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Survey finds manure workshop attendees likely to save money, adopt water-friendly practices Minnesota farmers and producers who participated in University of Minnesota- sponsored small group manure management workshops are likely to adopt water-friend- ly practices that also save them money, according to a survey by the University's Water Resow-ees Center. During the ~a inter of 2008-2009, Water Resources Center researchers held "Value of Manure" small group workshops in 22 counties across the state. The 267 ~s-ork- shop participants--87 percent of whom were agricultural producers learned to use aUniversity-developed spreadsheet program to compare costs and returns from alternative manure management practices on their own farms. As a result of the workshop and spread- sheet findings, 74 percent of workshop attendees said they would change their application rates and timings. Between one quarter and one-third of all attendees who weren't already testing, calibrating, and keeping a record of their manure applica- tions said they would start as a result of the workshops. In addition to helping farmers reduce the amount of phosphorus and pathogens that enter surface and ground water as a result of over-application, the plans had the added benefits of saving farmers money by lower- ing costs. Nearly 75 percent of attendees said they could improve manure economic return per acre by five dollars or more based on their spreadsheet calculations. "The result is win-win," said Water Re- sources Center agronomist and education coordinator Les Everett. "Producers are finding they can save fertilizer expense while reducing the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens that could potentially reach surface waters and ground water as a result of over-application." The workshops were organized by the Water Resources Center and University of Minnesota Extension, with assistance from Soil and Water Conservation Districts and county feedlot officers. They were funded by a federal grant through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. For more infor- mation, visit wrc.umn.edu. Educators embark on a Superior Science expedition Cindy Hagley, Minnesota Sea Grant Fifteen lucky teachers and informal educa- tors conducted Great Lakes research first- hand as they cruised Lake Superior for a week in July on the U.S. EPA research ves- sel, Lake Guardian, as part of a program of workshops co-led by Minnesota Sea Grant. The workshops offered explorations of the ~ ~, v' ~.. ~~~= 1 ~.~ ~ 1~~' ~ ~' 1` - ~. ~ ~~,~r ~ ~~rat ~ __ - - --- Superior Science Expedition members display some of their work after disembarking from their floating classroom. assistant professor in the Department of Physics and at the Large Lakes Observatory in Duluth, with U. S. EPA scientists, and with University of Minnesota faculty in the Water Resources Science program. The educators learned a great deal about the science of the Great Lakes, and returned to shore full of ideas about ho~v to transform their summer learning into lessons, but, as one teacher said, "We will take much more from it than that. Each one of us will take back the experience of truly being scien- tists for a week, and ~~-ith that we will help our students grow and encourage them not just to be happy learning in a classroom, but to explore the world around them." The Shipboard and Shoreline Science edu- cational cruise is one of many workshops offered by the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes (www.coseegreatlakes netl and is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The R/V Lake Guardian cruises are offered in partnership with the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office. g- , __ __ __ _- - . --- g ~ . - .-,.-_s--. - __ - ecology, geology, geography, weather, and biogeochemical processes of lakes Huron and Superior, with particular emphasis on human impacts and parallels between Great Lakes and ocean systems. Participants col- lected planktonic and benthic organisms and analyzed water quality data. Educa- tors worked side-by-side with Jay Austin, ~" ~ t~, e ~~ -"~ ~~ .'., ~, '~ ,_ , mid - - _ _ 9~ ~~ ~~ ~/ _ "s~ ._ ;~~~ `. r'