Meeting the nitrate reduction goal: What will it take?

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a science and technology-based framework developed to assess and reduce nutrients loss to Iowa waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The strategy includes efforts to reduce the total loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from both point and nonpoint sources by a combined 45%. The practice-based approach was developed in response to the 2008 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan that calls for Iowa and other states in the Mississippi River watershed to develop strategies to reduce nutrient loadings to the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately reduce the size of the gulf hypoxic zone

Nutrient reduction strategy update and opportunities for agribusinesses

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a science-based framework that identifies in-field, edge of field, and land use practices that minimize loss of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface water. In addition to reductions in agricultural non-point sources of nutrients, the strategy also identifies reductions for non-agricultural point sources such as municipal wastewater treatment plants. The Hypoxia Task Force identified a goal of reducing the total nitrogen and total phosphorus load by 45%. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy outlines the effectiveness of the identified agricultural practices to assist farmers in selecting practices individually or in combination to meet their nutrient reduction goals

Providing service and suport to watershed improvement projects accress Iowa

Nonpoint source nutrient pollution from agriculture entering Iowa’s surface water bodies (Figure 1) is a problem for impaired local watersheds throughout the Corn Belt, and as far away as the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River drains 40 percent of the continental US and carries almost 140 cubic miles of water yearly (Libra 1998). The U.S. Geological Survey estimated an average of 1.65 million tons/year of nitrogen (N) were exported into the Gulf of Mexico from 1987-1996 causing a condition called hypoxia (Libra 1998). Hypoxia, also known as a dead zone, is an area where water has no or very little oxygen necessary for fish and other marine life. Nitrogen accelerates the production of marine phytoplankton whose life cycle consumes oxygen previously available for fish and shrimp (Libra 1998). Estimates in 1996 suggested that Iowa supplied on average almost 25 percent of the nitrate-N to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River; much of it from agricultural land-use practices (Libra 1998)

Measuring Conservation and Nutrient Reduction in Iowa Agriculture

An ongoing public concern is the loss of nutrients from agricultural land in the corn belt. In Iowa, nitrogen and phosphorus losses from farm fields are driven by a variety of factors. Since the mid-twentieth century, statewide corn and soybean acres have increased as extended rotations, hay, and pasture declined. Compared to perennial crops and small grain rotations, corn-soybean and continuous corn rotations are leaky systems. They require increased fertilizer rates creating vulnerability to nutrient loss, have a lower capacity for capturing and holding nitrogen (N) during wet conditions, and lack surface cover to prevent soil erosion and phosphorus (P) loss during heavy rain events. These nutrient losses contribute to local stream and river impairments, create challenges for small communities in maintaining safe nitrate levels in drinking water, and add significantly to the size of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico

Meeting the nitrate reduction goal: What will it take?

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a science and technology-based framework developed to assess and reduce nutrient loss to Iowa waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The strategy addresses methods and practices to reduce total loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from both municipal and industrial point sources and agricultural nonpoint sources by a combined 45% (INRSSA, 2013). The approach was developed in response to the 2008 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan that calls for Iowa and other states in the Mississippi River watershed to develop strategies to reduce nutrient loadings to the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately reduce the size of the gulf hypoxic zone

Cover Crop Adoption Decisions in Iowa: Insights from an In-Person Survey

CURRENT NITROGEN and phosphorus applications in the Midwest have been connected to increasing water quality problems

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. METHODS: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. FINDINGS: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96-1·28). INTERPRETATION: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Nutrient reduction strategy update and opportunities for agribusinesses

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a science-based framework that identifies in-field, edge of field, and land use practices that minimize loss of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface water. In addition to reductions in agricultural non-point sources of nutrients, the strategy also identifies reductions for non-agricultural point sources such as municipal wastewater treatment plants. The Hypoxia Task Force identified a goal of reducing the total nitrogen and total phosphorus load by 45%. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy outlines the effectiveness of the identified agricultural practices to assist farmers in selecting practices individually or in combination to meet their nutrient reduction goals.</p

Meeting the nitrate reduction goal: What will it take?

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a science and technology-based framework developed to assess and reduce nutrients loss to Iowa waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The strategy includes efforts to reduce the total loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from both point and nonpoint sources by a combined 45%. The practice-based approach was developed in response to the 2008 Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan that calls for Iowa and other states in the Mississippi River watershed to develop strategies to reduce nutrient loadings to the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately reduce the size of the gulf hypoxic zone.</p

Providing service and suport to watershed improvement projects accress Iowa

Nonpoint source nutrient pollution from agriculture entering Iowa’s surface water bodies (Figure 1) is a problem for impaired local watersheds throughout the Corn Belt, and as far away as the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River drains 40 percent of the continental US and carries almost 140 cubic miles of water yearly (Libra 1998). The U.S. Geological Survey estimated an average of 1.65 million tons/year of nitrogen (N) were exported into the Gulf of Mexico from 1987-1996 causing a condition called hypoxia (Libra 1998). Hypoxia, also known as a dead zone, is an area where water has no or very little oxygen necessary for fish and other marine life. Nitrogen accelerates the production of marine phytoplankton whose life cycle consumes oxygen previously available for fish and shrimp (Libra 1998). Estimates in 1996 suggested that Iowa supplied on average almost 25 percent of the nitrate-N to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River; much of it from agricultural land-use practices (Libra 1998).</p