Moving Forward with Fertilizer Management: The Carrot...

Moving Forward with Fertilizer

Management:

The Carrot or the Stick?

Rob Mikkelsen/Rob Norton

Director, Western North America

Director, Australia & New Zealand

Dr. Rob MikkelsenWestern RegionMerced, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The Californian Challenge

0

10

20

30

Cash Receipts for Farm Marketing (2009)($

, b

illio

ns)

Gross Farm gate value for Australia $41.8 billion (NFF)

Merced

T.K. Hartz, UC Davis

Crop Production Value (Millions) Commodity Value US $M

Grapes (all) 2,937

Almonds (shelled) 2343

Nursery Products 2,273

Alfalfa and other hay 1797

Lettuce (all) 1,580

Strawberries 1,578

Tomatoes (all) 1,317

Rice 1,183

Flowers/foliage 1,015

Broccoli 663

Oranges 608

Pistachio 569

Walnuts 558

Carrots 517

Lemons 473

Celery 354

Central Valley

Sacramento Valley

San Joaquin Valley

Salinas Valley

Sierra

Nevadas

0

20

40

60

80

100

Ja

n.

Feb

.

Ma

r.

Ap

r.

Ma

y

Ju

ne

Ju

ly

Au

g.

Sep

t.

Oct.

No

v.

Dec.

Month

Mea

n p

reci

pit

ati

on

(m

m)

Annual average precipitation ≈ 350 cm (14 inches)T.K. Hartz, UC Davis

2 - 3 crops per year …


Salinas Valley

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2

4

6

8

10

12

141

96

0

19

70

19

76

19

78

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80

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82

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84

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86

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88

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90

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92

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98

20

00

20

02

20

04

20

06

20

08

Mil

lio

n m

etr

ic t

on

ne

sU.S. Fertilizer N Consumption

Source: AAPFCO Commercial Fertilizer Reports

Nitrogen in the Environment:

Sources, Problems and ManagementKitchen and Goulding (2001)

• “ nitrogen use efficiency …rarely exceeds 70% ……. often ranges from 30-60%”

• “conversion of N inputs to products for arable crops can be 60-70% or even more”

U.S. EPA SAB Integrated N Committee report on reactive N

(May 28, 2010 DRAFT): “… finds that crop N-uptake efficiencies

can be increased by up to 25% over current practices through a

combination of knowledge-based practices and advances in fertilizer

technology (such as controlled release and inhibition of nitrification).”

Nitrogen Balance in the U.S., 1987-2007

IPNI

Preliminary

NuGIS,

2010

PPI, 2002

Technical

Bulletin

Source: Fixen – 17th AFA Annual Forum and Exhibition, March, 2011. Cairo, Egypt

Some countries historically challenged with high N balances

NuGIS Watershed N Balance-1987

Partial N balance (lb N/A)

(N inputs – removal)

What’s the impact?

• Economics

• Environmental impacts

– Nitrate in drinking water

– Eutrophication & hypoxia

– Biodiversity loss

– Smog and PM2.5 from ammonia emission

– Ozone depletion – N2O

– Greenhouse gases – N2O and CO2

California’s Climate Change Policy(AB 32 Global Warming Solutions Act)

Caps GHG emissions

• 1990 levels by 2020

• 80% below 1990 by 2050

Multi-sector market-based program to start in 2012

Mandatory reporting for largest sectors

Little understanding to agriculture so far… emerging discussion

60% of N2O and 55% of CH4 are from agriculture

Draft from: UC Davis Ag Sustainability Institute

62% of N2O

emissions (&

N applied)

from 6 crops

The Key is to

Limit Potential

“Surplus N”

Van Groenigen et al. 2010. Europ. J. Soil Sci.

“ … agricultural

management

practices to reduce

N2O emissions

should focus on

optimizing fertilizer-N

use efficiency under

median rates of N

input, rather than on

minimizing N

application rates.”

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100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

0 40 80 120 160

1

3

5

7

Days After Planting

N A

ccum

ulatio

n R

ate, kg/h

a/day

Tota

l N A

ccu

mu

lati

on

, kg

/ha

Total NAccumulationN Accumulation

Rate

Nitrogen

Matching supply and demand

• Crop type

• Temperature (=growth)

• Root depth

• Soil Texture

• Enhanced efficiency fertilizers

• Utilize non-fertilizer N

• Water management

• Etc.

• Etc.

Salinas

Santa Maria


Salinas/Santa Maria surface water quality :Mean of monthly sampling of 10 monitoring sites, 2005

Water quality

parameter

Measurement

unit

Mean

value

NO3-N mg liter-1 46

U.S. drinking water

standard is 10 mg

liter-1 NO3-N

Well > 20 mg L-1 NO3-N

Groundwater at risk

Salinas Valley irrigation well quality :

In California, farm water discharge requires :

a permit, or

a waiver

„Conditional‟ waivers granted in 2004

Requirements :

Complete water quality training

Prepare a farm water quality plan

Participate in a regional water quality

monitoring program

15-hour water quality short course :

Step by step training to :

• Identify potential water quality problems

• Present potential management practice options

- fertilization

- irrigation

- conservation practices

• Evaluate effectiveness of practices

• Produce written farm water quality plan

Between 2005-07 more than 2,000 people completed the course


Management practice

% of acres on which

practice was

implemented

Crop nutrient budget used 80

Soil residual nitrate tested and

factored into fertilizer decisions

84

Nitrate content of the irrigation

water factored into fertilizer

decisions

81

Irrigation system optimized for soil

water infiltration rate

87

December, 2006 survey of vegetable growers :


0

20

40

60

80

100

decreasing unchanged increasing

Surface water nitrate trend

% o

f m

on

ito

rin

g s

ite

sSurface water NO3-N trend analysis, 2005-2009 :


Are we making progress in water quality ?

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

2004 2005 2006 2007

N fe

rtiliz

er

sa

les

(me

tric

T)

Year

Nitrogen fertilizer sales in Monterey County :


Are we making progress in water quality ?

Authority to regulate water quality :

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

California Water Resources Control Board

Regional Water Resources Control Board


59. The purpose of the nutrient management element of the Farm Plan is to eliminate or minimize nutrient discharges to groundwater and surface

water to meet water quality standards using best practicable treatment or control, and to assure compliance with this Order. The nutrient

management element of the Farm Plan must be certified by appropriate professional certification, such as Certified

Crop Advisor to be protective of water quality…

60. The nutrient management element of the Farm Plan must include…

a. Average total crop nutrient demand and method(s) of determination per crop;

b. Average total water demand per crop and total water applied per crop;

c. Monthly record of fertilizer applications per crop, including fertilizer type and quantity applied (including but not

limited to fertilizers, compost, manure, and humic acids);

d. Nitrate concentration of irrigation source water;

e. Timing of fertilizer application to maximize crop uptake,

f. Estimation of the amount of fertilizer applied in excess of crop needs,

g. Estimation of excess or residual fertilizer/nutrients in the root zone at the end of the crop growing season;

h. Identification of planned nutrient management practices (such as irrigation efficiency, nutrient budgeting, and

nutrient trapping) to eliminate or minimize nutrients in irrigation runoff or percolation to groundwater;

i. Identification of planned management practices related to fertilizer handling, storage, disposal, and mgnt

New requirements: Tiers on farm size, location, herbicides, crops grown

such as beet, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery,

chinese cabbage, collard, endive, kale, leek, lettuce,

mustard, onion, parsley, pepper, spinach and strawberry

fertilizer use reporting

farm-wide nutrient budget estimation

on-farm monitoring and reporting of NO3-N concentration

in surface runoff and root zone leachate

compliance dates to meet NO3-N standards

- 2015 for surface runoff

- 2021 for leachate


kg N / ha

uptake

removal in

harvest

Processing tomato 240-280 160-180

Celery 190-220 120-150

Cantaloupe 150-180 70-90

Lettuce 110-140 60-80

Spinach 80-100 70-90

Develop a general N fertilization template for each crop,

• modify it based on field-specific factors

Account for all N inputs and outputs

Understand crop N requirements :

Certified Crop Advisors

the reliable solution is to eliminate tailwater …


Nitrogen loading to the environment

Basic principle :

Fertilizer N applied but not removed in harvested products are

at risk of leaving the field in surface water or groundwater

Therefore, water quality protection requires proportionality between

N application and harvest removal


Can a 10 PPM NO3-N standard consistently be met ?

For surface water:

irrigation runoff NO3-N mirrors irrigation water NO3-N



For surface water:

will conservation practices have any impact on NO3-N?



For surface water:

10 PPM NO3-N is still „biostimulatory‟


Water quality regulation has the potential to disrupt nutrient

management practices, to compromise yields, and potentially

to drive land use decisions …

Importance of nutrient stewardship

• Manage or be managed

• Regulations on nutrient management

– Reef Regulations on sugar industry in the wet tropics

– Use of soluble P fertilizers on the Swan coastal plain.

– Fertilizer management in the Mississippi Basin

– Regulations on N use on particular dairy pastures in New Zealand.

• Industry BMP’s aim to describe, educate and then benchmark nutrient management.

Barriers to making these things work

• Tradition, Reliability, Cost, Complexity

• Agronomic education of growers – who pays?

• Professional work force in Agriculture?

• Not a simple business transaction.

• Technology moves faster than our capacity to adopt it.

• Everybody in the supply chain needs to make $.

• Who will do the research – highly applied

• Government mixed message and consistencyGH Regs -Methane from dairies to be regulated encourage methane

digesters

Air Resources Board: Prohibit methane combustion from bioenergy without

NOx scrubbing

IPNICommitted to sustainable nutrient management• Right source, right rate, right time, and right place is a simple

slogan that integrates a century of science and experience into nutrient stewardship.

• Who decides what is right? Who decides the best application, best method of placement, or best nutrient source?

– There is no right answer … right must be site-specific, dictated not only by soil and environmental conditions, but by social and environmental concerns and objectives.

• Research backstops the principles of 4Rs with science, but the stakeholders decide what is right.

Better Crops, Better Environment … through Science

http://www.ipni.net

http://anz.ipni.net

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Moving Forward with Fertilizer Management: The Carrot...

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