Originally published April 5 2005
Agricultural research project seeks solution to phosphorus production problem
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The dairy farms of central Texas produce a great deal of milk -- and an equally great amount of phosphorus, creating algae problems in lakes and leading to declining fish populations. A project funded by the US Department of Agriculture and the EPA is attempting to improve phosphorus recycling on farms and increase the ability of the soil to hold phosphorus without it running off into surrounding waters.
A new agricultural research project is looking for ways to prevent phosphorus in manure from running off into the Bosque and Leon Watersheds.Funded by $800,000 in grant monies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, the project pools the efforts of experts from the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Cooperative Extension and Tarleton State University.At stake is not only preserving water quality in Central Texas, but reinforcing an industry crucial to the central Texas economy, said Dr. Barry Lambert."The city of Waco, downstream from the dairies on the Bosque River watershed, has placed much of the blame for (Lake) Waco water quality issues on the dairy industry in north-Central Texas," said Lambert, dairy nutritionist with a joint appointment with the Experiment Station and Tarleton State.Dairy farms typically spread the manure, either composted or as a slurry from catch lagoons, on crops as fertilizer.The typical crop is some sort of forage, which uses 1 pound of phosphorus for every 4 pounds of nitrogen.The forage is a method of recycling manure, and if the proportions of phosphorus to nitrogen were correct, it would be an efficient, environmentally friendly system."The majority of phosphorus leaves the dairy farm as either milk or manure," Lambert said.Muddying the waters further, many of the federal and state environmental regulations are based on soils, climate and forage cropping systems that have little in common with those in Central Texas, said Dr. James Pierre Muir, Experiment Station forage research physiologist."If you add assumption on top of supposition, you wind up with legislation and litigation based on very little data," said Muir, who is also a member of the research project.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml