Uniting Agriculture to Improve Water Quality.

The Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC), working together with state and federal agencies and members of the scientific community, plays a critical role in helping agriculture protect water quality in the U.S. With an incredible amount of variation in farmland and production practices, ANPC fosters partnerships to reduce nutrient loss while producing food, feed, fuel and fiber for our nation and the world.

  • More than 40 state and national agriculture trade association and agribusiness members, and the ability to reach even more through partner connections

  • Focused on facilitating learning opportunities, building partnerships, compiling data and coordinating research priorities.

ANPC helps agriculture come together to address challenges, and bridges the gap between farmers, lawmakers and federal agencies to expedite improvement to water quality.

Progress In Motion

  • More farmers than ever follow and/or are certified under the 4Rs of nutrient management: Using the right amount of the right fertilizer at the right time in the right place. Cover crops, reduced tillage, grass waterways and buffer strips are used to reduce nutrient runoff.

  • Ag businesses provide products that help reduce nutrient loss and use, such as nitrogen stabilizers and high-efficiency fertilizers. Soil testing and tissue-sampling aid in variable rate nutrient application across a field. Drone imagery informs fertility needs. Bioreactors help filter water that leaves a field.

  • The rate of increase in nitrogen has slowed in recent decades and phosphorus has declined, proving that as farmers apply nutrients more closely aligned with crop needs, the rate of nutrient losses has slowed.

  • Many partnerships exist to better understand specifically what's impacting water quality and what options exist to reduce the impact. There's a depth of research that exists, and an effort to identify the next most important research to help improve water quality.

  • In addition to a farmer's own dollars, federal and state agencies, national, state and regional organizations and agricultural business fund programs to help farmers reduce nutrients. Most funding programs are developed to address the variation in farmland and farming practices that require custom solutions to reduce nutrient loss.