The Ohio Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) Project was established to assess the impact of corn and soybean cropping systems on ground-water quality and to develop profitable cropping system technologies that protect water resources. The goal is to provide information and technology that allows farmers to respond voluntarily to local, state, and regional water quality requirements while maintaining or increasing productivity and profitability.

      During the first five years of the project, the primary research and educational facilities were located at a 650 acre site and the Piketon Research and Extension Center near Piketon, Ohio. This site is in the southern portion of the 4-million acre Scioto River Basin. The site is representative of many locations in Ohio and the nation which have similar crop production systems, permeable soils, and geological formations. Approximately 50% of the basin is cropland. The most common crops are corn, soybean, and wheat. The research site overlies the Scioto River Alluvial Valley Aquifer. This sand and gravel aquifer is near the soil surface making it potentially vulnerable to surface applied agrichemicals. Aquifers such as this one provide significant water supply resources throughout the Midwest. About 75 percent of Ohio's drinking water supply is from ground-water aquifers.

     The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 1990 Nonpoint Source Assessment reported a majority of the surface- and ground-water systems in the basin are affected by agricultural activities, with nitrogen as a primary source affecting water resource quality. Agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution was reported to affect 70 percent of the basin's total stream miles. Approximately 20% of the townships in the basin reported NPS impacts to ground-water quality, with nitrate from agricultural activities and domestic sewage systems being the most common pollutant found in private well-water systems.

     Research at the site is evaluating three cropping systems by assessing crop yields, weed pressure, water and agrichemical movement, soil biological activity, and economics. These systems included a continuous corn (chisel plow) system, a corn/soybean (chisel following corn and no-till following soybeans) system, and a corn/soybean/wheat with a hairy vetch cover crop (ridge-till) system. Also, the sociological attitudes about practice adoption and water quality awareness were evaluated.

Impacts

Project efforts have been coordinated with other local, state, and federal agencies and programs to help producers in the Scioto River basin. As a result:

• No-till increased by 13 percent from 1989 to 1995 making it the most widely used form of conservation tillage in the basin.
  
  
• Monitoring in two upper Scioto River reservoirs suggest a declining trend in nitrate concentrations from 1989 to 1995 (further analysis is underway).
  
  
• Best Management Practices including nutrient and pesticide management were implemented on each of the MSEA demonstration farms.
  
  
• Readers of the project's water resources fact sheets learned about local water resources, and had significant gains in awareness and understanding.
  

• Analyses on 8,000 water samples taken from the aquifer detected no pesticides. The majority of applied pesticides remain in the top 6 inches of soil where they degrade. At times, nitrate concentrations in the aquifer exceed the drinking water standards, but do not persist.
  
  
• A bromide tracer study indicated that surface applied agrichemicals may reach the aquifer after a period of 4 to 5 years. This suggests that persistent abnormally wet conditions or an increased use of irrigation could elevate nitrate levels. Further research is needed to evaluate if pesticides will reach the aquifer under intense rainfall or irrigation.
  
  
• No statistical differences in yield between the cropping systems were detected, except for soybeans during 1991. Yields from all three systems are comparable to those from farms in southern Ohio.
  
  
• Crop rotations and banding of herbicides as part of the ridge till system reduced the amount of pesticides needed to control weeds or insects. Reduced herbicide levels showed no increase in weed pressure among the cropping systems.
  
  
• The chisel/no-till system had the greatest return to management, while the ridge-till system had the next greatest, and the continuous corn system (chisel) the least.
  
  
• New technologies which make use of expert systems, geographic information systems, and computer simulation were developed to assist with farming management decisions.

     A dynamic educational infrastructure has been responsible for providing MSEA information and support to agricultural producers and landowners, and other users annually. These educational efforts feed into educational and technical assistance programs of USDA and Ohio natural resource agencies. These activities have increased awareness, demonstrated new and improved technologies and strategies, and encouraged adoption of cropping practices to reduce NPS impact on the region's water resources.

• More than 75 educational programs were conducted reaching more than 10,000 persons annually.
  
  
• The Extension team reached users through the Ohio Colloquium, field days, Farm Science Review, presentations, conferences, and various publication materials.
  
  
• Demonstration farms were established in Pike, Ross, and Pickaway counties to study the effectiveness of MSEA cultural practices under real world farming conditions. These farms were jointly coordinated by farmers, Extension agents, state specialists, district conservationists, agricultural industry representatives, and researchers.
  
  
• County-specific water resource fact sheets were developed and published for 51 of Ohio's 88 counties.
  
  
• Out of 1,305 farmers/landowners interviewed in the basin, most respondents emphasized efficiency and economics when making decisions on adopting new farm technologies and alternative cropping systems. They also believe that nitrate and pesticide contamination of ground water pose a minor threat to the health of family members.

     Future MSEA project efforts will evaluate how water and cropping practices can be managed to protect water quality within fields, wetlands, and watersheds. Research and education activities will be expanding to include areas with poorly drained soils in northern Ohio. The Ohio MSEA is part of the multi-agency Agricultural Systems for Environmental Quality (ASEQ) Program which is located in 11 states. The Ohio MSEA focuses on:

• Water table management strategies that utilize subsurface drainage, controlled drainage, and subirrigation.
  
  
• Decision aids and expert systems, which can be used by the user to identify site specific best management practices to enhance and protect soils and water resources.
  
  
• lTransferring research and educational programs and information to users.