Buffered wetlands in agricultural landscapes in the prairie pothole region: Environmental, agronomic, and economic evaluations

ABSTRACT:

A farm site with four seasonal wetland was chosen in Lake County, S.D. to examine agronomic, environmental, and economic peformance of cropped fields with buffered and non buffered wetland. Buffers were established in blocks around two of the wetness in 1995. In 1997 and 1998, soilluaterlplants were analyzed for nutrient content in the buffered and non buffered wetlands. Results showed that the wetland buffer vegetation effectively removed nutrients, thus reducing nutrient content in wetland soils and vegetation, and cycling captured nutrients through hay and forage crops. Long term budgets were developed for combinations of five wetland management scenarios and three crop farming systems. Net returns from buffered wetland fields were generally lower than net returns from maximum crop production. Net returns were greatest for the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) or Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) scenarios, regardless of farming system. The results suggest that enrolling wetlands in W or CRP has both economic and environmental benefits.