Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

Adoption of best management practices (BMPs) to address non-point pollution from agricultural sources started in Florida citrus in the early 1990s. Since that time, BMPs have evolved to play a major role in production practices in most commodities throughout the state. Although the earliest citrus BMPs were singular in that they only addressed the movement of nitrogen from applied fertilizers into groundwater, more recent BMPs typically address irrigation and drainage management as well as off-site nutrient, sediment, pesticide movement. Since 2001, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has allocated more than 1.6 million dollars of EPA Section 319 grant funding to a massive educational outreach and BMP demonstration and training effort by the University of Florida. This effort initially focused on citrus operations in 7 counties on the Florida east coast, and achieved stunning success in achieving over 95% compliance with the BMP program. Thousands of growers and their employees have been trained to prevent pollution and use BMPs in their operations. Since this initial effort, BMPs have been extended to cover the entire state's citrus producing areas. In 2006, a statewide vegetable and agronomic crop BMP manual was produced and a similar program funded to provide this outreach and training to this facet of the industry. This paper will discuss these efforts.