CHESAPEAKE BAY [Time: ~ 3:40]

Sixty four thousand square miles with 100,000 rivers and streams [including the Potomac River] from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the entire District of Columbia, and West Virginia are all part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed that drains into the Chesapeake Bay. 

Hi I'm Jay Green with the Agricultural Research Service or ARS. ARS is the US Dept. of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. 

It's no secret that the Chesapeake Bay's health is in jeopardy from pollutants and contaminants draining from surrounding watersheds into the Bay. A recent Executive Order by President Obama emphasized the importance of protecting the Bay. So ARS is partnering with experts throughout the public and private sectors to find new tools, techniques and technologies to help reduce pollutants, cleanup and protect this national treasure. 

17 million people live, work and play in the Bay area, which may be taking a toll on the Chesapeake Bay. 

ARS scientists are working with farmers and local, state and Federal agencies to make sure that agricultural practices don't negatively affect the Bay. They are also investigating interactions between urban and rural pollutants and their impact on the Bay. 

ARS is doing its part to preserve and protect the Bay for many generations to come. For example, ARS scientists have developed several tools to help reduce agricultural materials from drifting from land into the Bay-this is called runoff.

ARS scientists have developed a Web-based fertilizer forecast tool designed to help farmers decide when to apply manure on fields to avoid the risk of runoff from approaching rainstorms. 
A trial of a new fertilizer less susceptible to runoff also offers the hope of being able to use less fertilizer and still get the same yield increases.

Another key to farmers helping to clean up the Bay is planting winter cover crops to catch any nitrogen or phosphorus not used by corn, soybeans and other summer crops. 

But, how much nitrogen do these cover crops actually store? The answer will be provided 
annually through actual measurements from ARS's new innovative combination of satellite monitoring, farm records, and field sampling.

New remote sensing technologies are making it possible to see wetlands through heavy forest cover. This gives researchers a view of connections between wetlands and ditches that can carry pollutants to the Bay.

Remote sensing can also help researchers monitor changes in these flows due to human activity or weather.

ARS scientists together with other State and Federal Agencies are developing software to automate cover crop monitoring and management reporting. 

This will give farmers and State agriculture officials information needed for evaluating cover crop effectiveness. 

It can take 30 years or more for pollutants to filter through the soil to groundwater and resurface in a stream on the way to a river and the Bay. The ARS program provides rapid - rather than decades-old -feedback so the annual effects of practices, such as crop choice, planting technique, and timing, can be seen and corrected the next season, if needed.

Check back for future updates.

That's one of many ways ARS is helping farm communities do what urban communities must do as well: be a good neighbor to the Bay!

That's our podcast for today. Have a Bay-full day in this neighborhood and make sure we keep it beautiful! OR Have a Bay-full day everyone!