Drainage water management impact on farm profitability.(Author abstract)(Report)

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, November, 2007 by Lowenberg-DeBoer, J.; Nistor, A.P.

Drainage water management (also referred to as controlled drainage) is a potentially profitable and socially desirable management strategy in agriculture because of the potentially beneficial impacts on yields and the quality of environment. Excess nutrients from anthro-pogenic sources entering surface water may increase algal production, causing eutrophication of coastal ecosystems. For instance, in the Midwest of the United States, too much nitrate-N load in surface waters from drained agricultural land has been shown to have negative environmental impacts (Rablais et al. 2002; Burkhart and James 1999; Gilliam et al. 1999). Farmers may therefore be forced to adopt technologies that have been demonstrated to reduce N loads in surface water, such as controlled drainage....

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