cost share and $150,000 for
staffing. It also proposes additional $4.4 million in funding for water quality
in fiscal 2015. Your support of these
funding levels would be helpful.
Background information
for making comments
How
to submit your comments
At the ISU Nutrient Strategy Web site for
submitting comments you will be asked to provide your name and other contact
info. You will also need to check the
pertinent box/section of the strategy that your comments are directed at, as
follows:
- Executive Summary
- Policy Considerations and Strategy
- Nonpoint Source Nutrient Reduction Science
Assessment
- Point Source Nutrient Reduction Technology
Assessment
If you are preparing general comments we suggest you check Executive
Summary and/or the Policy Considerations box.
Make your comments
personal…Considerations:
"As a
farmer, I have an ethical obligation to make sure I’m doing everything I can do
to protect our natural resources so I use a variety of conservation methods on
my farm (list them)."
"On our farm we use the
following conservation practices (list soil, nutrients management, etc..)."
"I have participated in the following programs (list
State/Federal/Private conservation programs etc....)"
"My investment in soil and water conservation is XXXX$ /(year or
total)."
"Over the last several years I have changed my management to
address soil and water ..... and this has resulted in (......)".
"Conservation is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach across the
state. Strategies need to suit the soils, terrain, and crops grown. It makes
sense to focus voluntary efforts as we have seen success in Iowa in addressing
localized soil and water resource issues."
"The strategy is written to address both point and
nonpoint source nutrient pollution which recognizes that we all live in a
watershed and that we need to work together to realize continued progress on
these issues."
The corn and soybean markets started off stronger last night, making new highs for the move only to fail and slip lower. The weakness could be nothing more than a little profit taking as the market may have exhausted the buyers during yesterday’s strong rally. The weather forecast hasn’t changed a whole lot but there were rains that fell in Argentina last night (as forecasted). So if you wanted you could massage some bearish news out of that, which I think is what helped cause the rally effort to fail last night.
