Apparent Water Table (V.B) - Continuous saturated zone in the soil to a depth of at least 6 feet without an unsaturated zone below it.
Budgeting (II) - Document present and prior year’s crop, estimated nutrient removal by these crops and known nutrient credits. When nutrients are applied for future crop needs in the rotation, implement a tracking process to allow adjustment of subsequent nutrient applications so that the total amount of nutrients applied to the farm or tract complies with this standard and is documented in the plan. Required as a component for all nutrient management plans (VII.A.; Wisconsin Conservation Planning Technical Note WI-1 Part 1 B.d. (1), (2); C.6.).
Concentrated Flow Channel (V.A.2.a.(1)) - A natural channel or constructed channel that has been shaped or graded to required dimensions and established in perennial vegetation for the stable conveyance of runoff. This definition may include non-vegetated channels caused by ephemeral erosion. These channels include perennial and intermittent streams, drainage ditches, and drainage ends identified on the NRCS soil survey and not already classified as SWQMAs. Concentrated flow channels are also identifiable as contiguous up-gradient deflections of contour lines on the USGS 1:24,000 scale topographic map. The path of flow to surface water or direct conduits to groundwater must be documented. For construction, refer to NRCS FOTG Standard 412, Grassed Waterway, for more information.
Conservation Plan (V.A.2.b.(2)) - A plan developed and field verified by a conservation planner to document crop management and the conservation practices used to control sheet and rill erosion to tolerable levels (T) and to provide treatment of ephemeral soil erosion. A conservation plan must be signed by the land operator and approved by the county land conservation committee or their representative. A conservation plan will be needed for designating winter spreading restrictions other than those specifically listed in this standard, and when implementing the soil test P management strategy where the soil erosion assessment is not calculated with the Wisconsin Phosphorus Index model. A conservation planner must develop conservation plans using the minimum criteria found in the USDA, NRCS National Planning Procedures Handbook and the Wisconsin Field Office Technical Guide and be qualified by one of the following:
1. Meeting the minimum criteria in the NRCS General Manual, Title 180, Part 409.9(c), NRCS Certified Conservation Planner Designation.
2. Meeting criteria established by the county land conservation committee.
3. Meeting the NRCS TechReg Certified Conservation Planner Option 1, 2, 3.
Direct Conduits to Groundwater (V.A.2.a.(4)) - Wells, sinkholes, swallets (a sinkhole or rock hole that intercepts a stream, diverting all or a portion of it to the groundwater), fractured bedrock at the surface, mine shafts, non-metallic mines, tile inlets discharging to groundwater quarries, or depressional groundwater recharge areas over shallow fractured bedrock. For the purpose of nutrient management planning, these features will be identified on the NRCS soil survey and/or USGS 1:24,000 scale topographic map, or otherwise determined through on-site evaluation and documented in a conservation plan.
Documented yields (V.A.1.b.) - Crop production yield-records documented by field for at least two consecutive years that are used to determine phosphorus and potassium fertility recommendations. Yield record documentation may include measurements of harvested crop weight, volume, or the use of calibrated yield-monitors.
Effectively Incorporated (V.A.2.a.(4)) - Means the mixing with the topsoil or residue or subsurface placement of nutrients with topsoil by such means as injector, disc, sweep, mold-board plow, chisel plow, or other tillage/infiltration methods. Nutrients will not run off the field or drain to subsurface tiles during application.
Fields (III) - A group or single nutrient management unit with the following conditions: similar soil type, similar cropping history, same place in rotation (i.e., second year corn fields, established alfalfa), similar nutrient requirements, and close proximity. Examples include: alternate strips in a contour strip system, pasture, variable rate nutrient application management units, and other management units where grouping facilitates implementation of the nutrient management plan.
Gleaning / Pasturing (V.A.1.m.) - An area of land where animals graze or otherwise seek feed in a manner that maintains the vegetative cover over all the area and where the vegetative cover is the primary food source for the animals. Livestock shall be managed to avoid the routine concentration of animals within the same area of the field. Manure deposited near a well by grazing of livestock does not require incorporation.
High Permeability Soils (V.B) - Equivalent to drained hydrologic group A that meet both of the following criteria:
1. Permeability = 6 inches/hour or more in all parts of the upper 20 inches and
2. Permeability = 0.6 inches/hour or more in all parts of the upper 40 inches.
Use the lowest permeability listed for each layer when evaluating a soil. For a multi-component map unit (complex), evaluate each component separately. If the high permeability components meet the criteria and cannot be separated, the entire map unit should be considered as high permeability.
Major Nutrients (V.A.1.a.) - Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
Note (V.A.1.i.) - Any section labeled as a ‘note’ is to be considered a recommendation rather than a requirement. The note is included in the criteria section to ensure subject continuity.
Permanent Vegetative Buffer (V.A.2.a.(1)) - A strip or area of perennial herbaceous vegetation situated between cropland, grazing land, or disturbed land (including forest land) and environmentally sensitive areas (as defined in NRCS Technical Standard 393, Filter Strip).
Phosphorus Index (PI) (V.C.2) - The Wisconsin Phosphorus Index (PI) is an assessment of the potential for a given field to deliver P to surface water. The PI assessment takes into account factors that contribute to P losses in runoff from a field and subsequent transport to a water body, including:
• Soil erosion as calculated using the current approved NRCS soil erosion prediction technology located in Section I of the NRCS FOTG.
• Estimated annual field rainfall and snowmelt runoff volume.
• Soil P concentrations as measured by routine soil test P (Bray P-1).
• Rate and management of P applications in the form of fertilizer, manure, or other organic material.
• Characteristics of the runoff flow pathway from the field to surface water.
Rotation (III) - The sequence of crops to be grown for up to an 8-year period as specified by the conservation plan or as part of the soil erosion assessment calculated with the Wisconsin Phosphorus Index model.
Saturated Soils (V.A.3.a.) - Soils where all pore spaces are occupied by water and where any additional inputs of water or liquid wastes cannot infiltrate into the soil.
Surface Water Quality Management Areas (SWQMA) (V.A.2.b.(1)) - For the purposes of nutrient management planning, Surface Water Quality Management Areas are defined as follows:
1. The area within 1,000 feet from the ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters that consist of a lake, pond or flowage, except that, for a navigable water that is a glacial pothole lake, “surface water quality management area” means the area within 1,000 feet from the high-water mark of the lake.
2. The area within 300 feet from the ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters that consists of a river or stream that is defined as:
• Perennial streams (continuous flow) identified on the NRCS soil survey and/or USGS 1:24,000 scale topographic map as solid lines,
• Otherwise determined through an onsite evaluation and documented in an approved conservation plan.
Areas within the SWQMA that do not drain to the water body are excluded from this definition.
Tile Inlet (V.A.2.a.(4)) - The interception of surface runoff within a concentrated flow channel or field depression, by a constructed device designed to direct runoff into an underground tile for conveyance to surface or groundwater.
Tolerable Soil Loss (T) - For sheet and rill erosion (V.A.2.a.(6)) - T-value means the maximum rate of soil erosion established for each soil type that will permit crop productivity to be sustained economically and indefinitely. Erosion calculations shall be based on current approved erosion prediction technology found in NRCS FOTG Section I or the soil loss assessment calculated using the Phosphorous Index Model. Tolerable soil erosion rates shall be determined using the RUSLE2 Related Attributes Report located in Section 2, e-FOTG, Soil Report.
