CEAP —Conservation Effects Assessment Project

1. CEAP—Conservation Effects Assessment Project Achieving Effective Conservation in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

2. What CEAP Reveals ― Overview of the Upper Mississippi Basin • Conservation practices work • Comprehensive planning is needed because suites of practices work better than single practices • Targeting critical acres improves effectiveness significantly • The most critical conservation issue is reducing the loss of nutrients, especially nitrogen

3. What CEAP Reveals ― Conservation Practices Work • Compared to no conservation practices: • Sediment loss reduced by 69 % • Total phosphorous loss reduced by 49 % • Total nitrogen loss reduced by 18 % • Pesticide risks to human health reduced by 48 % Protected Soil Unprotected Soil

4. What CEAP Reveals ― Comprehensive Planning is Needed • Surface nitrogen losses reduced by 46 % BUT subsurface losses are reduced by only 5 % • Without nutrient practices, erosion control practices can increase subsurface nitrogen losses

5. What CEAP Reveals ― Significant Progress Made in Reducing Erosion and Sedimentation • 45 % of the cropland and 72 % of Highly Erodible land has structural practices • 95 % of the cropland has reduced tillage, 71 % is no-till or mulch till • Edge of field sediment loss reduced by 69 % • In-stream sediment reduced by 37 %

6. What CEAP Reveals ― Progress Has Been Made, but Opportunities Exist to Expand Nutrient Management • Phosphorus losses have been reduced by 49 % but nitrogen losses have been reduced only by 18 % • About 60 % of the cropland needs nutrient management, but much can be done. Examples: • Timing ─ Nitrogen is fall-applied on 45 % of the cropland acres • Rate ─ Nitrogen is applied at rates greater than 1.4 times removal at harvest on 66 % of the cropland • Method─Nitrogen is not soil incorporated, • banded, or foliar/spot treated on 44 % of • cropland acres

7. What CEAP Reveals ― Conservation Practices Reduce Pesticide Risks Significantly • Pesticide risks to human health are very low ─ on average, only 1 % to 2 % of the pesticides applied are leaving fields • Conservation practices have reduced the pesticide threats to human health by 48% • Much can be done to further reduce pesticide losses: Rotations, Scouting, Precision Application

8. What CEAP Reveals ― Cropland is Gaining Organic Carbon • Cropland in the Upper Mississippi Basin sequesters about 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) annually • This offsets the combustion of 0.75 billion gallons of gasoline, enough gasoline to power about 1.3 million cars for one year • The average cropland acre, with existing conservation, has an annual net gain of 259 pounds of CO2e • 5 % of the cropland is losing greater than 670 pounds of CO2e • 5 % of the cropland is gaining more than 1,000 pounds of CO2e • Erosion control practices can significantly increase sequestration rates by reducing losses of organic matter due to erosion.

9. What CEAP Reveals ― Targeting Conservation Increases its Impact • Targeting the most critical acres, compared to acres that have limited needs, increases practice effectiveness per acre: • Over 5 times in reducing sediment • Over 4 times in reducing total Nitrogen • Over 3 times in reducing total Phosphorus • The CEAP report is the beginning, additional information is needed for implementation: • Soil leaching and run-offvulnerability maps • Small watershed modeling • Stakeholders’ input • Water quality monitoring data

10. So What? • Voluntary, incentive-based conservation works. • Reduced tillage is used on 95 % of the cropland - sediment losses reduced 69 %. • Nutrient management is the greatest need. • Much can be done through expanded adoption of existing practices. • Targeting can greatly enhance program effectiveness. • Treating the most critical acres can have 3 to 5 times the benefit of treating acres with less serious problems. • Comprehensive conservationplanning is essential. • Suites of practices that address multiple resource concerns are more effective than single practices.