Blue Water Farms made up of a network of 22 edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring stations on five farms located in the two most productive row-crop areas of the Commonwealth. Voluntary EoF water quality monitoring enables agricultural producers and scientist to quantify the impacts of conservation practices on water quality. Through EoF monitoring, NRCS works with producers and conservation partners (i.e. Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, University of Kentucky) to measure the amount of nutrients and sediment in water runoff from a field, and compare the improvements under different conservation systems. Data collected from monitoring stations helps producers make informed decisions regarding the use and inputs of conservation practices. These decisions, often called adaptive management, help producers increase economic efficiency while maximizing yields. This information also demonstrates the value of conservation efforts by producers. The objective of this project is to manage, maintain and operate Blue Water Farms according to the standards required by the USDA NRCS which includes collecting water quantity and water quality (nutrients and sediment) data from every runoff generating precipitation event.

The objective of this project is to facilitate the establishment and management of a network of edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring demonstration sites in Kentucky, collectively known as Blue Water Farms. This work will include established partnerships with the USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) eligible producers who wish to take advantage of and participate in the EQIP EoF monitoring standard practice. Voluntary EoF water quality monitoring enables agricultural producers and scientist to quantify the impacts of conservation practices on water quality. Through EoF monitoring, NRCS works with producers and conservation partners (KSPB, KADB, UK) to measure the amount of nutrients and sediment in water runoff from a field, and compare the improvements under different conservation systems.

Manage and maintain 22 edge-of-field monitoring stations according to the USDA NRCS standards which includes collection of water quantity and water quality (nutrients and sediment) data from every runoff generating precipitation event.

The information collected from this project will help producers make informed decisions regarding the use of inputs (fertilizer and poultry litter) and conservation practices. These decisions, often referred to as adaptive management, help producers increase economic efficiency while maximizing yields. These results will also demonstrate the value of conservation efforts by producers.