A new program is coming to incentivize Ohio farmers to plan to avoid fertilizer runoff. They will be paid to do so, and it’s coming quickly…but it doesn’t have an exact start date and will have a short time for enrollment.
Bob Neal, administrator of the Ross Soil and Water Conservation District, explained the “H2Ohio Expansion” program to the Ross County Commissioners Monday.
The initiative from the Ohio Department of Agriculture awaits Governor DeWine’s signature. Neal says this is partly in response to past years’ algae blooms in the Maumee River at Toledo, which are suspected to be fed by fertilizer runoff…though farmers will point out that excessive residential fertilizer application may be just as much to blame.
Neal says fertilizer is known as “nutrient” in the industry. He says the “Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan” will pay $5 an acre a year for two years for each farmer to develop a plan, and $10 or $15 more for a basic or a precision plan. There is a 750-acre cap per producer, and a 10,000 acre cap for Ross County.
Neal says that considering the farm acreage in the county, this could mean up to $400,000 in payments available to Ross County over the next two years.
The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District shares the “farm corner” in the Ross County Service Center at 475 Western Avenue in Chillicothe. They can be reached at 740 / 772-1711 extension 3. They also have a website and Facebook page.
Hear more from Bob Neal in his own words in the interview video in the article on the Scioto Post.
Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture for the Scioto Post and iHeart Media Southern Ohio. For stories or questions, contact Kevin Coleman or the iHeart Southern Ohio Newsroom.
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