Indian Lake Agriculture
Watershed Agriculture
Soil erosion is a serious problem in the watershed and due almost entirely to intensive
agricultural practices on erodible soils. The Logan and Hardin Soil and Water Conservation
Districts (SWCD) reported sheet and rill erosion are the largest contributors of sediment to
the water courses upstream of Indian Lake. The majority of the soils in the watershed have
low soil loss tolerance and high clay content in the surface profile. Agricultural producers
have traditionally adopted conventional tillage practices which involves fall plowing and
leaves the soil surface unprotected through the winter and spring months. Because these soils
characteristically have high surface water runoff rates, the use of conventional tillage
systems on moisture-saturated soils leads to large amounts of soil transported off agricultural
fields. In a statewide report on Ohio soils by NRCS (I-988) the watershed ranked seventh in the
number of soil tons eroded in excess of the allowable rate (T), and sixth in the number of
soil tons eroded in excess of twice the allowable rate (2T). Overall, the watershed ranked
sixth statewide for combined cropland erosion and erosion from all sources. The following
table is a summary of sheet and rill soil erosion by sub-watershed from the 1990 Indian Lake
Hydrologic Unit Plan. Gully erosion is not included in this table.
| Sub-Watershed | Average Erosion Rate
(tons/acre/year) | Tons Eroded Annually |
|---|
| South Fork | 9.4 | 304,983 |
| North Fork | 4.6 | 84,350 |
| Blackhawk/Van Horn Creek | 3.8 | 26,713 |
| TOTALS | 7.2 | 416,046 |
|---|
| Current Erosion Rate | 4.9 ** | 283,000 |
* Data collectedfrom 1990 Indian Lake HUA
Rtport.
* * Soil loss tolerance ranges
from 3-5 ton/acre/year for Indian Lake Watershed soils.
Chemical and physical monitoring conducted in 1988 and 1989 by Ohio EPA revealed no problems
associated with warm water habitat use designation parameters covered by criteria in Ohio's
Water Quality Standards, either in Indian Lake or its tributaries. However, nutrients (nitrate
and phosphorus) were elevated in the tributaries, particularly during high flow events. As
a result, concentrations of these nutrients in the lake remained consistently high throughout
the growing season and led to increased algal productivity despite a high degree of non-algal
turbidity.
Agricultural Economic Importance
The economic stability of the area is the agricultural production operations. The lake tourism
brings in large amounts of revenue but is focused on service businesses around the lake. The
physical features of the watershed are best suited for agricultural production. The economic
contribution of agricultural production to the tricounties is illustrated in the table below.
| Auglaize | Hardin | Logan | Indian Lake
Watershed Total |
|---|
| Total Acres | 205,105 | 248,400 | 202,927 | - |
I.L. Acres Share
I.L. Acre Share % | 2,542
1.24% | 17,685
7.12% | 37,259
18.36% | 57,486
crop acres |
Total Ag Products
I.L. Ag Products Share | $68,408,000
$848,259 | $54,161,000
$3,856,263 | $55,941,000
$10,279,767 | $14,975,289/yr. |
Total Crop Products
I.L. Crop Products Share | $31,322,000
$388,561 | $41,235,000
$2,935,932 | $29,938,000
$5,496,616 | $8,821,109/yr. |
Total Livestock Products
I.L. Livestock Prod. Share | $37,076,000
$459,742 | $12,926,000
$920,331 | $26,003,000
$4,774,150 | $6,154,223/yr. |
| Average Size Farm in
I.L. | 206 acres | 277 acres | 251 acres | 245 acres
ave. |
* 1992 Data by County
** Used percent of Indian Lake Acres/Share all other dollar
amounts
Agricultural Production Transformation
In 1990, estimates of cropland land under various tillage practices in the watershed were based
on data from the 1987 National Resource Inventory. Conventional tillage (defined as less than
30 percent of the past crop residue or mulch is left on the surface after planting) was used
in 80 percent of the agricultural fields, conservation tillage (defined as greater than 30
percent of the past crop's residue or mulch is left) and no-till techniques (when the soil
surface is only disturbed by the planter) were used in six percent. Due to innovative programs,
many landowners and agricultural producers have adapted environmentally-friendly crop production
practices. Indian Lake has had success addressing local water quality concerns. Tillage
transect data collected in 1995 indicated conventional tillage practices have been reduced to
20 percent, while conservation tillage was utilized in 15 percent of fields and the no-till
method increased to 65 percent. While this represents a significant improvement, there is a
need to extend conservation tillage practices in the watershed to continue sediment reduction
through tillage methods. Tillage changes in the watershed may have reduced potential soil loss
into Indian Lake by 30,000 tons per year. Details of the results from tillage transacts and the
tillage transition trends in the last five years are illustrated in Section 10.
Livestock/Feedlot Waste Management
Livestock operations within the Indian Lake Watershed are generally confined to the North Fork
and South Fork sub-watersheds. While the type of livestock is diverse, animal units are
increasing within these two sub-watersheds. Dairy, beef and swine operations represent the
highest amounts of animal units. There are also small sheep operations in the watershed.
Amish communities within the Indian Lake Watershed are also increasing with a full
range of livestock.
| Type of Livestock | Number of
Livestock Operations | Number of
Livestock | Animal Units |
|---|
| Dairy | 12 | 631 | 884 |
| Beef | 13 | 1,064 | 1,064 |
| Swine | 14 | 3,417 | 504 |
| Sheep | 7 | 488 | 82 |
| Horses | 4 | 38 | 38 |
| Totals | 50 | 5,638 | 2,572 |
|---|
* The livestock inventory was completed in 1994-95. A new
survey needs to be conducted to update information and include Amish and new and expanding
operations to the totals.
** Animal unit is equal to 1,000 pounds of animal weight
Livestock operations are usually within a 1,000 foot corridor of streams and the potential for
non-point source (NPS) pollution increases annually. The lack of livestock exclusion or
livestock containment systems compounds the severe erosion problems caused by the existence of
livestock on the fragile corridor areas.
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