Affiliation:
1. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences NC State University Raleigh North Carolina USA
2. Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research Unit USDA‐ARS Fort Collins Colorado USA
3. College of Agriculture & Natural Resources University of Maryland at College Park College Park Maryland USA
4. Department of Agronomy Kansas State University Manhattan Kansas USA
5. USDA‐ARS Bowling Green Kentucky USA
6. OCP North America Wayzata Minnesota USA
Abstract
AbstractIn the 1980s, growing recognition of agricultural phosphorus (P) sources to surface water eutrophication led to scrutiny of animal feeding operations. In 1990, the USDA‐Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) invited prominent scientists to find a solution. It was at an initial meeting that Dr. Andrew Sharpley suggested that P assessment could be modeled after the Universal Soil Loss Equation, where a matrix of factors influencing P loss would be associated with farm nutrient management recommendations. After codifying the P assessment into the USDA‐NRCS 590 Nutrient Management Standard some 10 years later, 48 states chose to develop their own P Index. Sharpley, working with many others, helped develop several state P Indices. In 2000, Sharpley secured funding from the USDA‐Agricultural Research Service to support the National P Research Project, which conducted in‐field P runoff assessments using standardized rainfall simulated studies across 20 states; this allowed individual trials to be aggregated for agroecological regions that were then incorporated into specific state P Indices. Eventually, comparison of P Indices across state boundaries led to a white paper at the behest of USDA‐NRCS that resulted in three regional projects evaluating modeling approaches to support or replace P Indices. Sharpley's national umbrella project pointed to shortcomings in water quality models, such as APEX or TBET, as a replacement for state P Indices, which remain a key part of the USDA‐590 standard. As a selfless leader, capable of attracting and assembling diverse, productive interdisciplinary teams, Sharpley was essential to the inception, development, and implementation of the P Index.
Funder
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Pollution,Waste Management and Disposal,Water Science and Technology,Environmental Engineering