Colorado Study Shows Hayfields Can Support Water Quality

A study by Colorado State University found that voluntary adoption of best management practices can effectively mitigate the impacts of agricultural nutrient use in mountain meadow hay systems. A three-year study in three river basins documented low nutrient concentrations in runoff from irrigated mountain hayfields. In fact, in some cases the water coming off of hayfields had higher quality than the water going on, as the fields captured excess nutrients carried in stormwater. The Colorado Ag Water Alliance, a group of producers and partner organizations dedicated to preserving water resources, requested the study to understand whether hay production and grazing were contributing nutrients to mountain surface water. This research has launched a new project to demonstrate and evaluate best management practices in mountain meadow hay systems.