Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

2020-2021 SERA-46 Accomplishments/Annual Report

 Overall Accomplishments

 Objective 1: Establish and strengthen relationships that can serve the missions of multiple organizations addressing nutrient management and environmental quality.

•  Support regular communication and collaboration among LGUs, HTF members, and other partners to strengthen multi-state approaches regarding agricultural and environmental research and outreach.
• Encourage intrastate interactions among state agencies, universities, and others to meet state-level nutrient reduction goals.
• Leverage the synergy of the HTF-LGU relationship to seek/secure funding to support multi-state initiatives that address HTF goals

The above objectives are achieved through one or more of the below activities-

•  Farmer-Led Watershed Leadership Summits
• Farmer-led Watershed leadership video development
• Newsletters and staff reports (e.g., The Confluence)
• Collaborative Impact - the LSU AgCenter served on the Governor’s Climate Action plan agriculture subcommittee to identify action plan strategies to identify the role of nutrient management on working lands, and consequently nutrient loss to bodies of water.
• Interstate Interactions - The University of Kentucky led efforts to build capacity within the KY Division of Conservation staff for developing nutrient management plans for farmers. Collaborations among the University of Kentucky, KY Division of Conservation, and the KY Division of Water also resulted in updated tools to implement nutrient management on the ground and comply with the KY Ag Water Quality Act, two key components of KY’s nutrient reduction strategy.

The above activities meet and surpass the proposed SERA-46 milestones listed below:

• By Spring 2020 SERA-46 will have developed at least one video featuring the MARB Watershed Leadership Network to share with HTF.
• By Spring 2020 SERA-46 will have reaffirmed or established new liaisons between SERA-46 and at least 3 other multistate committees addressing SERA-46 and HTF Shared Priorities
• By Spring 2021 SERA-46 will have developed and implemented a strategy for collaboration with the agriculture and food industry, including farmers, fishermen, and restaurateurs.

 Objective 2: Strengthen the knowledge base for the discovery of new tools and practices as well as for the continual validation of recommended practices.

•  Strengthen the science base that informs our understanding of the efficacy of nutrient and water management strategies at multiple temporal and spatial scales
• Refine and increase the use of appropriate nutrient and water decision support tools for better decision-making
• Promote environmental assessment research to improve soil and water quality

The above objectives are achieved through one or more of the below activities -

 SERA-46 continues to meet with HTF/CC by having representation at CC calls to hear needs and issues. The members serve on state-level hypoxia working groups to prioritize state action plans. Following the submission of the 2019 proposal, the shared priorities document was updated by chairs Mike Daniels and Jane Frankenberger; the updated document was shared with HTF liaison Katie Flahive.

 Delivery:

Beth Baker, Mississippi State University; Rebecca Power, University of Wisconsin Madison, Amanda Gumbert, University of Kentucky, Laura Christianson and Reid Christianson, University of Illinois, Mike Daniels, the University of Arkansas with SERA-46 colleagues.

 Monitoring Progress:

Through partnerships with multiple universities, efforts to monitor water quality have, thus far, been successful. The two watersheds actively being monitored are the Embarras River (HUC 8: 05120112) monitored by the University of Illinois, and the Big Sunflower River (HUC 8: 08030207) monitored by Mississippi State University. Historic data available through USGS as well as current data gathered by these monitoring efforts will be used as components when constructing water quality models to assess water quality improvements due to conservation implementation within the entire Mississippi River Basin.

 The above activities meet and surpass the proposed SERA-46 milestones listed below:

• By Spring 2020, SERA-46 will have met with HTF/CC members for hearing needs and issues as well as sharing the proposed goals and activities
• By Fall 2020, SERA-46 will have identified key areas of needed emphasis based on SERA/HTF engagement and state summaries of research efforts.
• By Spring 2021, SERA-46 will have produced a summary paper and begun some multistate research/validation efforts.

 Objective 3: Improve the coordination and delivery of educational programming and increase the implementation effectiveness of nutrient management strategies for agricultural and non-agricultural audiences.

•  Customize educational programming (and information sharing) to the learning styles of the various audience segments - Farmers, Farm Advisors, Agencies, Extension Agents, and the public.
• Increase the emphasis on social science factors in targeting educational methods to increase conservation adoption and effectiveness

 Delivery:

Beth Baker, Mississippi State University; Rebecca Power, University of Wisconsin Madison, Amanda Gumbert, University of Kentucky, Laura Christianson and Reid Christianson, University of Illinois, Mike Daniels, University of Arkansas, with SERA-46 colleagues.

 Farmer to Farmer Summit:

One of the prominent goals to improve the delivery of educational material is for farmers to engage in farmer-to-farmer communication. To this end, we planned and held a series of field days encouraging that communication which we dubbed our Farmer-to-Farmer exchanges.

 The first exchange was held in February 2020 in the southern Mississippi River Basin as a two-day event which roughly 30 people attended. The first day consisted of visits to two farms, one in Mississippi and one in Arkansas, that use a combination of conservation practices that they find to improve their production systems. During those visits the landowners talked about their farm history, implementation of conservation practices, continued maintenance, adaptive management, and subsequent challenges. The exchange also featured presentations by specialists on the use of nutrient reduction strategies, soil moisture sensors, and the edge of field sampling. The second day of the exchange was primarily focused on presentations, group discussion, and evaluation of the event content and impact. Presentations included topics of agribusiness, farmer-led watershed networks, and return on investment of conservation practices from a farmer’s perspective as well as a discussion about leadership and communication strategies between farmers.

Virtual Shop Talk Series:

Due to Covid-19 precautions in February of 2021, instead of having a second Farmer to Farmer exchange as initially planned, a series of virtual Shop Talk events were held. They were a series of four two-hour sessions themed around “Virtual Shop Talk: Resource Stewardship in Hard Times.” Each shop talk consisted of 2-3 farmers or farmer partners as speakers and small group breakouts to discuss ideas presented by the speakers. There were about 200 participants representing 18 states. The online format of the talks came with its unique challenges and benefits. As an example of one of the challenges, attendees needed to speak one at a time during discussions, rather than having several parallel farmer-to-farmer exchange conversations that would have been possible at an in-person event. Inversely, one of the greatest benefits of the online format was the ease of access for attendees. Had the exchange been in person, the geographical diversity would have been much lower. The online format also allowed people to attend from a laptop or phone, further increasing accessibility. Recordings of the speakers for the 4 virtual Shop Talk events can be found online from the North Central Region Water Network website here.

 Conservation Demonstration Expansion across the MARB:

Demonstration of proper conservation techniques is a powerful tool when advocating for the adoption and implementation of conservation practices. To this end, the University of Illinois has installed a denitrifying bioreactor at a demonstration site in Rock Island County. The drainage area for this project is roughly 90 acres and could remove around 240 pounds of nitrogen per year, 25% of the watershed nitrate load. There is also a cover crop program that helps distribute cover crop seeds to farmers which have been very successful. The University of Kentucky has been producing virtual content (field days, videos) designed to highlight different grazing management conservation practices and where they’re needed on the landscape.

 Farmer-Led Watershed Conservation Demonstration & Protection Mini-Grant Program:

Over three years, eight different mini-grants have been distributed to farmer-led groups in the Mississippi River Basin. The Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, The Daviess County Conservation District in Kentucky, The University of Wisconsin Extension and Ag in conjunction with The Lower Trempealeau River Producer-Led Watershed Group, The Beaver Watershed Alliance in Arkansas, Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District in Minnesota, Green Lake Association in Wisconsin, Wayne County Soil and Water Conservation District in Kentucky, and Champaign County SWCD in Illinois have all received mini-grants and have either completed their objectives or are working towards them. Because a demonstration or field day is a required component of the mini-grant, those grants that have finished reporting show that these efforts have reached over 150 farmers and agricultural advisors/consultants directly with that number increasing as more grants are completed and reported on. There will also be a final four more mini-grants distributed in early 2022 eventually bringing the total to 12 mini-grants. More information about the program can be found on Mississippi State University’s REACH website here.

 One Good Idea Platform & Campaign:

One Good Idea was conceived as a multimedia clearinghouse of information that features farmers’ ideas and experiences with practices that are helping them improve their soil, land, and bottom lines. The name comes from a comment made by one of the farmers at our first farmer to farmer exchange, that it’s important to find one good idea that will help you to take the next step in conservation. The website hosts videos and podcasts by farmers, for farmers, backed by research. The team developing the site also checks submissions to make sure the claims are accurate and not exaggerated and that the idea isn’t just trying to promote products. The site was launched in quarter 4 of 2021 and in the short time it has been running, there is already a large amount of interest from government conservation agencies, university extension agencies, and non-profit groups. The website and its content can be accessed at https://goodideafarm.org/, and has social media on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

 The above activities meet and surpass the proposed SERA-46 milestones listed below:

• By Spring 2020, SERA-46 will have reported to the HTF on farmer-led watershed activities and demonstration efforts throughout the MARB
• By Fall 2020, the HTF will have identified and expanded information of model programs working with farmers to at least one state.
• By Spring 2021, SERA-46 will have developed an online platform for communicating farmer-led watershed activities, decision support tools, and information related to conservation effectiveness- aggregating farmer resources

Minnesota: Paiao, G.D., F.G. Fernández, and S. Naeve. 2021. Drainage conditions influence corn-nitrogen management in the US Upper Midwest. Agronomy 11: 2491. Doi: 10.3390/agronomy11122491

Minnesota: Bean, G.M., C.J. Ransom, N.R. Kitchen, P.C. Scharf, K. Veum, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, and R. Nielsen. 2021. Soil hydrologic grouping guide which soil and weather properties best estimate corn nitrogen need. Agron. J. 113: 5541-5555.

Minnesota: Ransom, C. J., J. D. Clark, G. M. Bean, C. J. Bandura, M. Shafer, N. R. Kitchen, J. J. Camberato, P. R. Carter, R. B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D. W. Franzen, C. A. M. Laboski, D.B. Myers. E. D. Nafziger, and J. E. Sawyer. 2021. Performance and refinement of nitrogen fertilization tools. Dryad Dataset. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.66t1g1k2g

Minnesota: Ransom, C. J., J. D. Clark, G. M. Bean, C. J. Bandura, M. Shafer, N. R. Kitchen, J. J. Camberato, P. R. Carter, R. B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D. W. Franzen, C. A. M. Laboski, D.B. Myers. E. D. Nafziger, J. E. Sawyer, and J. F. Shanahan. 2021. Data from a public–industry partnership for enhancing corn nitrogen research. Agron. J. 113: 4429-4436.

Minnesota: Wilson, M.L., C.J. Pfarr, F.G. Fernández, and J.A. Coulter. 2021. Dragging a manure hose over corn at early growth stages does not reduce yield. Agron. J. 113:3910-3921.

Minnesota: Alexander, J.R., J.A. Spackman, M.L. Wilson, F.G. Fernández, and R.T. Venterea. 2021. Capture efficiency of four chamber designs for measuring ammonia emissions. Agrosyst. Geosci. Environ. 021:4:e20199. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20199

Minnesota: Yang, C., W. Yang, T.J. Nigon, Z. Hao, G.D. Paiao, F.G. Fernández, and D.J. Mulla. 2021. Estimation of corn yield based on convolutional neural network and hyperspectral imagery. Comput. Electron. Agr. 184:106092 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106092

Minnesota: Ransom, C.J., N.R. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, D. B. Myers, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, and J.F. Shanahan. 2021. Improving publicly available corn nitrogen rate recommendation tools with soil and weather measurements. Agron. J. 113:2068-2090.

Minnesota: Cummings, C., Y. Miao, G.D. Paiao, S. Kang, and F.G. Fernández. 2021. Corn nitrogen status diagnosis with an innovative multi-parameter crop circle phenom sensing system. Remote Sens. 13:401-419 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13030401

Minnesota: Paiao, G.D., F.G. Fernández, J.A. Spackman, D.E. Kaiser, and S. Weisberg. 2021. Integrating canopy sensing and soil nitrogen for improved corn nitrogen management. Agron. J. 113:1996-2005.