Best Management Practices

1. Best Management Practices Thomas Obreza Information provided by Brian Boman (Agriculture and Horticulture) Laurie Trenholm (Urban Turfgrass) Amy Shober (Urban Landscapes) Esen Momol (Florida-Friendly Landscapes) Pierce Jones (Low-Impact Development)

2. Historical perspective • BMP program concept accelerated with passage of the Florida Watershed Restoration Act in 1999. • FDEP became the lead agency in charge of establishing TMDLs. • 10 years later, BMPs have become “quasi-regulatory” in watersheds with a Basin Management Action Plan.

3. Tri-County Ag Area: First ag area to have a BMAP established • Producers must enroll in FDACS BMP programs or monitor quality of water leaving their property. • Assessments on 9,519 acres show producers are using 94% of applicable BMPs… • …but not some key ones.

4. Lead Agency:Department of Environmental Protection coordinates efforts with Department of Agriculture Office of Ag Water Policy Water Management Districts Leadership role for agriculture Plus…Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Environmental groups, Local govt., etc.

5. Green industries Golf courses FDEP Citrus Nursery and Ferns F D A C S Silviculture Sod Vegetables and Row Crops Cow/calf

6. IFAS involvement in BMP research, extension, and education • Agricultural • Urban

7. 2008 survey assessing IFAS BMP programs(79 state and 63 county faculty responded)

8. Typical BMP manual development ---IFAS involvement • State agencies identify the need. • Form steering committee/technical work groups. • State agencies. • UF-IFAS. • Producers. • Environmental groups. • Allied industry. • Produce draft manual; peer-review and revise. • Public workshops. • Adopt manual in code. • Distribute manual. • BMP education. IFAS IFAS IFAS

9. UF-IFAS BMP Implementation Team led by Dr. Brian Boman Mace Bauer Row crops, vegetables Stuart Swanson Vegetables, sod Kevin Hancock Citrus, vegetables, nursery Jemy Hinton Vegetables, strawberry, nursery Darren Cole Citrus, nursery Gio Stinghen Citrus Richard Repperger Nursery, sod

10. Agriculture / HorticultureBMP implementation

11. BMP implementation in North Florida N fertilizer use efficiency has improved due to: Suwannee Co. Gilchrist Co. Madison Co. • Confidence in • IFAS fertilizer • recommendations. • Precision application • equipment. • Better irrigation • scheduling. Starling Farm Langford Farm Terry Farm Madison Co. Columbia Co. Jefferson Co. Gilchrist Co. Lee Peanut/Birdsong Spradley Farm 83 Farms Walker Farm

12. Example: Corn demo • 120-acre demo pivot • Grower reduced N from 325 lbs/ac to 230 or 290 lbs/ac. • Highest returns from 230 lbs/ac. • Grower plans reductions on other crops based on this experience.

13. Central/South Florida BMP implementation: Citrus Accurate irrigation scheduling Precision fertilizer application Precision spraying Educating grove workers Sediment control

14. Example: Variable rate fertilization • 222 acre test citrus grove. • Side-by-side conventional vs. variable-rate application. • Conventional: 48 tons/appl. • VRT: 37 tons/appl. • 23% savings in applied fertilizer. One 20-ton fertilizer load saved every 150 acres fertilized. (Company owns 12,000 acres.)

15. Central/South Florida BMP implementation: Nursery Saving water and fertilizer, and reducing nutrient leaching. Conversion from overhead to drip irrigation Covered storage/mix/load facility Irrigation based on solar radiation and temperature Weather station Cistern collects water from roof for irrigation

16. Example: Carroll Brothers Nursery compared drip, overhead and capillary mat irrigation • Drip and overhead irrigation were uneven due to inconsistent pressure. • With capillary mat irrigation: • Crops received uniform watering. • No leaching or off-site water/nutrient discharge. • Fertilizer use decreased 50%.

17. Bob Carroll : “Production-wise, I can move the crop out six to eight weeks faster. And I water three times a day on the Aquamats, 2 minutes at a time, and save 90% of my water. I don’t have to spray as often. There’s no overhead water. Everything is wicking up from the bottom, and makes life a little easier. It’s a different way of growing, but it works good; you save water.”

18. FDACS BMP Programs: Enrolled Acres

19. Urban landscapeBMP education, implementation, and research

20. As population has increased, so has the percentage of fertilizer sold for non-farm use. Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. Johns Manatee, Sarasota Indian River, Martin, St. Lucie Charlotte, Lee, Collier

21. Laurie Trenholm has conducted urban BMP training in these counties:

22. Urban BMP training outcomes

23. Urban BMP training shift in 2009 • Emphasis of program is to get all county horticultural agents certified as trainers. • Currently have BMP-certified trainers in approximately 30 counties. • Will have up to 50 counties by July.

24. Trenholm–Unruh–Cisar team is researching nutrient leaching from lawns. Lysimeter catches nitrate that passes through root zone.

25. “Fate of fertilizer N” projects are looking at N leaching… • …during sod establishment. • …in established turf. • …during the winter. • …due to N source. • …due to mowing height. • …due to clipping management.

26. Nutrient leaching research • Currently beginning the 5th year. • Mature St. Augustinegrass has been very efficient at taking up N – In general, less than 5% of the N applied has been measured in the leachate.

27. Landscape BMP research at GCREC-Balm

28. Landscape BMP research at GCREC-Balm

29. Example:Low-impact development Lakewood Ranch neighborhoods have incorporated Florida-friendly landscaping principles. IFAS faculty use science-based principles to educate county commissioners and other officials about low-impact development.

30. Challenges we face • Diverse BMP programs compete for science-based information. • BMPs  Quasi-regulatory  True regulatory. • Education and training needs. • Competing needs of stakeholders.