Reduce Nitrate Loss On Your Farm

By: Megan Vollstedt

In 2020, turn your attention to affordable edge-of-field conservation practices like saturated buffers, which can remove 41% to 98% of the nitrate concentration leaving your farm.

A saturated buffer is designed to treat tile drainage water from fields that are adjacent to rivers, streams, lakes, and ditches.

The saturated buffer intercepts a field tile and redistributes the water through a buffer strip’s soil profile. As the water drains through the soil profile, perennial plants take up the excess nutrients.

Keegan Kult, executive director of the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition, lists several characteristics that the Natural Resources Conservation Service will look for to determine the suitability of a field for a saturated buffer:

Saturated buffers are typically installed on tile systems that drain 30 to 100 acres, which ensures suitable flow and treatable nitrate levels.
To meet the Natural Resources Conservation Service standards, you need to have at least 30 feet of perennial vegetation in a filter strip.
Loam or clay loam soil is ideal, and the area must have a high water table.