Water Quality Initiative: Tile Monitoring 2014
February 19, 2015 Ames, Iowa
Water Quality Initiative: Tile Monitoring 2014 Adam Kiel Iowa Soybean Association [email protected]
Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Presentation Outline
• Water Quality Initiative (WQI) overview • Monitoring program and process • Results – Phosphorus – Nitrate
• Examples of improvement • Conclusion
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Quality Initiative (WQI) • Projects demonstrate Nutrient Reduction Strategy • Increased awareness and adoption of practices • Local and regional hubs for demonstrating practices
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Quality Initiative (WQI) • Monitoring and practice evaluation occurring with most projects • Includes: – – – –
Water Agronomic Soil Social
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Monitoring Process • Trained staff collect samples from tile outlets and streams • Samples analyzed at ISA’s certified laboratory • Results housed in secure ISA database • Reports provided to participants
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Monitoring Process • Additional information gathered: – Tile drainage information (size, age, drainage area, etc.) – Agronomic information (crop, tillage, manure/nutrients, etc.) – Conservation practice information
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
2014 By the Numbers • 153 total monitoring sites • 1,213 samples collected plus many more attempts – 793 tile outlet samples – 248 stream/ditch samples – Remaining samples from bioreactors, ponds and wetlands
• 92 sites with at least 5 samples
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Limitations • One year of data • Detecting change is difficult, except for treatment practices: – Bioreactors – Ponds – Wetlands
• Only concentration data • Only dissolved form of phosphorus
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Phosphate Results Statewide Tile Phosphate Results 2014 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2
Tile Phosphate mg/L
2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
• 2/3rd of samples below detection limit of 0.1 mg/L ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Phosphate Results Frequency of Tile Phosphate Results 600
518
Number of Tile Samples
500
400
300
15% of Samples
200
119 100
25
43
71
0 0-0.1 mg/L
0.1-0.2 mg/L
0.2-0.3 mg/L
0.3-0.4 mg/L
0.5+ mg/L
Sample Result ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results Statewide Tile Nitrate Results 2014 60
Tile Nitrate mg/L
50
40
30
20
10
0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results Frequency of Tile Nitrate Results 250 199
200 Number of Samples
171 150
22% of Samples
31% of Samples 115
97
100 73
70 54
50
0 0-5 mg/L
5-10 mg/L
10-15 mg/L
15-20 mg/L
20-25 mg/L
25-30 mg/L
>30 mg/L
Sample Result
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results 2014 Tile Average, High & Low Nitrate Concentration 60 High
50
Average Low
Nitrate mg/L
40
30
20
Drinking Water Improvement
10
0
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Landform Region
Landform Region
Nitrate Average mg/L
Des Moines Lobe
18.6
Iowan Surface
18.5
Southern Iowa Drift Plain
10.7
Statewide
16.5
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Crop
Vs.
Corn
Soybeans May June July August September October November Year
Monthly Average Tile Nitrate mg/L 13.69 15.32 15.78 16.33 13.94 13.35 17.64 14.88
May June July August September October November Year
Monthly Average Tile Nitrate mg/L 14.91 15.74 17.03 6.01 7.71 13.23 23.48 13.04
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Crop Monthly Tile Nitrate Average by Crop 25.00
Nitrate mg/L
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
May
June
July
Soybeans
August
September
October
November
Corn
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Tillage Practice
Vs.
No-Till
Tillage
Nitrate Average mg/L
Phosphate Average mg/L
Number of Samples
Nitrate Average mg/L
Phosphate Average mg/L
Number of Samples
14.62
0.22
110
12.37
0.19
85
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Examples of Improvement • Boone River Watershed – Corn/Soybean Rotation Boone River Watershed Tile Nitrate Results 2014 – Cover Crops 40 35
Tile Nitrate mg/L
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
1-Dec
Examples of Improvement • Bioreactor constructed in 2014 Bioreactor Nitrate Levels 16.00 14.00
Nitrate mg/L
12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 27-Aug
9-Sep Tile Water In
23-Sep
8-Oct
24-Oct
Bioreactor Out
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Examples of Improvement • Pond in SE Iowa Pond Nitrate Concentrations 14 12
Tile Nitrate mg/L
10
Tile water in
8 6 4 2 0 1-Apr
Pond water out
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Conclusions from 2014
• 31% of N and 15% of P samples above ideal levels • Water quality differences were evident between different crops, tillage methods and landform regions • A baseline established to detect changes in field management • Improvements have been documented • Farmers expressed great benefit in data and are motivated to make improvements ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Quality Initiative: Tile Monitoring 2014 Adam Kiel Iowa Soybean Association [email protected]
Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Presentation Outline
• Water Quality Initiative (WQI) overview • Monitoring program and process • Results – Phosphorus – Nitrate
• Examples of improvement • Conclusion
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Quality Initiative (WQI) • Projects demonstrate Nutrient Reduction Strategy • Increased awareness and adoption of practices • Local and regional hubs for demonstrating practices
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Quality Initiative (WQI) • Monitoring and practice evaluation occurring with most projects • Includes: – – – –
Water Agronomic Soil Social
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Monitoring Process • Trained staff collect samples from tile outlets and streams • Samples analyzed at ISA’s certified laboratory • Results housed in secure ISA database • Reports provided to participants
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Water Monitoring Process • Additional information gathered: – Tile drainage information (size, age, drainage area, etc.) – Agronomic information (crop, tillage, manure/nutrients, etc.) – Conservation practice information
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
2014 By the Numbers • 153 total monitoring sites • 1,213 samples collected plus many more attempts – 793 tile outlet samples – 248 stream/ditch samples – Remaining samples from bioreactors, ponds and wetlands
• 92 sites with at least 5 samples
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Limitations • One year of data • Detecting change is difficult, except for treatment practices: – Bioreactors – Ponds – Wetlands
• Only concentration data • Only dissolved form of phosphorus
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Phosphate Results Statewide Tile Phosphate Results 2014 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2
Tile Phosphate mg/L
2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
• 2/3rd of samples below detection limit of 0.1 mg/L ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Phosphate Results Frequency of Tile Phosphate Results 600
518
Number of Tile Samples
500
400
300
15% of Samples
200
119 100
25
43
71
0 0-0.1 mg/L
0.1-0.2 mg/L
0.2-0.3 mg/L
0.3-0.4 mg/L
0.5+ mg/L
Sample Result ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results Statewide Tile Nitrate Results 2014 60
Tile Nitrate mg/L
50
40
30
20
10
0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results Frequency of Tile Nitrate Results 250 199
200 Number of Samples
171 150
22% of Samples
31% of Samples 115
97
100 73
70 54
50
0 0-5 mg/L
5-10 mg/L
10-15 mg/L
15-20 mg/L
20-25 mg/L
25-30 mg/L
>30 mg/L
Sample Result
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Statewide Tile Nitrate Results 2014 Tile Average, High & Low Nitrate Concentration 60 High
50
Average Low
Nitrate mg/L
40
30
20
Drinking Water Improvement
10
0
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Landform Region
Landform Region
Nitrate Average mg/L
Des Moines Lobe
18.6
Iowan Surface
18.5
Southern Iowa Drift Plain
10.7
Statewide
16.5
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Crop
Vs.
Corn
Soybeans May June July August September October November Year
Monthly Average Tile Nitrate mg/L 13.69 15.32 15.78 16.33 13.94 13.35 17.64 14.88
May June July August September October November Year
Monthly Average Tile Nitrate mg/L 14.91 15.74 17.03 6.01 7.71 13.23 23.48 13.04
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Crop Monthly Tile Nitrate Average by Crop 25.00
Nitrate mg/L
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
May
June
July
Soybeans
August
September
October
November
Corn
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Tile Nitrate by Tillage Practice
Vs.
No-Till
Tillage
Nitrate Average mg/L
Phosphate Average mg/L
Number of Samples
Nitrate Average mg/L
Phosphate Average mg/L
Number of Samples
14.62
0.22
110
12.37
0.19
85
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Examples of Improvement • Boone River Watershed – Corn/Soybean Rotation Boone River Watershed Tile Nitrate Results 2014 – Cover Crops 40 35
Tile Nitrate mg/L
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1-Apr
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
1-Dec
Examples of Improvement • Bioreactor constructed in 2014 Bioreactor Nitrate Levels 16.00 14.00
Nitrate mg/L
12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 27-Aug
9-Sep Tile Water In
23-Sep
8-Oct
24-Oct
Bioreactor Out
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Examples of Improvement • Pond in SE Iowa Pond Nitrate Concentrations 14 12
Tile Nitrate mg/L
10
Tile water in
8 6 4 2 0 1-Apr
Pond water out
1-May
1-Jun
1-Jul
1-Aug
1-Sep
1-Oct
1-Nov
1-Dec
ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
Conclusions from 2014
• 31% of N and 15% of P samples above ideal levels • Water quality differences were evident between different crops, tillage methods and landform regions • A baseline established to detect changes in field management • Improvements have been documented • Farmers expressed great benefit in data and are motivated to make improvements ISA RESEARCH Advancing Agricultural Performance® and Environmental Stewardship Funded in part by the soybean checkoff
