Got Nature? Blog

Improving Water Quality At Your Livestock Operation videoHellbenders have been rapidly declining since the 1980s due to various factors, including poor water quality.  Many ecological issues contribute to poor water quality, and one important issue we can focus on is how we use the land around rivers and streams. Livestock operations produce a lot of nutrients – largely in the form of manure. When next to a river, this can flow into the water, which reduces water quality through the high nutrient input and added sedimentation.  However, livestock owners can greatly reduce the impact of their operations on water quality using a number of different management practices.

In this new video “Improving Water Quality at Your Livestock Operation,” we focus on how livestock owners can use management practices on their farm that improve water quality while still meeting their production goals. Bob Sawtelle, a livestock owner along the Blue River, uses a forested riparian buffer to filter out runoff from his cattle pen, resulting in cleaner water and healthier wildlife. In this video, he discusses the ecological and economic benefits to this practice in further detail.

Please visit the Help the Hellbender website for more information about other management practices that improve water quality, and also check out the National Resource Conservation Services website (NRCS) for news and other information related to soil and resource conservation.

Resources:
Improving Water Quality At Your Livestock Operation – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Improving Water Quality Around Your Farm – The Education Store
Options for Farmers – Help the Hellbender
Identifying Benefits and Barriers Associated with Reforesting Riparian Corridors – Purdue Engineering
Riparian Area Management – United States Environmental Protection Agency

Megan Kuechle, Undergraduate Extension Intern
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Dr. Rod Williams, Associate Head of FNR Extension and Associate Professor of Wildlife Science
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources


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