By Whitney Prestby, Natural Resources Educator — UW-Madison Division of Extension Natural Resources Institute
December 05, 2024
Kinnard Farms is the first in the nation to have a denitrifying bioreactor and a Phosphorus Removal System built in-line on the same tile system within a field through GLRI-EQIP funding.
It was a chilly fall evening with rain clouds rolling in, yet nearly 30 people gathered for a Wisconsin Demonstration Farm Network Field Day in northeastern Wisconsin to learn about the newest technology adopted by Lee Kinnard of Kinnard Farms. As a member of the Door-Kewaunee Demonstration Farms Network (DK Demo Farms) and Peninsula Pride Farms
Kinnard partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to be one of the first in the nation to have a denitrifying bioreactor and a Phosphorus Removal System (PRS) built in-line on the same tile system within a field. For the first time, the USGS will be able to monitor the system at three different points, collecting data that will help tell a more complete story about the impact of pairing these two technologies on subsurface water quality.
The USGS has been conducting edge-of-field monitoring to assess the quantity and quality of agricultural runoff and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation practices that aim to reduce nutrient loss since 2018, when the bioreactor was installed at Kinnard Farms with technical and financial assistance from NRCS through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). “[Now] data will be collected as water leaves the field through the tile system and enters the PRS, as it leaves the PRS and enters the bioreactor, and when it leaves the bioreactor,” explained Joe Van Hulle, an engineer with NRCS Wisconsin.
As part of the DK Demo Farms, which is funded through the GLRI, Kinnard says keeping soil and nutrients out of Green Bay and Lake Michigan is what drives him to try new practices on his farm. “Regenerative practices like planting cover crops and no-till farming are really working, but we know that tile system needs to be a part of the solution, and we want to make sure we’re not replacing one problem with another.” Implementing the bioreactor was the first step, but having the opportunity to pair that with a system designed to remove dissolved phosphorus could be a potential game changer for this region of the state.
The Wisconsin Demonstration Farm Network program is designed to help farmers identify conservation goals on the land and provide technical assistance to adopt conservation practices that support those goals. Through a variety of outreach strategies, like organizing Field Days hosted by participating farms, the program works to amplify its impact by engaging local farmers and sharing the lessons learned from Demo Farms. “We’re trying to help farmers build a toolbox of practices,” said Barry Bubolz, NRCS Wisconsin GLRI Field Coordinator. “When we stack multiple conservation practices together, we magnify the positive impact from a soil health and water quality perspective. Through the Demo Farm Networks, we have learned that farms are most successful when they adopt practices that fit into their existing system. The opportunity to learn on working farms like Kinnard Farms not only benefits Lee’s operation, but it has a ripple effect across the region. We have seen positive changes across the landscape as more farms adopt practices such as cover crops and no-till. Working with Kinnard Farms to install and monitor structural practices like the bioreactor and phosphorus removal system appears to be no different.”
Over the next few years, more than 20 phosphorus removal systems funded through GLRI grants and GLRI-EQIP will be designed and installed across northeastern Wisconsin in Brown, Outagamie, and Calumet County. Some of the systems will be designed to treat subsurface tile water, like the one on Kinnard Farms. Other systems will capture dissolved phosphorus in surface water using an open-system model with steel turnings and pea gravel. Edge-of-field monitoring will be installed on multiple sites, which Van Hulle says will allow the sites to be compared for a better understanding of the system’s effectiveness. While there are still questions to be answered, those chilly fall Field Day participants at Kinnard Farms were enthusiastic about the future of this technology.
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