There have been far greater incentives
on the Canadian side, some of them for decades.
For example, the Grand River
Conservation Authority has been offering manure-storage and erosion-control
subsidies since 1998.
The U.S.D.A. announced Friday tht it has
$17.5 million to cover farmers in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
It intends to give first priority to
those whose farms are the most likely to be contributing phosphorous to Lake
Erie.
It’s a voluntary program, but there is
talk about banning manure spreading on frozen fields.
The department has been working with
university scientists and soil experts to determine what areas they should
target.
"We have hot spots," Cosby
said. "We've identified all that."
Researchers have found that agriculture
is the leading source of the phosphorus that feeds the algae in Lake Erie and
other fresh water sources. Some researchers say as much as two-thirds comes
from agriculture.
The algae blooms produce the type of toxins
that contaminated the drinking water supply for Toledo and a sliver of
southeastern Michigan for two days last August.
Last year a similar program for farmers
in Ohio drew applications for $30 million, but only $10 million was available.
