In fall 2018, the IWI RCCP project paid out the last of its funds to farmers for incentivized conservation. Over the five year project we sustained 70% cover crop coverage in Shatto Ditch Watershed and grew adoption to 32% of croppable acres in Kirkpatrick Ditch Watershed. In addition, in Shatto Ditch we now have a total of 4.1 miles of two stage ditch. We continue to quantify the water quality and soil health benefits of the watershed scale implementation of winter cover crops and the two stage ditch in two Indiana watersheds, have shared data with stakeholders via outreach activities, and participated in management discussions about how monitoring data can facilitate the adoption of watershed scale conservation that improves water quality. In fall 2019, we began the first year of a two year plan to monitor changes in Shatto Ditch and Kirkpatrick after government incentives ended. We are evaluating whether retention of practices by farmers was sufficient to maintain meaningful watershed scale improvements in water quality. We are also quantifying changes in soils and nutrient loss from fields that have been taken out of cover crops. Our goal is to document the lasting benefits of two important conservation practices after government incentives have ended, and to evaluate sustainability of these practices in Indiana in a manner that is meaningful to farmers, managers, and researchers.

This project addresses key research priorities outlined by both ISA including minimizing nutrient loss to waterways (e.g., through cover crops) and the use of innovative drainage strategies (e.g., via the two stage ditch) in order to enhance farm profitability while improving environmental stewardship. The overall goal is to help Indiana farmers implement conservation practices while maintaining productive and profitable agriculture at the watershed scale. With widespread adoption, armed with evidence-based monitoring data, cover crops and the two-stage ditch could help farmers circumvent potential future regulations calling for the reduction of nutrient loading to local or downstream surface waters. Objective 1: Quantify water quality benefits from paired watershed-scale cover crops and two-stage ditch through monitoring and sampling while also expanding sampling and analysis of carbon loss from fields. Objective 2: Quantify the benefits of cover crop implementation on soil health by expanding analyses on archived soil samples and to conduct soil sampling in both watersheds Objective 3: Use SWAT model to predict the benefits of watershed-scale cover crops and the two-stage ditch implemented regionally across other watersheds to enhance conservation scenario planning.

Update:

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Our goal is to help Indiana Farmers implement conservation practices while maintaining productive and profitable agriculture at the watershed scale. Studies such as the Annual Cover Crop Survey have shown that cover crop use can increase corn and soybean yields to enhance the productivity of Indiana farms (CTIC 2017). These practices also demonstrate that producers are taking proactive steps to reduce nutrient loss from fields. With widespread adoption armed with based monitoring data, cover crops and the two stage ditch could help farmers circumvent potential future regulations calling for the reduction of nutrient loading to local or downstream surface waters.