The objective of this project is to facilitate the establishment of a network of edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring demonstration sites in Kentucky, collectively known as Blue Water Farms. This work will include established partnerships with the USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) eligible producers who wish to take advantage of and participate in the EQIP EoF monitoring standard practice. As described by the USDA NRCS, voluntary EoF water quality monitoring enables agricultural producers and scientists to quantitatively demonstrate the impacts of conservation work on water quality. Through EoF monitoring, NRCS works with producers and conservation partners, such as universities, agencies, and non-governmental organizations, to measure amounts of nutrients and sediment in water runoff from a field, and compare the improvements under different conservation systems. Information from monitoring stations helps soybean producers make informed decisions regarding the use of inputs and conservation practices. These decisions, often called adaptive management, help soybean producers increase economic efficiency while maximizing yields. The information also demonstrates the value of conservation efforts by soybean producers. Monitoring stations enable NRCS to measure conservation benefits on water quality right at the edge of farm fields rather than try to estimate conservation effects from in-stream measurements that are subject to influences outside of the farmer's control. Edge-of-field monitoring, combined with in-stream monitoring, can provide a more thorough picture of improvements within a watershed. This helps NRCS refine and improve conservation efforts. We propose that the University of Kentucky, Cooperative Extension Service and the Grain and Forage Center of Excellence is uniquely poised to be the conservation partner necessary to assist producers with their water quality monitoring needs for those producers who choose to participate in the EQIP EoF program.

The objective of this project is to facilitate the establishment of a network of edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring demonstration sites in Kentucky, collectively known as Blue Water Farms. This work will include established partnerships with the USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) eligible producers who wish to take advantage of and participate in the EQIP EoF monitoring standard practice.

BLUE WATER FARMS: EDGE-OF-FIELD MONITORING IN KENTUCKY DR. BRAD LEE, UK The objective of this project is to facilitate the establishment of a network of edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring demonstration sites in Kentucky, collectively known as Blue Water Farms. Through EoF monitoring, the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board partners with the USDA NRCS, Kentucky Agriculture Development Board (KADB), University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Kentucky Geological Survey and five western Kentucky farms to measure amounts of nutrients and sediment in runoff from a row-crop fields, and compare improvements under different conservation systems. As described by the USDA NRCS, voluntary EoF water quality monitoring enables agricultural producers and scientists to quantitatively demonstrate the impacts of conservation work on water quality. Information from monitoring stations helps soybean producers make informed decisions regarding the use of inputs and conservation practices. These decisions, often called adaptive management, help soybean producers increase economic efficiency while maximizing yields. The information also demonstrates the value of conservation efforts by soybean producers. Monitoring stations enable NRCS to measure conservation benefits on water quality right at the edge of farm fields rather than try to estimate conservation effects from in-stream measurements that are subject to influences outside of the row crop producer’s control. Blue Water Farms has ten established EoF monitoring stations in the loess-veneered, interbedded sandstone-shale soils of the Shawnee Hills: six stations in Daviess County (2018) and four stations in McLean County (2019). Three additional farms located in the limestone derived Pennyrile soils that participated in the Blue Water Farms project in 2020 – 2021 bringing the total number of EoF monitoring stations to twenty-two with four stations in Caldwell County and eight stations in Trigg County. To facilitate the development of these additional stations the KADB partnered in the project with financial support of $228,000 to install flumes at the monitoring stations. Out of the total twenty-two USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program EoF monitoring stations, six will focus on nutrient management associated with poultry litter applications while sixteen monitoring stations will be used to evaluate surface nutrient runoff from crop rotations including cover crops.