Fertilizer management, filtering can cut runoff by 45%
Nitrogen runoff could be reduced by 45 percent in the Mississippi River basin - the heart of U.S. grain farming - with adoption of practices that reduce fertilizer waste and conversion of as little as 3.1 million acres of farmland to filter and hold nutrients that now flow downstream, says a research paper. Nitrogen runoff from farms and other sources is blamed for the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.
Maximum EQIP payment to rise to $450,000, says USDA
The maximum payment through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program will rise to $450,000 from the current $300,000, said USDA ahead of publishing an interim final rule that would incorporate changes made by the 2014 farm law.
Toledo mayor asks federal action to prevent algae blooms
The government should give priority to protecting water quality in Lake Erie's watershed including a standard on blooms of toxic algae, said Toledo Mayor Michael Collins, four months after explosive growth of algae shut down his city's water supply. "If we continue to delay, the harm may be irreparable," Collins said during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on voluntary work by farmers to control soil erosion and protect water purity.
USDA retools its working-lands conservation program
The Agriculture Department unveiled revisions in the Conservation Stewardship Program to reflect the directions of the 2014 farm law and invited public comments on its proposals.