On-Farm Research Program
A key component of The Partnership's strategy to protect the water resources of the basin is to verify BMPs are effective in reducing nitrogen that is lost to the environment. The University of Florida leads the effort to test BMPs on the Live Oak research center and on farms.
In 2000 the Partnership, led by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) initiated BMP Effectiveness Section 319 demonstration project. The demonstration/study is evaluating BMP effectiveness on commercial size row crop, dairy, and poultry operations.
Pre-BMP monitoring was initiated in 2000 to document water quality conditions under farms that had not implemented BMPs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) developed a conservation plan for the poultry and dairy operations. Since then the poultry operation has fully implemented its plan. The dairy is expected to complete implementation of its plan in 2007. BMPs have been implemented on the row crop operation. Researchers have documented both nutrient reductions and water savings on the farms. For more detailed information see the project quarterly reports at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Other research projects either completed or underway in the Suwannee River Basin include the following:
- Evaluating Effectiveness of BMPs for Animal Waste and Fertilizer Management to Reduce Nutrient Inputs into Ground Water in the Suwannee River Basin
- BMPs for Nitrogen Fertilization of High Quality Forage Grass in the Middle Suwannee River Basin
- Monitoring Nitrogen Beneath Intensive Crop Production Sites in the Middle Suwannee River Basin
- Use of Dairy Manure Effluent in a Rhizoma (Perennial Peanut) Based Cropping System
Our water is worth defending and preserving
...that's why we formed the Suwannee River Partnership