2019
Controlled Drainage: A drainage conservation practice to reduce phosphorus loss from subsurface-drained fields
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Contributor/Checkoff:
Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
Abiotic stressField management SustainabilityWater supply
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Ehsan Ghane, Michigan State University
Co-Principal Investigators:
Project Code:
1920
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee
$15,000
Institution Funded:
Michigan State University
$15,000
Brief Project Summary:

Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) is the form that is readily available for algae, and too much of it can cause adverse outcomes of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in surface water. Therefore, it is important to reduce the transport of excess DRP in drainage water, and maintain the sustainability and social acceptance of agriculture in Michigan. Controlled drainage (a.k.a., drainage water management) is a drainage conservation practice that can alleviate the water quality issue. However, there has not been any published study worldwide that has accurately quantified the effectiveness of controlled drainage in reducing DRP in an on-farm research.

Therefore, there is a need to...

Unique Keywords:
#water quality & management
Information And Results
Final Project Results

Updated May 1, 2020:
The primary goal of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of conservation drainage practices in reducing phosphorus loss from subsurface-drained farms. This on-farm experiment is comprised of two sites with controlled drainage. Both sites have been fully instrumented to collect flow and water quality data. We have been collecting flow and nutrient concentration data during water year 2019 except for the periods with instrument malfunctions and subsequent data loss. We will continue to collect data until the end of water year 2022 (i.e., Sep 30, 2022), after which we will make a conclusion about the effectiveness of these conservation drainage practices.

Our preliminary data shows that phosphorus movement in the soil is highly dependent on the subsurface drainage volume. Generally, higher flow volumes were associated with higher dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. Therefore, conservation drainage practices should be designed to target high flows, if we are to reach the target phosphorus reduction of 40% set by EPA. Unlike phosphorus, nitrate concentration showed a seasonal trend where concentration reaches a peak in spring followed by steady decline that continues into fall.

Other stakeholders have funded different aspects of this project including MDARD, EGLE, Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture, Corn Marketing Program of Michigan, and Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee. Data generated from this project is not only useful for determining the effectiveness of conservation drainage practices, but they can be used in modeling and simulation efforts to investigate the impact of conservation practices on water quality.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.