Phosphorus Best Management Practices Fact Sheets

What Is SERA-17?

SERA-17(Organization to Minimize Phosphorus Losses from Agriculture) is an organization of national and international research scientists, policy makers, extension personnel, and educators. The mission of SERA-17 is to develop and promote innovative solutions to minimize phosphorus losses from agriculture by supporting:

• information exchange between research, extension, and regulatory communities
• recommendations for phosphorus management and research
• initiatives that address phosphorus loss in agriculture

One initiative of SERA-17 has been to develop a series of thirty-two best management practice (BMP) factsheets. These fact sheets were published in 2005. The BMPs can broadly be divided into three groups:

1. BMPs that have an impact on the type or source of phosphorus (Source BMPs),
2. BMPs that affect the transport of phosphorus (Transport BMPs), and
3. BMPs that have an impact on both the source and transport of phosphorus (Source and Transport BMPs).

The list of topics in this series will continue to expand, as new research and technologies demonstrate further possible reductions in phosphorus losses.

SERA-17 Phosphorus BMP Factsheets

These publications are on the SERA-17 website under BMP Workgroup Publications. The following links will take you directly to each fact sheet.

• Barnyard/Feedlot Runoff Management
• Composting Effects on Phosphorus Availability in Animal Manures
• Conservation Tillage and Crop Residue Management
• Constructed Treatment Wetlands
• Cover Crops
• Dietary Phosphorus Levels for Dairy Cows
• Dietary Phytase to Reduce Phosphorus Losses from Animal Manure
• Drainage Ditch Management
• Erosion Control Systems
• Filter Strips
• Grassed Waterways
• Grazing Management
• Lake and Pond Treatment by Nutrient Inactivation
• Management of Spray Fields
• Manure Spreader Calibration
• Manure Testing
• Milkhouse Filters
• Phosphorus Balance
• Phosphorus Sources, Application Timing, and Methods
• Physical Manure Treatment (Solids Separation)
• Phosphorus Loss with Surface Irrigation
• Reducing Urban Phosphorus Runoff from Lawns
• Riparian Zones
• Septic Field Drain Design and Maintenance
• Soil Testing
• Streambank and Shoreline Protection
• Strip Cropping
• Terraces
• Treating Poultry Litter with Aluminum Sulfate (Alum)
• Treating Swine Manure with Aluminum Chloride
• Tailwater Recovery
• Vegetative Mining

Author

Forbes Walker, University of Tennessee