Prinsco Supports Study to Reduce Nitrates in Streams and Rivers

October 18, 2011

By Jamie Duininck, Vice President of Sales, Prinsco

Prinsco is proud to be a founding member of the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC), a public/private partnership with a goal of improving America’s water quality, wildlife habitats and agronomics.

Recently, the ADMC was awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) for almost $400,000! The money will be used to study the effectiveness of saturated buffers in reducing the flow of nitrates from tiled fields into our lakes and rivers.

This is exciting news and Prinsco is proud to be a part of this innovative research project.

Here are a few more details: The CIG includes $195,623 in federal funds along with $195,623 in matching cash and in-kind support from Prinsco and many others in the water management industry. There will be nine test sites throughout the states of Illinois, Iowa and Indiana operating from 2012 – 2014. The sites being studied will include drainage systems with grass buffers that utilize engineered levels of saturation to control outfall into area waterways.

The news of this CIG is significant in so many ways. First, it is positive, proactive initiative by the NRCS which has inspired cooperation and teamwork across all sectors of our industry. That is very encouraging!

Second, the saturated buffer model has lots of promise and could become an extremely valuable and affordable tool for farmers looking to reduce nutrient transport away from tiled fields and into nearby waterways. In fact, a similar study showed an almost 100% reduction in nitrates!

Prinsco believes in responsible water management and is proud to support the ADMC and this CIG study. We will keep you posted as we get more news about this exciting project.

Categories: Agriculture