4R in the News: “Reining in runoff”
In his recent article titled “Reining in runoff,” Bill Ryan, farm editor of the Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green, Ohio, shared that more farmers are implementing the 4R program on their farms in a concerted effort to improve water quality. Read an excerpt of the story below, and the full story at the link below it.
Though farm work often deals with contaminants, today’s farmers are making a concerted effort to assure minimal runoff from their fields into public waterways.
According to Paul Herringshaw, an increasing number of producers are implementing the “4R” program on their farms. For those not familiar, the 4R system stresses using the right fertilizer source at the right rate, the right time and the right place.
Kirk Merritt, Ohio Soybean Council executive director, concurs, “Our organization is finding a lot of receptivity to the program. There is a high level of awareness.”
Herringshaw, a Bowling Green farmer who has represented the Ohio Corn Marketing Program with national and international contacts, also spoke about the investment of more than $2 million by a variety of Ohio farm entities to assure the agriculture committee is doing its part to ensure there are healthy watersheds in Ohio. The investment involves research conducted by Ohio State University and Ohio’s agricultural organizations to determine how much fertilizer is making its way into the watersheds.
“We’re doing research now that will help answer some of those questions,” the soybean executive elaborated about the $2 million project which will span three years. “We’re looking at such things as how the dissolved phosphorus is leaving the land and getting into the water.”
He said this is similar to the time more than 30 years ago when erosion of the soil was a major problem.
“Farmers decided to be part of the solution. Today, erosion is a fraction of what it was in years past,” Merritt said explaining both then and now farmers exemplify their willingness to step up.