1. Farmer Motivation and Decision
Making to Implement Water
Quality Protection Practices
Amber Radatz
December 2, 2015
Nutrient Management and Edge of Field Monitoring
Memphis, TN
2. Going on almost 15 years of farmer led on-farm research
15 member Steering Committee
20 farms ● 200 site years monitored
10 events per year
3,000 downloads per year
80 presentations annually
4. Discovery Farms has grown to other states. Some
details are unique, all follow the same principles
Farmer engagement &
leadership
Credible water quality research
Communicating results
5. The research is only half of it…but a very important half
Runoff ● Sediment Nitrogen ● PhosphorusWeather ● Soil
6. Working at different scales and in different land uses can be
a challenge and an opportunity
7. Late winter manure application increases phosphorus
concentrations in snowmelt by 2 to 4 times
8. However, Reducing Soil Loss Does Not Always Reduce
Phosphorus Loss For the Entire Year
Till Count: 49; No-till Count: 36
Till median: 230 kg/ha
No-till median: 74 kg/ha
Rank sum p value: 0.002
Till median: 1.2 kg/ha
No-till median: 1.4 kg/ha
Rank sum p value: 0.371
Till median: 0.4 kg/ha
No-till median: 0.9 kg/ha
Rank sum p value: <0.001
10. Farmers need us to provide reasonable expectations
because it is a complex problem
‘Its important to remember that we
can’t incorporate manure in the fall
with the chisel plow, magically leave
all the crop residue on top, and think
we are going to be “no-till” the
following spring!’
-John Koepke, Koepke Farms
11. We monitored other areas per request of the farmers, and
changed the conversation
12. We deliver information gleaned from data back to the farmers in
an easily understandable format to encourage discussion
13. We are open to easy or non-traditional solutions
14. We do not start with preconceived notions of what the
problem areas are or what the solutions might be
16. We realize the connections that are already there, or not.A
line on an aerial photo doesn’t mean collaboration.
17. We use several different methods, because not everyone
responds to the same thing.
Monitoring
Walkovers
Modeling
Soil and
Plant
Analysis
18. We spend time to get to know our farmers, and they
know us.
19. The future means even more engagement with farmers
and layering on assessment they can use
Idea
Exchange
Soil health
Nitrogen use
efficiency
Edge of field runoff data