CONTACT: Jan Boydstun or William Grant, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, (225)765-0246.

TOPIC: There continues to be a strong emphasis placed on environmental stewardship in agriculture at the state and the national level. Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) continue to allocate more of their federal funds each year to programs that relate to water quality improvement, wetland protection and riparian buffer initiatives. In the thirteen years since Section 319 of the Clean Water Act was enacted, Congress has continued to allocate additional funds to the states for reduction and control of nonpoint source of pollution. During this past year, new regulations were proposed by EPA that would require implementation plans for each water body across the nation that had been included on the state's303(d) list of impaired waters. That simply means that when agencies like the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) detect a water quality problem in one of our state's water bodies, that it might result in a comprehensive plan being developed to reduce and control those pollutants to the extent that water quality standards would be met.

Water quality standards are set to protect our water bodies for present and future uses such as swimming and fishing. In order to ensure that the water bodies continue to meet their designated uses, the LDEQ collects water quality samples and analyses them for a variety of parameters (i.e. dissolved oxygen, nutrients, fecal coliform bacteria, sediments and metals). During 1999, water quality data were collected for each of the water bodies within the Calcasieu and the Ouachita River Basins. These data are presently begin compiled and analyzed to create a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for each of the water bodies within these two river basins that were not meeting water quality standards (typically because of dissolved oxygen or fecal coliform concentrations). For north Louisiana, that would include:
 

For many of these water bodies, the problem is with oxygen but fecal coliform bacteria has also been a problem in a few of them.

Once LDEQ analyzes the water quality data to determine what the problem is, an estimated pollutant load is generated that would be necessary for the water body to meet the water quality standard for dissolved oxygen or fecal coliform. This calculation may indicate that a 30-50 percent load reduction is necessary to meet in-stream water quality standards. If this is the case, then land-use information is examined to determine what the potential contributing factors are to the water quality problems that have been identified. LDEQ works with the federal and state agricultural agencies and LSU Agricultural Center to decide what we think we need to focus on to reduce and control the nonpoint source problems that exist for a particular water body.

One of the reasons that we hosted the demonstration at the Hill Farm was to evaluate several different management practices that we felt would be beneficial to both the poultry operators and also the people that own pastures for grazing. We are also looking at cropland and forests as other good candidate areas for application of poultry litter. We wanted to find out what the water quality problems were for pasturelands and also what effect application of poultry litter would have to these pastures.

We feel that by finding real answers, we can solve our water quality problems through better management of our lands. If we can do that, we have really solved the problems in a manner that has been beneficial to everyone. This is our goal and we are working hard to reach that goal over the next 5-10 years. We believe that through work at the Hill Farm Research Station and other work like it being done across the state that we can continue to utilize our land for agriculture and our water bodies for fishing and swimming. The LSU Agricultural Center has recently released a new set of BMP manuals and they are working on more of them for all of the major commodities in Louisiana. I think that this is the best step that we can take in being good environmental stewards of our agricultural lands. If you have not seen the new BMP manuals, make sure that you request a copy and read what they have to say.then implement the BMPs on your own farm. I think if everyone would implement these BMPs, then we would see our water quality problems improve.

CONTACT: Bill Owens, Hill Farm Research Station, (318)927-2578.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE: As the environmental impact of agricultural practices become more regulated, producers will be subjected to more stringent control of the way animal waste products are used as fertilizer and on the disposal of animal waste on the farm. Environmental studies at the Hill Farm Research Station will help determine the environmental impact of current waste management practice and help determine safe and economical uses for animal waste fertilizer. These studies will also help determine background or existing environmental conditions to help determine the true impact of agricultural practice.

PROBLEM/TOPIC: Poultry litter and dairy lagoon sediment are two major sources of economical animal fertilizer available to north Louisiana farmers. As environmental regulations become more stringent, new information on safe and economical application rates and methods for these fertilizers are needed. A major environmental concern is bacterial contamination of runoff water, ground water, and streams from animal waste fertilizer. The impact of grazing cattle near streams and runoff areas is also unknown. Determining the impact of these practices will help make practical environmental planning possible.

ACTION: Currently studies are underway that indicate stacked broiler litter application of up to 8 tons per acre has no impact on coliform counts of runoff water. Additional studies are planned to determine background coliform levels of soil and streams in this area and the impact of animal waste fertilizer on these levels. Studies are also underway to determine the impact of grazing cattle in timber grazing plots and the impact of riparin zones on the water quality of streams in these areas.

IMPACT: As animal waste management practices become more regulated, new data on background coliforms levels, and the impact of current agricultural practices will help insure that new regulations are based on solid, scientific data and that Louisiana farmers have the information necessary to economically and safely use these products without endangering the environment and without eroding the public trust of farm practices.

Revised: September 22, 2000