Spring was sprung upon us yesterday, not much of a surprise, especially with the mild temperatures we have experienced in recent weeks. 

A presentation at the Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference was designed to help us avoid regulatory surprises, some already in place, others just around the corner. 

“Proper Nutrient Management Planning” presented by Mark Wilson, president of Land Stewards, LLC, laid out regulatory concerns that will impact the ag industry. Wilson, who has previously worked for Extension, the Ohio EPA and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, has seen the growth of rules affecting production of livestock and crops from several different angles, in earlier jobs and from his present consultant perspective.

His comments began with the question, “Who defines what is “proper?” Is it the producer, ag retailer, Ohio State University Extension, NRCS & SWCDs, ODA, Ohio EPA and U.S. EPA? He noted that increasingly, government is defining “proper nutrient management” through laws and regulations. Wilson then detailed the following regulations defining nutrient management:

•ODNR: OAC 1501 Ag Pollution Abatement rules aka “Distressed Watershed Rules”

•ODA: OAC 901 Livestock Env. Permitting Rules

•OEPA: ORC 6111 Water Pollution Rules

•OEPA: OAC 3745 Water Quality Standards

U.S. EPA: 40 CFR Clean Water Act

He also delved into how each new regulation carved its own niche in the environmental world. 

The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) passed new rules that became part to the Ohio Revised Code in January of last year. 

At that time, the Ohio Soil and Water Commission designated the Grand Lake St. Mary’s (GLSM) Watershed as distressed and the rules went into affect for that area. 

Those rules, which will likely be utilized as a model to regulate all of agriculture, authorized the chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Soil and Water Resources (ODNR-DSWR), with the consent of the Ohio Soil and Water Commission, to designate watersheds as being distressed. Authorization was also granted to restrict land application of manure in the winter within watersheds in distress, and establish requirements for all farms generating or using manure, above a low quantity threshold, to operate under an approved nutrient management plan within watersheds in distress.

On the positive side, regulations cite some excellent technical publications such as the Tri-State Fertility Recommendations, OSU Agronomy Guide, OH-NRCS Nutrient Management Standard 590, and if manure is utilized the OH-NRCS Waste Utilization Standard 633 and OSU Bulletin 604 or MWPS-18 Manure Characteristics.  

Examples of Codified Nutrient Management under ODNR “Distressed Watershed Rules” are as follows:

•Shall not apply manure between Dec. 15 and March 1

•Shall have a minimum of 120 days of storage on Dec. 1

•Shall not surface apply manure if local weather forecast calls for >50 percent chance of rain

•Shall have a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) – subject to three-year renewal, following NRCS 590 & 630, which affects all producers.

Rule examples for ODA, OEPA and USEPA were also shared by Wilson. Unfortunately, they do not always match, which may create compliance challenges for anyone dealing with profitable agricultural enterprises. With a photo depicting the GLSM Watershed, Wilson noted, “It’s not that agencies always have to be on the same page, often they’re not, it’s what they do about it when they’re not.”

He then summarized, from his professional opinion, some essential parts of proper nutrient management, which will be a subject of a future Ohio Farm News column, and dealt with several questions.  

Flies. Flies. Flies. 

Three farmers commented on the presence of flies last week. One noted a few unwelcome visitors buzzed around in his milking parlor, one had been pestered in a local machinery dealership, and one had a few in the house. My advice: “Get ‘em now before they reproduce!”

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Roger Bender may write to him in care of this publication.