Are you performing edge-of-field monitoring to measure effectiveness of conservation practices and their impact to water-quality? Do you know the uncertainty of your sampling strategy?
“Many farmers are getting interested in tracking and monitoring phosphorus that might leave fields through drains and tile outlets,” said Laura Campbell, MFB senior conservation and regulatory relations specialist.
“It’s important to note that whether you’re doing the monitoring yourself or working with a consultant, university, or agency to track phosphorus, the method and timing of how samples are gathered can impact the accuracy of the data, so you should carefully think about balancing the equipment and labor expenses with the purpose of the data to ensure you’re getting the information you need.”
Subsurface drainage discharge and surface runoff are pathways for phosphorus (P) loss from subsurface-drained farms. Monitoring P loss is important to evaluate the P reduction performance of conservation practices, which is measured by the P load.
The sampling strategy has a considerable effect on the uncertainty of the P load estimate, according to Ehsan Ghane, Extension specialist and assistant professor at Michigan State University.
There are three strategies for collecting water samples: Flow-proportional sampling, time-proportional sampling and grab-sampling.
To learn more about phosphorous monitoring, please see the Michigan Farm News story.
Share Story
Article Tags
