Nutrient Management:-Education, On-farm Research,

Training-

Presented by: Dennis Frame

Discovery Farms Program

Kevin ErbEnvironmental Resources Center

Scott SturgulNutrient & Pest Mgmt. Program

UWEX Conference – October 19, 2010

Nutrient Management

Combine on-farm nutrient sources, with commercial fertilizer, to meet crop need.

On-farm nutrient sources (manure, legumes, soil reserves)

Commercial fertilizer

Minimize nutrient losses

Nutrient Management Planning in Wisconsin

University

Soil Fertility & Water Quality Research

Agricultural & Natural Resource Protection Agencies

Water Quality Protection

Education & Demonstration Regulation

Nutrient Management Standard - 590

Implementation on Wisconsin Farms

Private Industry, Conservation and Extension staff

Today’s Topics

Coordinated Wisconsin response to nutrient management education & implementation

The Nutrient Management Farmer Education curriculum

Discovery Farms on-farm research/monitoring findings

Conservation technology transfer training

Custom Manure Haulers

Legislative Action,Incentives,

Multi-agency work plans & goals,

UWEX response

State of Wisconsin’s NM Initiative & Funding

2008 revision of ATCP 50 Cost-share for NM planning up to $6.5M/yr Up to $650K/yr to UW-CALS, UWEX for

educational support• SNAP-Plus software

• Farmer outreach & education

• MALWEG grants for farmer training

• Evaluation

Coordinated joint UW & UWEX proposal

The Best of Intentions, but ...

$6M/yr for NM c/s reduced to ~$519K/yr

$650K for educational support reduced to ~$458K/yr• SNAP-Plus (UW-Madison-Soils) [$169K]

• UW Education support (NPM, DF) [$192K]

• MALWEG grants & evaluation (ERC) [$97K]

• Technical Colleges support [$60K]

UW & UWEXAccomplishments

SNAP-PlusIntent: “Maintain & improve the SNAP-Plus

software program”

Products:• Expanded research base

• Updated predictive models

• New reporting capabilities

• Training, technical support, and maintenance

www.snapplus.net

Farmer Training Grants

Intent: “Facilitate farmer training through grants & other support”

Products: MALWEG grants to counties• Farmer stipends & instructor support

• 2008/09: 15 grants (18 counties)

• 2009/10: 11 grants (14 counties)

Evaluation • Data collected from NMFEC instructors

• Broader, large-scale evaluations – a work in progress

Education Support for NM

Intent: “Expand & support NM planning through education, outreach, and project implementation”

Participants: DF, NPM, NM Team, Agents, LCDs, Tech Colleges

Products• Delivery & maintenance of the NMFEC

• NM publications

• NM training & outreach to many audiences.

Nutrient Management Farmer Education Program

- Curriculum Based on UW soil fertility

recommendations and current nut. mgmt. regulations.

Delivered locally by UWEX, LCD, NRCS, technical colleges, private industry.

Workshops, on-farm demonstration, etc. with end product being functional nutrient management plans.

Majority of plans prepared by farmers themselves.

Development of the NMFEC

Developed & piloted by Dennis Frame & Paul Kivlin Refined and mass produced by:

• Soils faculty, NPM Program, Discovery Farms, UWEX NM-SDT UWEX-CNRED-ERC contributions:

• County-level funding for implementation via MALWEG grants• Evaluation tool

1999 initial release - with 5 subsequent updates Financial supporters of project:

• WMMB WDATCP* NRCS• Wis. Farm Bureau UWEX-ERC

*Statutorily endorsed as mechanism for certifying farmers to write NM plans

Intent & Purpose

To develop NM plans that are implemented.

To teach producers basic nutrient management principles and practices for protecting water quality and farm profits.

To involve farmers in the development of their own NM plans.

To assist farmers in complying with regulations.

Collaborative Accomplishments

- NMFEC Programming -

Collaborative Accomplishments

- NMFEC Programming -

Collaborative Accomplishments

- NMFEC Programming -

NMFE Curriculum Accomplishments

2000 – 20103,200+ producers participants

•Major enterprise = dairy

•~ 80% developed or assisted in the development of their NM plans

~ 977,500 acres planned*

48+ Wisconsin counties

Nutrient Management Plan Acres

Reported by WDATCP: 1996-2010

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

Acre

s

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Other AccomplishmentsNutrient management training programs

• Training for NM Planners (TNMP) workshops

• NMFEC Train-the-Trainer workshops

• Other

NM publications• Free of charge and free shipping

Support and expansion of NM educational programming efforts.

Future Plans

Revision and re-issue of the Nutrient Management Farmer Education curriculum in 2010.•AVAILABLE HERE & NOW!!

Continued support & utilization for local delivery of nutrient management education programs.