Neuse Education Team

- Success Story -

This project is just one example within the Land Grant University System that enhanced better nutrient and pesticide management thereby improving water quality. Please check back periodically for other highlighted programs.

Neuse Education Team (NET)

flood control structure installed on Neuse River Situation
Nitrogen reduction was targeted within the Neuse River Watershed, approximately 6,200 square miles with over 3,000 stream miles, in regulations mandating a minimum of 30% reduction in the average annual load of nitrogen (N) delivered to the Neuse River Estuary by 2003.

Actions
The Neuse River Education Team (NET) at North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service was initiated to inform citizens, farmers, agencies, officials, and industry on how they could achieve that very ambitious five year N reduction goal. NET used four main management strategies:
1) demonstration and implementation,
2) partnerships and communication,
3) nutrient management training, and
4) evaluation.

NET used nutrient management planning and a series of demonstration farms to encourage widespread adoption of best management practices (BMPs) by farmers. Basin-wide partnerships were developed to promote BMPs. Resource materials, including fact sheets, the Neuse River Watershed Atlas, quarterly Neuseletters, conference proceedings from “Nutrients in the Neuse River: Working Towards Solutions” , and a technical bulletin “Selected Agricultural Best Management Practices to Control Nitrogen in the Neuse River Basin,” improved citizens’ understanding of nutrient management and BMP impacts. Evaluations of project effectiveness toward adoption of nutrient BMPs were conducted throughout the life of the project.

Impact
farmer on tractor Through their efforts, NET:

Won more than $2 million in outside grants.
Developed a train-the-trainer agricultural nutrient education program for county staff to deliver to farmers.
Wrote nutrient management plans for more than 150,000 acres.
Reduced N fertilizer application rates by 23%, based on information using the N Loss Estimation Worksheet (NLEW; Osmond et al., 2000a & b) developed in a research component of the project.
Enabled farmers to save $20-$40 per acre by using nutrient management.
Fostered collaboration among diverse stakeholders – increased the agencies’ knowledge of each other’s technical capacities and strengthened links between agencies.
Changed farmer behavior - as one farmer stated, “The project helped us think through what we were doing and not just apply fertilizer according to tradition, which is how a lot of us farmers work.”

“Of all the things we started in 1996 to help the Neuse River, I think the Neuse Education Team has been one of the most successful.” N.C. Senator B. Perdue.