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Fertilizer Runoff

4 posts
  1. Satterwhite Kerry
    Satterwhite Kerry avatar
    11/20/2013 2:11 PM
    Ag related but interesting article.

    http://phys.org/news/2013-10-nitrate-fe ... cades.html



  2. Eyman Stuart W
    Eyman Stuart W avatar
    3/20/2014 8:03 AM
    Given what we are going though on Cape Cod, it's a scary article if true.
    Funny they don't say anything about Organic sources of Nitrogen.
    Also how much fertilizer was being applied in a single application.
    Stuart Eyman



  3. Andy Jorgensen
    Andy Jorgensen avatar
    1 posts
    3/20/2014 12:03 PM
    I had a great conversation with the Florida DEP about this issues as they are creating BMAP's (basin management action plan) for our area. They have traced isotopes in the nitrogen back to being synthetic forms and not organic as being the major contributor to pollution in our local springs. But, they also realize that the majority of land surrounding our springs is also undeveloped farmland and the fertilizer applied to these properties is the underlying cause. They also acknowledged that golf courses and even professional landscapers follow the BMP's better than the Ag industry and are not the major source of runoff pollution in our area waterways. Unfortunately though, we are still a part of the problem. Likewise, farms are also exempt due to the Right to Farm act and therefore can not be restricted to what they do to their properties.



  4. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    3/20/2014 2:03 PM
    Andy Jorgensen said: I had a great conversation with the Florida DEP about this issues as they are creating BMAP's (basin management action plan) for our area. They have traced isotopes in the nitrogen back to being synthetic forms and not organic as being the major contributor to pollution in our local springs. But, they also realize that the majority of land surrounding our springs is also undeveloped farmland and the fertilizer applied to these properties is the underlying cause. They also acknowledged that golf courses and even professional landscapers follow the BMP's better than the Ag industry and are not the major source of runoff pollution in our area waterways. Unfortunately though, we are still a part of the problem. Likewise, farms are also exempt from the Right to Farm act and therefore can not be restricted to what they do to their properties.


    Thanks Andy for that information. We have a Right to Farm act bill going through our state legislature right now, I'm going to look into it and see if they get the same free pass on fertilizer.

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

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