Agricultural Phosphorous and Eutrophication : Second Edition

Agricultural Phosphorous and Eutrophication : Second Edition

2003-09

Inputs of phosphorus (P) are essential for profitable crop and livestock agriculture. However, P export in watershed runoff can accelerate the eutrophication of receiving fresh waters. The rapid growth and intensification of crop and livestock farming in many areas has created regional imbalances in P inputs in feed and fertilizer and P output in farm produce. In many of these areas, soil P has built up to levels in excess of crop needs and now has the potential to enrich surface runoff with P. The overall goal of our efforts to reduce P losses from agriculture to water should be to increase P use-efficiency, balance P inputs in feed and fertilizer into a watershed with P output in crop and animal produce, and manage the level of P in the soil. Reducing P loss in agricultural runoff may be brought about by source and transport control strategies. This includes refining feed rations, using feed additives to increase P absorption by animals, moving manure from surplus to deficit areas, finding alternative uses for manure, and targeting conservation practices, such as reduced tillage, buffer strips, and cover crops, to critical areas of P export from a watershed. In these critical areas, high P soils coincide with parts of the landscape where surface runoff and erosion potential are high.

Sharpley, Andrew N.
Daniel, T. N.
Sims, T. N.
Lemunyon, J. N.
Stevens, R. N.
Parry, R. N.

USDA Agricultural Research Service

USDA-ARS soil scientist, Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park PA
Department of Agronomy professor at the University of Arkansas
Department of Plant Science professor at the University of Delaware
Agronomist at USDA-NRCS Resource Assessment Division in Fort Worth, TX
Extension soil scientist and professor at Washington State University with Research and Extension
National program manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington D.C.

USDA Agricultural Research Service (Washington, DC)

43

Water Quality & Pollutants
Water Economics

nearshore
near shore
runoff
runoffs
run-off
run-offs
run off
run offs
running off
runs off
eutrophication
eutrophications
fertilizer
fertilizers
fertiliser
P input
P-input
P output
P-output

2000-2009

No

Public Domain

USDA Agricultural Research Service