Tom Krause of Brunswick can't fly, but he can manage his cornfields from the sky by using the drone thermal imaging company called AirScout and a package of Advanced Digital Vegetation Index information.

Krause discussed his improved irrigation efficiency and nitrogen savings at a field stop at his farm during the recent Bazile Groundwater Management Area farm tour. Producers and conservation agency officials looked at telemetry, irrigation scheduling, soil moisture probes, variable-rate irrigation, variable0rate fertilization and biological nitrogen inhibitors as part of the multifarm tour.

NEW TOOLS: Brunswick farmer Tom Krause displays some of the data he collects from AirScout and ADVI imagery at a recent Bazile Groundwater Management Area farm tour.

Tanner Jenkins from Oshkosh recently took the reigns as coordinator of BGWMA. He emphasized the goals of the project to inform producers about things they can do to reduce nitrogen leaching into the groundwater. "We want to look at new management practices that can improve yield, lower nitrogen and groundwater use, and improve profits," Jenkins says. "Groundwater nitrate levels have been rising in the region since the early 1980s," he explains. The increased nitrates have impacted drinking water supplies in several communities within the project area.

"There has been a steady increase in nitrate levels," says Jenkins. "So if we can inform producers about ways to possibly curb the increases, get them to level off and eventually drop — that is our goal."

It is known that urban residential areas often overwater and overfertilize lawns, because homeowners do not always soil-test or use calibrated equipment to apply fertilizer or water for their landscaping needs. So, BGWMA sponsored an urban lawn and garden tour in July to help urban homeowners learn about methods to lower their own fertilizer and water use, and even consider planting different varieties of grass.

"Every little bit helps," Jenkins says. "The only way we can lower groundwater nitrate levels is to remove more nitrates through growing crops and plant material than we put back into the groundwater," he says. "Right now, I'm looking at programming that can help give producers the tools to do that."

BGWMA covers a region in Knox, Pierce and Antelope counties that encompasses parts of Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District, Lower Elkhorn NRD, Lower Niobrara NRD and Upper Elkhorn NRD. The project is being funded in part through support from Nebraska Environmental Trust and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The area covers 21 townships and 10 communities.

You can learn more about BGWMA at the project's Facebook page, facebook.com/BazileGroundwaterManagementAreaProject.