On June 15, the USDA announced the selection of 75 projects in 12 states to help agricultural landowners and producers within the Mississippi River Basin to implement conservation and management practices that prevent, control and trap nutrient runoff from agricultural land. The targeted projects are the first to be launched under the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI), a new initiative designed to improve water quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin by reducing nutrient loading to streams from agricultural lands. The USDA press release announcing the project locations is located here. The MRBI home page can be found here.
Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP)
On June 16, the USDA announced the release of the CEAP-Cropland report on the effects of conservation practices on cropland in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). Computer modeling simulations indicate that conservation practice use in the UMRB has made progress toward reducing sediment, nutrient, and pesticide losses from farm fields. However, significant conservation treatment is still needed to reduce the impacts of nonpoint agricultural pollution sources. The report, entitled "Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in the Upper Mississippi River Basin," is now available to download on the internet from the Assessment's web page.
Notable @UpperMiss tweets for the week:
- Gulf Coast Restoration Plan could go well beyond oil spill & address Mississippi River & other impacts http://nyti.ms/dAy2XV
- American Farmland Trust 's press release re: USDA’s CEAP Report on Upper Mississippi River Basin http://bit.ly/aLbAfW
- House Agriculture Subcommittee holds another in a series of 2012 Farm Bill hearings http://bit.ly/TVrAx
- IA State U sociologists suggest large-scale farming has improved overall social fabric of small IA towns http://bit.ly/bNciES
- Farm lobby set to block bills re: 2025 deadline for cutting pollutants to restore Chesapeake Bay http://bit.ly/dsh0gJ
- Senate Judiciary Comm mtg today re: Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act to require restitution for CWA violations http://bit.ly/dDmnSJ
- USDA ARS Study: helping farmers make best use of fertilizers and potentially reduce runoff into streams http://bit.ly/aVqm8e
- Assessment of Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in Upper Mississippi R Basin report released http://bit.ly/bRCQth
- Check out this Mississippi River basin ag conservation news from USDA: http://bit.ly/cpoAvp
- Visit the River Talk blog produced by the River Life Partnership at the University of Minnesota: http://bit.ly/dxhM6D
- Call for papers: North American Lake Management Society international symposium Oklahoma City Nov 3-5 http://bit.ly/cWeLio
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