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In 1986 the Farm Journal magazine, a major farm publication with a circulation of over three-quarters 

 of a million, printed ten feature articles dealing with agricultural environmental issues. In 1990, the 

 number of environmental feature articles had grown to 65, a 550 percent increase. And that trend is 

 continuing. The significant point here is that they don't write articles unless there is a demand by their 

 readership. Readership surveys indicate farmers and ranchers want more and more information on 

 conservation and environmental issues. It seems apparent from this increase in demand for information 

 that we have begun the first steps in the education process, a process which leads to attitudinal change 

 and ultimately to behavioral change. This demand also points out that farmers and ranchers recognize 

 the principle questions we must all address: What are the best, most effective methods we can use to 

 conserve and improve our nation's water resources? 



Below are some guiding principles which should be used to develop programs and policies as we look for 

 solutions to the questions production agriculture faces. 



• Natural resources management policy decisions should be driven, not by assertion, but by 

 scientific feet. Science should be used as the foundation of all water quality decisions. 



• Farmers and ranchers will respond if they know there is a problem and if they are given 

 reasonable alternatives on how to fix them. The key to the adoption of these new practices is 

 getting the information into the producers hands; assuring them through research that they will 

 work; and showing the adoption will be cost-effective. 



• Improving water quality is a process which takes time for results. 



• Solutions that come from the bottom up, rather than the top down, are most effective. Education 

 and technical programs should focus on identifying local solutions. 



• Regardless of what programs there are in place, nothing happens until the management practices 

 are applied to the land. Below are a few examples of activities which are happening on the 

 landscape as people respond to the nonpoint source question. 



We're making significant progress on getting conservation tillage on the ground, some because of 

 conservation compliance and the rest because formers are learning that it makes good sense. This can 

 have as much impact as anything we can do to improve water quality in our streams and lakes. The 

 concept is simple, keep the water on the land and you reduce the opportunity to move soil and nutrients 

 to the drainage system. 



We've begun to understand that animal waste is really not waste, but rather a valuable resource that can 

 be maruged and used to improve farm profitability. Precise managements of nutrient content and 

 prescription application is becoming standard operating procedure on forms all across the country. 



And with regard to general fertilizer management, we are learning to become very specific in our testing 

 and application — farmers and ranchers are attempting to apply only what is required of a crop for growth 

 in that crop year, and no more. This is especially important with nitrogen, because excess free nitrogen 

 unused by the crop has the potential of moving offsite. Farmers are becoming very sensitive to this issue 

 and recalibrating nitrogen rates accordingly. 



