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Michigan plans for expanded phosphorus reduction efforts

Agriculture’s role in reducing phosphorus runoff was the main focus during the State of the Western Lake Erie Basin Conference in Michigan.

Dr. Laura Johnson is the Chief Science Officer for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“It isn’t just any agriculture you’re going to see these losses, and it isn’t that you see over application of phosphorus that’s just being applied in a careless manner,” she explains.

Researchers expect a mild to moderate harmful algal bloom for Lake Erie this year, and Johnson says heavy rainfall is just one of the factors that impact phosphorus loading.

“What we are starting to have learned is that it’s the combination of these, like really heavy clay soils that need tile drains,” she says. “It’s where it’s super flat land that if you’re applying on the surface, especially for phosphorus, whether it’s commercial fertilizers or manure, that’s where we see a higher loss.”

Michigan’s updated plan to meet nutrient reduction goals calls for more regenerative farming, enhanced water quality monitoring, and a pay-for-performance pilot program incentivizing conservation adoption, among other efforts.

Brownfield interviewed Johnson during Thursday’s event.