The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) on Aug. 12 kicked off a campaign aimed at raising awareness with the general public about algal blooms, red tides, and dead zones, and educating them on how the fertilizer industry is actively working to find a solution. TFI said a key element of the campaign is the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program, which it said has been identified by multiple conservation and environmental stakeholders as vital to reducing fertilizer loss from the farm.
“We feel as though we have an extremely compelling story to tell,” said TFI President and CEO Chris Jahn. “People don’t know the many different fertilizer products that are used at different times and places for different purposes, and we won’t get into that, but what we will address are the best practices the fertilizer industry has been promoting for years to both increase farmer productivity and lessen our environmental impact.”
TFI said conservation management practices like the 4Rs and other measures have had a major impact on fertilizer usage over the years, noting that it takes roughly half of the amount of fertilizer to grow a bushel of corn today as it did in 1980. It said fertilizer use in the state of Florida alone has dropped by 50 percent over the same time period.
“If you are a farmer implementing the 4Rs, it helps ensure that you are only using the amount of fertilizer the plants need where and when they need it,” Jahn said. “That in turn keeps fertilizer on the field and out of waterways where it may feed naturally occurring algal blooms.”
TFI said its campaign will run through the late summer months into early fall and focus on Florida, Iowa, coastal areas around the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and areas surrounding Lake Erie.