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Farmers stepping up to diminish hazards to Grand Lake St. Marys

St. Henry dairy and livestock farmer John Woebker checks his 168,000 gallon underground concrete manure pit which prevents waste from accidentally entering nearby streams in Mercer County. Farmers in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed are encouraged to practice this method of farming to prevent the toxic algae problems that currently exist at the lake.

Jim Witmer St. Henry dairy and livestock farmer John Woebker checks his 168,000 gallon underground concrete manure pit which prevents waste from accidentally entering nearby streams in Mercer County. Farmers in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed are encouraged to practice this method of farming to prevent the toxic algae problems that currently exist at the lake.

ENLARGE PHOTO

St. Henry dairy and livestock farmer John Woebker looks over an area he farms where an alfalfa buffer grows on the left and a grass filter on the right, which helps prevent nutrients from entering the nearby Beaver Creek in Mercer County. Farmers in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed are encouraged to practice this method of farming to prevent the toxic algae problems that currently exist at the lake.

Jim Witmer St. Henry dairy and livestock farmer John Woebker looks over an area he farms where an alfalfa buffer grows on the left and a grass filter on the right, which helps prevent nutrients from entering the nearby Beaver Creek in Mercer County. Farmers in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed are encouraged to practice this method of farming to prevent the toxic algae problems that currently exist at the lake.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Nutrient management plans crucial for runoff control

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By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 1:54 AM Sunday, July 25, 2010

ST. HENRY, Mercer County — John Wuebker, his wife, Nancy, and three sons operate a farm near here that’s loaded with all the culprits in a disastrous bacteria outbreak at Grand Lake St. Marys.

But the Wuebker farm is a model for the types of practices state and local officials are urging other farmers in the lake’s watershed to adopt.

Wuebker’s farm of 110 milk cows, 80 sows and 370 acres some 10 miles south of Grand Lake uses cover crops, filter strips abutting creeks, and, to assure that little if any nutrient and animal waste escapes his grounds, a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan outlined in a three-ring binder.

Hope for a lake under siege from too much toxic bacteria in part rides on a data-packed plan with an awkward name, a federally certified management tool specially tailored for each livestock operation.

The plans document soil erosion strategies and livestock manure. They begin with an assessment of crops and soil conditions. Technical experts break down recommendations for manure and fertilizer applications.

Interest in getting into the program has soared as the lake crisis has worsened and public officials have issued appeals, said Terry Mescher, an agriculture engineer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Soil and Water Conservation.

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