The Delaware Nutrient Management Commission

Delaware Nutrient Management The Delaware Nutrient Management Commission Minutes of the Technology Meeting Held January 15, 2008 In attendance:

Committee Members Present Others Present This T. Keen, Chair M. Brown S. Hollenbeck R. Baldwin B. Coleman L. Jones K. Blessing P. Diehl P. Sample J. Manchester K. Foskey R. Sterling

Committee Members Absent B. Vanderwende C. West

Ex-Officios Present W. Rohrer, Jr. meeting was properly notified and posted as required by law.

Call to Order/Welcome: Chairman T. Keen called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. and welcomed everyone in attendance.

Approval of Minutes: K. Blessing motioned to approve December 27, 2008 minutes. R. Sterling seconded the motion which passed unanimously. However, since the meeting was combined, and the Planning Chairman chaired the meeting, the minutes have been tabled until the next Planning Meeting.

Discussion and Action Items: Review and Act on Phosphorus Management for Lawn Care Minnesota and Florida have passes legislation allowing no phosphorus in fertilizers for lawn care. Should the Commission make same regulation for Delaware? Homeowner acreage far surpasses golf course acreage with regard to nutrient runoff. Many steps are already being taken to help remedy the situation:  DNREC is supplying education about low phosphorus fertilizers to homeowners.  Fertilizer companies are developing low phosphorus fertilizing products.  Spreaders have been developed which do more to keep fertilizer from being spread on impervious surfaces.  Most homeowners are no longer over-applying fertilizers due to cost of products.  The majority of new housing developments are using sod placement, alleviating the need for fertilizer altogether. The opinion of the Subcommittee is that no change to current regulation is necessary with regard to phosphorus- based fertilizers.

Review and Act on Nitrogen Efficiency J. Manchester would like to see Nitrogen application calculated according to anticipated yields, not according to best 4 out of previous 7 years. Discussion raised the following points:  The price of Nitrogen has doubled this year, and application should decrease due to economics; 2320 S. DuPont Highway • Dover, DE 19901 • (800) 282-8685 (DE Only) • (302) 698-4500 • Fax (302) 697-4768 Website: www.state.deptagri • Email: [email protected]  All plans covered under mandate process were not completed until 2007. It will take 3 years beyond that time to determine proper amount of Nitrogen coverage  A higher percentage of crops will need Nitrogen application this year, perhaps due to rainfall  Changes in feed ingredients as well as annual cleanouts have contributed to lower Nitrogen usage  Planning funds should be based on analytical reimbursement, not plan writing reimbursement now that all mandated plans have been written  The Commission was created in part, to reduce the amount of Nitrogen that flows into the waters of the State  Technology improves farming methods all the time. Farmers might be unfairly penalized if a “number” is assigned to yields  Organic Nitrogen, such as that from manure, releases slower and produces better crops  Cover crops should be used to reduce Nitrogen runoff  The Planning Reimbursement structure is under review, and a report should be ready for the Commission by the February or March, 2008 meeting, and would be applied to the 2009 crop year.

Review and Act on Scudlark Report (Atmospheric Nitrogen Content of Rain) The Scudlark Report focuses on organic Nitrogen, and his numbers are lower than Volk’s or DNREC’s. When Nitrogen falls as rain onto open water, 100% is in the water. When Nitrogen is applied to crops, plants absorb the Nitrogen so less makes it to the water. Unfortunately, the most economical reduction of pollution is through Agriculture, and the focus of the Commission is to balance the needs of Agriculture with the needs of the environment.

Review and Act on Phosphorus Crop Removal Rate for High P Soils There was a brief discussion regarding crop removal rate for high Phosphorus soils. BMPs should include average yield of last 4-5 years, using University of Delaware crop removal rates.

Review and Act on High Phosphorus in Deep Soils It was established that once phosphorus leaches further down than crop roots, it will make its way to the water. Crop roots can be down as far as 2 to 3 feet. Water quality stems from practices 30 years ago; then, poultry litter was a by-product, and had to be gotten rid of. Today, farmers are begging for poultry litter-manure. Cleaning up the water quality will be a slow process, but much work is being done to make it happen.

Review and Act on Phosphorus Site Index In areas where there are high Phosphorus soils, there are greater losses to the environment by erosion, runoff and leaching. J. Manchester would like to change current regulations to lower the amount of Phosphorus in soil to reduce the amount of Phosphorus in the waters. Several Commissioners felt that the current law has not been given a chance to work, and that if the legislation is sent back, it won’t be recognized in the end. The Phosphorus Site Index is already being used by the Conservation Districts. J. Manchester motioned to instruct Administrator that in the next revision of BMP booklets, include that areas with fiv greater than 200 must have PSI run on them. Since the Conservation Districts are already including PSIs, and draft changes are being created for planning that provide incentives for testing, there was no second to the motion. The motion did not carry.

Public Comments: NONE

Next Meeting: February 12, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

Adjournment: Chairman Keen adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m.

Approved,

Tony Keen, Chair Technology Subcommittee

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