News

Steps to improve water quality

With the start of summer, water quality issues begin to heat up.

In Ohio, Grand Lake St. Marys and the Western Basin of Lake Erie get a lot of attention because of algae blooms, and while agriculture gets a lot of the blame, Terry McClure says farmers are taking steps to address its share of the problem.

“What’s really important right now is that everyone’s on the same page of doing what we can,” said McClure. “It’s very important as we go forward to make sure that our farmers are making the adjustments that do change things.”

On their farm in Paulding County Ohio, McClure says they’ve made a few small adjustments.

“We’re spacing out our phosphate applications among the rotation of our crops, we’re paying more attention to the weather around our application, we’re trying to get it into the soil more, McClure said. “A lot of small adjustments on our farm.”

The McClure farm is located in the Maumee River Watershed, the largest watershed draining into the Western Lake Erie Basin, so even small adjustments will make a difference.

“We don’t have to quit using phosphate, it’s just all about how we apply it and how we keep a little bit more of it on the field.”

70 percent of the land base in the Maumee River Watershed is in agriculture.

McClure’s is one of 32 sites around the state that is conducting edge of field research, collecting data to better understand how different farming practices impact water leaving the farm.

Audio: Terry McClure, farmer, Paulding Co. Ohio (5:40 mp3)