Agricultural and Water
Quality
Farmer Advisory Committee
What can Farmers Do?
Conservation Reserve Enhancement
Program
Manure Management
Field Conservation Practices
Success Stories
Cost Share Programs
Agricultural and Water Quality
Farmers have a direct impact on their land, and the land, in turn, has a direct impact on the quality of water in our watershed.
Agricultural Outreach Committee
The purpose of the Agricultural Outreach Committee is two-fold: To provide advice and guidance to the Watershed Project on how to address nonpoint source issues in the watershed and to provide leadership and aid in getting more farmers involved. The committee meets every other month to discuss current projects and is always interested in encouraging local farmers to be proactive in addressing water related issues on their farms. Please contact the MACC office for more information.
What can Farmers Do?
Farmers can begin by learning more about water quality issues in the Macatawa Watershed and the impact of excess phosphorus and sediment on local waterways. Then by going back and looking at their farm and their practices, farmers can begin to judge their risk and take proactive steps on their farm. We have included some information to help with those first steps that can be done on a farm to improve water quality in the watershed.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is a voluntary program offering financial incentives for the installation and maintenance of conservation practices on agricultural land.
CREP enrollment is offered on a watershed basis throughout Michigan and the United States. The three priority watersheds in Michigan are the Macatawa, Saginaw Bay, and River Raisin Watersheds.
Agricultural land In the Macatawa Watershed may be eligible for significant cost-share and inventive payments for the installation of Practices such as Filter Strips, Windbreaks, Forest Riparian Buffer, Sediment Retention Control Structure, Wetland Restoration, and Native or Introduced Grass Planting.
Cost share money is still available for CREP, so now is the time to reconsider previous conservation plans, or develop new plans.
For more information about Conservation Practices, CREP or other USDA cost-share programs, please contact:
Amy Lockhart CREP Technician, Allegan
Conservation District
1668 Lincoln Road
Allegan , MI 49079
Tel: 269-673-8965
E-mail: amy.lockhart@mi.nacdnet.net
To view Conservation Practices Available Through CREP. Click Here
To view general information about CREP click here.
Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans
A Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) is a planning tool that details the activities implemented on a specific farming operation. A CNMP describes a farm’s production practices, as well as the equipment and structure(s) used. It combines conservation practices with management activities to create a system that addresses animal production operations from fee inputs to the use of animal manure and other organic by-products .
A complete CNMP consists of:
- Overview
- Farm Map
- Animal Manure Outputs
- Conservation Practices on Fields
- Land Application Management and Alternative Utilization Techniques
- Inputs to Animals
- Record of CNMP Implementation
- Inspection, Operation, Maintenance and Training
- Schedule of Implementation
- Emergency Action Plan, References and Appendices
The focus of the Watershed Project is on those field conservation practices that are part of a complete CNMP. While we recommend that a farm develop a CNMP for its operation, we recognize that this can be a long planning process. We are proposing here that farmers become educated about these field practices and implement them as appropriate, as one step toward eventually having a CNMP.
This requires that farmers look at their fields and answer:
Where does the run-off go?
Do I have gullies forming?
Is soil leaving the field during the rain and entering the stream?
These issues can be addressed by some of the practices described on this website. Most farms could benefit by installing one of more of these field conservation practices. (FILE MISSING)
Other things that a farmer can do now are:
- Obtain a current soil test for all active fields
- Obtain a current manure test. These will help you get started developing a CNMP. The MAEAP can provide more information.
- Finally, take a look at your fields and determine which Field Conservation Practices could help eliminate soil loss from your field.
Manure Management
Livestock operations can generate lots of manure. When managed properly, it becomes both an asset to the farm and the environment, lessening the amount of commercial fertilizers that are required. However, the quality of the surrounding surface water is directly linked to properly managing the manure, especially during land application.
Manure contributes many nutrients including phosphorus to the land and to the water once it enters a drain or stream.Proper manure management encompasses all stages from production, collection, storage, transfer, and finally, utilization.
Proper manure management is vital to the quality of the water and the health of the watershed. We recommend that you seek more information about manure management from your local Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) Agent or consultant. The MSUE website has additional information on manure management.
Field Conservation Practices
There are several ways to help control the impact of runoff on agricultural fields. These include Filter Strips, Grassed Waterways, Conservation Tillage/Crop Residue Management, and Water and Sediment Control Structures.
Filter Strips
Filter strips are vegetative areas of grasses or other permanent vegetation used to reduce sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other contaminants reaching the water. Filter strips are generally installed along streams, drains, or other areas such as wetlands to protect them.
Cost sharing and technical assistance information are available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Allegan Conservation District or the Ottawa Conservation District.
Grassed Waterways
A grassed waterway is a vegetated channel designed to convey runoff from the field without causing soil erosion or flooding. A grassed waterway is used in an area of concentrated flow. Grassed waterways work best when combined with filter strips and conservation tillage to prevent soil from entering the waterway.
Cost share and technical assistance are available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Allegan Conservation District or the Ottawa Conservation District.
Conservation Tillage
Crop residue management is an umbrella term encompassing several tillage systems, including:
- No-Till
- Ridge-Till
- Mulch-Till
- Reduced-Till
It includes any tillage and planting system that covers 30 percent or more of the soil surface with crop residue, after planting, to reduce soil erosion by water. Conservation tillage requires 30 percent or more crop residue left, after planting.
Conservation tillage systems offer numerous benefits that intensive or conventional tillage simply can’t match. It reduces labor and saves time, fuel and reduces machinery wear. It improves soil tilth and increases organic matter, and traps soil moisture to improve water availability.
Most important, it reduces soil erosion. Depending on the amount of residues present, soil erosion can be reduced by up to 90% compared to an unprotected, intensively tilled field.
Water and Sediment Control Structures
Water and Sediment Control Structures consist of an earth embankment or a ridge and channel constructed across a slope and waterway to form a sediment trap and water detention basin. These help reduce gully erosion, trap sediment in the water, and reduce downstream flooding.
Water and sediment control structures should be used with a combination of other practices designed to prevent soil erosion. Water and Sediment Control Structures require engineering design before implementation.
Cost sharing and technical assistance information are available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Allegan Conservation District or the Ottawa Conservation District.
Success Stories
Bob Dykhuis — Dykhuis Farms
Bob currently owns hog operations in Michigan and Indiana. Bob has installed filter strips and grassed waterways along the Eskes Drain, both with the assistance of NRCS and federal cost share programs and on his own. Bob sees filter strips as a “way to maintain his ditches.” The filter strip holds the land in place and filters runoff. The grassed waterways control erosion and minimize gully formation. Less soil getting into the drain requires less maintenance in and around the drain. Bob also feels that filter strips and grassed waterways are part of the “total package” for proper manure management in the field.
Dave Brink — Sunnyside Hog Farm
Dave is a hog farmer in Allegan County who has been farming for 25 years. Dave installed fifty feet of grass filter strip border on both sides of Macatawa River tributary ditches that carry storm water runoff through his farm fields. He also installed a grassed waterway in combination with the filter strip.
“These ditches carry runoff from my farm as well as several hundred acres of surrounding farmland,” states Dave. “During periods of heavy rain the ditches would swell over their banks, causing soil loss from erosion as the water cut through the crop field. In addition to flooding, there would also be sediment deposited over the crops. The filter strips reduce soil erosion along the ditch banks and funnel the water, preventing it from short cutting over the crop field. The grassed waterway prevents erosion that caused a gully to form. It is now easier to farm the field because we can drive farm equipment through the waterway.”
Henry Balder
Henry is a farmer in Allegan County. Henry installed a grassed waterway with a vegetative chute to provide a stable outlet. A two-foot deep trench had been created by runoff water flowing into a roadside drainage ditch. The waterway and chute combined will prevent this erosion from recurring during high water flow events from the newly established grass waterway.
Ron Klein
Ron Klein also farms in Allegan County. Ron installed a grassed waterway after a meandering deep gully had formed through this field by water gushing out of the woods located up slope. It was difficult, if not impossible, to keep brush and weeds cut along this gully. “Establishment of this grass waterway has made the field easier to farm. We can now keep the waterway mowed and drive farm equipment across it,” states Ron.
Another practice, a Diversion, was installed to divert the high rates of storm water runoff away from the newly installed grass waterway for one year, allowing successful vegetation establishment. The diversion was installed and later removed through the CCRP cost share program.
If you would like to share your story of best practice implementation, please contact us.
Cost Share Programs:
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Allegan Conservation District
269-673-8965
Ottawa Conservation District
616-842-5869 ext. 5
Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance
Program www.maeap.org
Michigan Department of Agriculture
616-842-5869 ext. 5
Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program
Michigan State University Extension
Extension Agents
Ottawa County : 616-846-8250
Allegan Country: 616-673-0370
www.msue.msu.edu