Farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin—including parts of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana—can earn money through a phosphorus load reduction pilot program. The “Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulation Program” (PLUS-UP) program, coordinated by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), will pay farmers in the project area $5 to $10 per acre in 2022 to reduce P loads using practices such as no-till or cover crops. 

The index has significant water quality implications statewide, considering that misapplied phosphorus has a high likelihood of degradation Ohio’s surface water and is a major contributor to harmful algal blooms, experts say.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the NRCS will invest $41 million in a 3-year initiative to support the work of farmers in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana to improve water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin.