By: Patrick Troyer, Education Specialist Paulding SWCD
In recent years, an intense focus has been placed on excess nutrients making their way into our streams, rivers, and lake leading to algae blooms becoming a problem. It is not necessarily the nutrients themselves that we are placing our concern on, it is when these nutrients show up in excessive amounts when the alarm bells sound. Algae blooms block sunlight from reaching into the water and deplete oxygen levels which harms fish and other aquatic life in the water as well as our enjoyment of the water.
Soil health and managing nutrients have been of interest as a result. Many extension professionals, soil & water conservation staff, and policymakers have connected soil health as one of the main strategies for keeping that phosphorus in the field and out of the waterways. There is also immense interest in taking a unique perspective on soil and looking at it as a living system with a variety of physical, chemical, and biological aspects. For a long time, those involved in the agricultural industry understand the importance of having a strong physical structure to their soil. The No-Till Farmer writes that producers and soil experts have developed appreciated for the ability of the soil to allow rainwater to infiltrate down the profile and hold said water for plants to be able to utilize. Even though these properties are not a new concept for anyone, they come into play when we focus on phosphorus losses.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University suggests that soil phosphorus levels in agricultural fields have been in decline between 1993 and 2015 in at least 80% of the counties in Ohio. Researchers Steve Culman and Elizabeth Dayton from OSU feel the results play well for those throughout Ohio who are focusing their efforts to maintain good water quality while also upholding adequate agricultural production. Culman and Dayton also point out that the decline farmers throughout Ohio are most certainly doing their part to keep phosphorus in the field and out of our waterways.
One of the most important things that come into play when it comes to nutrient application with phosphorus is to first soil test the field to see if phosphorus is needed in the first place. The soil test might suggest that there are adequate amounts already in the soil so additional application may not be warranted. Soil tests could also help to determine if phosphorus is needed, how much of it will be needed to obtain the desired yield for the crop but not overloading the soil. Overloading soils is where we see our problems with phosphorus making its way into waterways or leaching into the soil arising.
Overall, the No-Till farmer continues to stress that soil health is a concept that deserves our focus since some of the practices that it promotes such as conservation tillage, cover crops, crop rotation are ones that are more than helpful to keeping nutrients in the field and preventing degradation of the soil. Soil health practices cannot simply solve all the problems when it comes to avoiding loss of phosphorus. No-Till Famer notes that as stewards of the land, we need to combine our soil health management techniques with proper placement, rate, and timing of our nutrient application. Nutrients are needed to grow healthy crops, but it is very critical to remember to be good stewards of the land and knowing what we have before moving forward with applying.
