Those responsible for much of the fertilizer sprayed on crop fields in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana are not farmers, but rather the farmers’ crop advisers and agricultural retailers.
“There might be 100 farmers with one crop adviser. If we work with that one crop adviser so they are making the best recommendations, we have reached 100 farmers. It gets more nutrition management on the ground (and) we implement the 4R’s a lot faster.”
— Carrie Vollmer-Sanders
The Nature Conservancy and the Ohio Agribusiness Association have developed a program in which crop advisers and retailers — those companies that sell fertilizer to farmers and also apply it — can undergo voluntary certification in an effort to prevent chemical runoff from fields.
After a rainfall, the runoff from fertilized fields is laden with nutrients. The nutrients flow into tributaries, rivers and into Ohio’s biggest natural resource, Lake Erie. Among the nutrients is phosphorous, which is the main culprit in forming the toxic algae blooms responsible for a shutdown of Toledo’s water supply in August.
The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program is a voluntary certification process in which companies undergo an audit and must demonstrate they are applying fertilizer in a responsible manner.
The program shows the agricultural industry’s commitment to clean water, said Chris Henney, president and CEO of Ohio Agribusiness Association, a trade group that manages the program.
“We’re very proud of our work on this and we think it’s very important we all do our part. I think our program is one way to show we’re committed to being part of the solution,” Henney said. “These companies want to show they’re committed and that they are very supportive of this program.”
In March, crop advisers and retailers began the process of certification. Currently, 50 companies are being audited, although Henney declined to name any of them. He did say their response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. The companies are primarily from Northwest Ohio in the Western Lake Erie watershed. A few are outside the watershed or from Michigan and Indiana.
Program managers are expected to announce the first company to earn its certification in October, Henney said.
The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program ensures companies are proficient in the best practices and the best science behind applying fertilizer, or what’s called the four R’s, or 4R’s: “Using the right source of fertilizer, at the right rate, at the right time, in the right place.”
Agricultural businesses, farmers, researchers, university faculty and environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy helped to develop the concept of 4R nutrient stewardship years ago, Henney said, adding that farmers have known for a long time that good management practices are required to sustain their fields.
“Many companies have been doing [the 4Rs] for many years but now we’re requiring them to prove it,” Henney said.
The 4R practice helps to keep fertilizer on the crops where it belongs, and out of the water supply. As part of the program criteria, companies are not allowed to apply fertilizer on frozen ground or apply before a heavy rainfall.
The watershed is 7 million acres; fewer than 5 million is farmland.
Because of the criteria, the program will have a “positive impact” on Lake Erie as well as in streams and tributaries, said Carrie Vollmer-Sanders of The Nature Conservancy, who was honored by President Barack Obama as part of the “Champions of Change” initiative for her work with the 4R Stewardship Certification Program.
“There might be 100 farmers with one crop adviser. If we work with that one crop adviser so they are making the best recommendations, we have reached 100 farmers,” she said. “It gets more nutrition management on the ground (and) we implement the 4R’s a lot faster.”
Each adviser or retailer within the program represents about 40,000 acres on the watershed, she said.
“Twenty percent of the watershed could be under the 4R entity in a year, which is huge,” she said.
Joe Cornely, spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, an organization that represents 60,000 farmers, 85 percent of them in Ohio, said the feedback he’s been getting is positive. Farmers are glad to have their advisers and retailers commit to clean water, he said.
The campaign for clean water goes back years, Cornely said. As an example, his organization hired a water quality expert 15 years ago and today they have plans to hire another. The farming industry is not alone, he said. The marina owners, the charter boat captains, the beverage industry — all those who have a quality-of-life dependency on the lake are following the water issues. The water crisis in Toledo raised overall awareness of the issues, he said.
Farmers are now required by Senate Bill 150 to become state certified in the application of fertilizer by 2017. Cornely said the bill is a “good thing” but it’s only “one thing.”
“We don’t make the claim that that’s the only thing that needs to be done,” he said. “This is a very broad, complex problem. There are no individual steps that work — it’s going to take a lot.”
