Nutrient Management

Animal manures, biosolids, and other waste residuals can have both beneficial and detrimental effects when applied to agricultural land as a means of recycling organic matter and nutrients. When applied properly, organic wastes can furnish nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to enhance soil productivity. When applied improperly, they can load excessive amounts of N and P to ground and/or surface waters and pose a threat to the health of both humans and livestock.

Nutrient management in the Mid Atlantic Region, the goal of which is to minimize adverse effects on water quality, requires the implementation of practices that adequately control leaching, runoff, and volatilization losses of N and surface transport losses of P from animal and crop production systems. The land application of animal manures and biosolids pose particular problems due their variable nutrient contents and N and P availability.

Regional Program Activities and Resources

Mid-Atlantic Better Composting School

Composting to produce a product that is consistent in quality will require good management and quality control.  School participants will learn the basics of making good compost.  They will tour commercial operations.  They will perform product sampling and learn simple procedures for compost testing.  Participants will become better composters.

More information on the Mid-Atlantic Better Composting School, including upcoming classes.

Ammonia Emissions from Agriculture

Emissions of ammonia are emerging as a major source of local and regional atmospheric deposition of nitrogen. Animal production and waste management is viewed as the dominant source of ammonia production. 

Research:

Extension: The Mid Atlantic Regional Water Quality program has partnered with the EPA Chesapeake Bay program, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve - Maryland, EPA Region III, and others working to educate decision-makers, regulators, and other within the agricultural and environmental communities on agricultural ammonia emissions and emerging control strategies. Link to Ammonia meeting info

Regional Resources - Click here to view the Ammonia Forum Pages.

Regional Evaluation of P-Indexing Tools:
Scientists throughout the Mid-Atlantic have developed the Phosphorus Index (P Index) for use as potential nutrient management tools. Each state has modified the original NRCS P-Index based on the respective state's soil, topographic, environmental and management conditions to serve as a functional nutrient management tool for evaluating the risk of P losses from agricultural lands. Improving the consistency of PSIs used in each of the Mid Atlantic states can improve coordinated nutrient management, especially within watersheds shared between jurisdictions.

Regional Resources:

Work-Load Issues Concerning the Use of RUSLE to Estimate Soil Losses in P Index Assessment Tools in the Mid-Atlantic Region 

Development of Regionally-Consistent Phosphorus Source Coefficients for Use in Phosphorus Index Evaluations in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Assessing Nutrient Surpluses (Nutrient Budgets)

Nutrient budgets can be used to indicate nutrient flows and fate within the watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic region, and can project nutrient flows based on the implementation of alternative policies, programs, and practices. The Mid Atlantic Regional Water Quality Program has been developing regional budgets for P, and plans to expand to N. The development of this information will complete a comprehensive, user-friendly database of nutrient surpluses and temporal shifts in nutrients across the region. This information will be useful to policy discussions and provide a basis for decision-making on support programs, incentives and regulatory actions to address nutrient imbalances.
To view more information on Nutrient Budgets click here.

Research:

Creating Markets for manure: Basin-wide Management in the Chesapeake Bay Region

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/waterqual/publications/NARAE-NBParker.pdf

Extension: link to extension products/efforts

Regional Resources:

Revising Regional Nutrient Management Manual

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Page Last Updated On: June 12, 2008