The Solid State Of BMPs

The Florida Watershed Restoration Act of 1999 put in place an ambitious program for agriculture in the state to ensure its practices keep fresh waters clean. Coming up on its 10th anniversary, best management practices (BMPs) established by the Act are now on nearly 2 million acres of ag land in the state.

To ensure the BMPs are progressing in a positive manner, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) recently released its first Implementation Assessment Report on the Indian River Citrus BMP program. FDACS is the lead agency in the state in development, adoption by rule, and implementation of agricultural BMPs.

“The assessment report basically looks at the number of growers participating in particular programs and surveys whether or not they are doing the things they said they were going to do when they signed up for the program,” says Rich Budell, who is director of FDACS, Office of Water Policy. “We are doing the Indian River Citrus assessment first since it is the most mature BMP program, which started back in 2002.”

Following the assessment report of Indian River Citrus BMPs, FDACS will rotate through all the BMPs on an annual basis and provide the public with reports.

“Rotating these assessment reports on an annual basis, will allow us to provide the public with a status of individual BMPs every four or five years,” says Budell.

Brain Behind The BMPs

The Sept. 2004 Florida Grower cover story featured Brian Boman for his stewardship of agricultural BMP programs. As professor of agricultural and biological engineering with the Univsertiy of Florida, Boman has been a guiding force behind the BMPs since their inception.

While it takes years to measure the effects on reducing total daily maximum loads of nitrates, Boman says there are many individual success stories that growers have reported with BMPs.

“There are amazing grower success stories we’ve documented like precision application of fertilizer in citrus,” he says. “Beyond the environmental benefits, they are saving money with more precise and efficient applications.”

More On The Way

There are new BMP programs that will be opened up for applications soon. New BMPs include manuals for beef-cattle operations, sod farms, and equine.
“If you are interested in current or future BMP programs, contact your local Extension agent for more information on the application process,” says Boman.