CRP Buffer Analysis

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Properly Incentivizing CRP Buffer Strips to Reduce Nutrient Run Off
Currently United States farmers face an uphill battle trying to maximize yields but doing so in a sustainable manner. A vast majority of farmers use supplemental nutrients and fertilizers to improve the performance of their fields (Udawatta et al 2006). However, most nutrients are applied in excess of crop need which leads to nutrient run off into the watershed system (Blesh and Drinkwater 2013). When chemicals and fertilizers enter the watershed their ultimate fate is the Gulf of Mexico, which is facing record pollution damage from this run off. In an effort to reduce run off, programs implementing buffer strips along bodies of water to reduce the amount of toxins that enter …show more content…

As a side effect, run off and water toxins have also increased. A major contributing factor to this issue of run off is the over application of fertilizers (Udawatta et al 2006). In an average crop season 50% of fertilizer loss is not uncommon. CRP buffer strips are a combination of deep rooting grass species that have the capability to hold topsoil and nutrients in place. By using a CRP buffer strip of 40 to 100 feet wide, nutrient runoff can be reduced by up to 73% (Loftus and Kraft 2003). The added benefit of incentivizing farmers adequately for this addition to their farms makes it more enticing to adopt. Farmers will be incentivized to a level of profit that is comparable to crop production in these buffer strips to help justify removing the row cropping system from these areas. Targeting the areas closest to water sources will be the initiative of the program, but will not be limited to these areas only. Adding buffer strips around areas like ditches or in field waterways that bring drainage water from distant fields to larger bodies of water will add to the effectiveness of this program (Strock et al 2010). In addition to the reduction in run off, these CRP buffer strips have added benefit in diversifying the wildlife in that area. The CRP will provide a safe pathway from habitat to habitat as well as create new homes and food sources for other wildlife in the …show more content…

In an effort to be proactive instead of reactive a subsidy will be offered to farmers for reducing fertilizer inputs or using alternative sources of fertilizer near their CRP buffer strips. Alternative sources like cover crops have the ability to provide available nutrients to the next season crop as well as offer protection from run off in the off-season (Delgado et al 2007). Cover crops have been shown to reduce run off by about 40% as well as provide up to 50% of nitrogen needed for the following crop (Delgado et al 2007). With these duel benefits cover crops are more than ideal to assist in reducing run off

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