Midwest Initiative
Ohio MSEA Accomplishments and Impacts (1990-1995)
MSEA Expands to Agricultural Systems for Environmental Quality (ASEQ)
For More Information

In 1989, the President's Midwest Water Quality Initiative was established and brought together several different programs among various federal and state agencies. The overall goal of the Midwest Initiative is to safeguard and enhance the quality of the nation's surface and ground waters in the presence of sustained agricultural activities. This was to be accomplished by providing farmers, ranchers, and foresters with the educational, technical and financial means to respond voluntarily and independently to on-farm environmental concerns and related state water-quality requirements.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) established study sites in the Midwest to address the goals outlined in the Initiative. These sites are known as Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEA). These MSEAs are headquartered in five midwestern states: Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. The Minnesota project also coordinates research sites in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The MSEA program is guided by the USDA Working Group on Water Quality and involves a close cooperation between USDA agencies including the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and the Agricultural Research Service. Other cooperators include state universities through State Agricultural Experiment Stations and state and federal agencies such as the USGS, NRCS, and EPA. The MSEA program represents a unique approach to addressing water quality concerns. It derives its strength from a broad-based partnership between scientists and educators from several agencies, organizations and disciplines at the local, state and national levels. Disciplines include: chemistry, soil science, agronomy, hydrology, geology, ecology, economics, engineering, weed science, and sociology. This multi-disciplinary partnership promotes a more holistic approach to evaluating cropping systems and their impacts on water quality.

Information and technology generated from the MSEA projects are relevant to the Midwest, with applications to other sections of the country. Most importantly, MSEA science and information will increase the capacity of farmers to voluntarily protect our water resources. In an external review of the regional project, it was noted "The MSEAs could serve as a model for extending research results to new areas within midwest." Overall, it is our hope that the MSEA projects can serve as an effective implementation model for future "partnership approaches" to solve water quality concerns.

The Ohio MSEA is an integrated science, research and research-based educational program established in the Scioto River Basin in 1990 to evaluate the impacts of agricultural management systems on productivity, profitability, and ground-water quality. The scope of the second phase of the program, initiated in 1994, was broadened to include water table management, watershed research in northern Ohio, more emphasis on knowledge-based decision aids and expert systems, and expanded linkages with other state and regional initiatives. Research locations in southern, central, and northern Ohio are linked through an integrated effort at both the regional and national level. Go to the Research and Educational Activities section of Ohio MSEA home page to learn more about this project.

The Ohio MSEA's integration of science, research and education has led to several accomplishments since the start of the project. The impacts from MSEA research and education efforts can also be found in the following publications.

• Regional MSEA Impact Document
• The Ohio MSEA Project Summary and Impacts, 1990-1995
• Cropping Systems Impacts in the Scioto River Basin, 1990-1995.

Key Accomplishments from the Ohio MSEA Program.

• Identified components of agricultural systems that maintain profitability and minimize ground water impacts on farmed bottomlands in the Scioto River watershed;
  
  
• Defined the role of water table management to help agricultural producers meet both crop production and water quality goals;
  
  
• Identified social and economic factors that influence the adoption of water quality protection practices in the Scioto River watershed;
  
  
• Increased our understanding of the factors and processes that control the fate and transport of agricultural chemicals;
  
  
• Made significant advances in the development of a knowledge-based expert system and decision aid;
  
  
• Developed a decision support database for agricultural system impact evaluation applications;
  
  
• Collaborated with the US Navy, USEPA, and NASA in the development of reflectance and radiation sensors on low and high altitude airborne platforms;
  
  
• Developed new technologies that will assist the agricultural producer in protecting water resources while maintaining productivity and profitability;
  
  
• Successfully transferred scientific information to increase user's and stakeholder's knowledge of water resource protection;
  
  
• Provided more than 75 educational programs, disseminating informationto more than 10,000 agricultural producers and user annually.
  
  
• Conducted more than 100 oral and poster presentations; published over 150 technical articles, abstracts and reports;distributed brochures and newsletters to about 9,000 producers and agency personnel in the State of Ohio; been featured in more than 30 popular magazines, newspapers, and newsletters; at least one of which has 40,000 readers nationwide.
  
  
• Developed young scientists and educators who are now contributing to the knowledge base at both regional and national levels; and
  
  
• Identified gaps in the knowledge of the interaction of agricultural production systems with natural resource systems on a watershed scale.

A new program has been proposed for 1996 and beyond that will expand and broaden the original goals of the MSEAs. The new program is called Agricultural Systems for Environmental Quality (ASEQ). Activities will be conducted in the original states plus Mississippi, North Carolina, and Indiana. In Ohio, program activities will place more focus on wetlands, watersheds, and water management. A new project which is being coordinated by Heidelberg College and The Ohio State University will focus on the Lake Erie Basin.

The Ohio MSEA/ASEQ evaluates and develops agricultural management systems that protect the quality and quantity of the state's diverse water resources while maintaining the productivity and profitability of the stateÕs number one industry, agriculture. The program's integrated science, research, and research-based education approach provides agricultural producers the skills and knowledge to respond independently and voluntarily in addressing Ohio's water quality concerns. Future efforts of the Ohio MSEA/ASEQ program will broaden to include water table management, watershed research in northern Ohio, more emphasis on knowledge-based decision aids and expert systems, and expanded linkages with other state and regional initiatives.

ASEQ Technical Working Group Focus Areas:

• Precision Farming
• Pesticide and Nutrient Management
• Animal Waste Management
• Cropping and Tillage Systems
• Water Quality Impacts and Benefits
• Water Table Management
• Irrigation
• Economics
• Education Outreach

• Offsite Remediation
• Riparian Zones and Filter Strips
• Wetlands and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Economics
• Education Outreach

• Hydrologic Models
• Crop Models
• Water Quality Models
• Watershed and Ground-Water Models
• Expert Systems
• GIS Applications
• Screening Tools
• Databases
• Education Outreach

• Produce and Market Products
• Raise Awareness
• Demonstrate Technologies
• Provide Educational and Technical Assistance
• Evaluation

USDA-ARS, Soil Drainage Research Unit
Norman R. Fausey, Research Leader: 614-292-9806

The Ohio State University
Andy Ward, Professor: 614-292-9354
Larry C. Brown, Extension Agricultural Engineer: 614-292-3826
Nathan L. Watermeier, Education Coordinator: 614-292-5412

All located at:
Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
590 Woody Hayes Drive
Columbus, OH 43210-1057
FAX: (614) 292-9448