26th Southern Conservation Tillage Conference ROLE OF ADOPTING REDUCED TILLAGE PRACTICES TO SATISFY GOVERNMENT MANDATES IN THE NEUSE RIVER BASIN AND OTHER SENSITIVE WATERSHEDS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Fish kills and the identification of Pfiesteria piscicida spurred environmental regulations of point and nonpoint source nitrogen (N) pollution in the Neuse River Basin. The majority of the producers selected to join a Local Area Plan to document best management practice (BMP) implementation and N reductions. Documentation required the development of a tracking tool, Nitrogen Loss Estimation Worksheet (NLEW). In determining N reduction coefficients for BMPs, the committee developing NLEW developed the following literature review on the efficacy of no-till. Since the majority of nitrogen lost from agricultural systems in the South is through the soil into the shallow groundwater, only soluble N was considered. The committee determined that cover crops could reduce N loading into shallow ground water but that research conducted on no-till showed no pattern of N reductions: sometimes nitrate loading to the shallow groundwater increased and sometimes it decreased