Technology Transfer of Bioreactor Operations and Conservation Drainage Placement

The Iowa Soybean Association’s Environmental Programs and Services (ISA EPS) group proposes to partner with conservation drainage experts in the Upper Midwest to accelerate farmer awareness and implementation of denitrifying bioreactors and other conservation drainage systems. Drawing from the experiences of researchers who have developed the bioreactor programs in Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa; this work will focus on refining operational recommendations for bioreactors to maximize their life expectancy and nitrate removal and to minimize the generation of possible environmentally undesirable byproducts during the denitrification process. Lessons learned about management of bioreactors from this CIG proposal will then be transferred to producers, watershed coordinators, NRCS personnel, and drainage contractors in the form of i) new interim EQIP standards in Illinois and Minnesota, ii) refinements to the current interim standard in Iowa, iii) a bioreactor management guide, iv) a conservation drainage tool, and v) informational meetings.