EPA Research Partner Support Story: Supporting Healthy Soil and Nitrate Leaching
Partner: Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)
Challenge: Supporting healthy soil and nitrate leaching
Resource: Collaborative research on soil health and nitrate leaching with immediate feedback to farmers
Project Period: 2022 – Present
In Kansas, crops such as corn, winter wheat and sorghum cover the majority of the land. Farmers and states are looking for cost-effective ways to improve soil health in a way that reduces input costs and the risk of nitrate leaching into groundwater. One common practice is the use of cover crops, which can slow erosion, increase rainwater infiltration, reduce stormwater runoff, retain nutrients, and store water longer where it is available to crops and other plants.
"This is a good example of how farmers and state and federal programs can work collaboratively to collect critical data for developing programs and practices that improve water quality and protect public water supplies from nitrate pollution.” – KDHE Watershed Management Section Unit Chief Michael Beezhold
Scientists from EPA’s Office of Research and Development and Midwest regional office (EPA Region 7) partnered with colleagues from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to study how land management influences soil health and the risk of nitrate leaching. To do so, they are studying soil health and stability—measuring nutrients, indicators of microbial activity, and aggregate stability—across different types of crop management practices. Each time the team collects field measurements they provide information back to farmers.
Across the fields studied so far, no-till fields with diverse cover crops have rich organic matter with higher microbial activity and diversity. These fields also have more nitrogen in forms plants can take up, which is an important indicator of soil health. Measurable evidence from this project indicates how these practices affect the soil’s ability to make efficient use of nutrients, ultimately saving farmers money and preventing nitrate leaching into the groundwater. The state of Kansas can also use these results to develop an evidence-based, cost-effective blueprint to manage nitrate pollution in surface and groundwater. As the state of Kansas works with the EPA and producers to make this information available, they provide other farmers and states with tangible evidence of the benefit of adopting practices that protect and enhance soil health.
Related Resources:
- Sources and Solutions: Agriculture
- Estimated Nitrate Concentrations in Groundwater Used for Drinking
- EPA Research Presentations: