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OHFB says conservation efforts helped improve 2025 Lake Erie algal bloom
Photo by Brownfield’s Erin Anderson.
Ohio Farm Bureau’s director of water quality and research says farmers continue to implement new conservation practices to help improve water quality throughout the Western Lake Erie Basin.
Jordan Hoewischer says the 2025 Lake Erie algal bloom was mild with a severity index of 2.4.
“It’s been a heavy lift from all different sides of agriculture,” he says. “We’ve seen a pretty steady decline in fertilizer over the last 30 years. I think all of that’s coming to a head with a relatively normal algal bloom and not having an excessive amount coming off these fields.”
He tells Brownfield farmers are using a variety of sustainable ag practices to help reduce nutrient runoff.
“We have millions of acres in the Western Lake Erie Basin enrolled in the H2Ohio program and EQUIP,” he says. “Adding overwintering cover and drainage to try to make sure they’re monitoring what nutrients are going onto their fields. I think we’re starting to really reap the benefits of that.”
The Lake Erie Commission says there’s been a downward trend of dissolved reactive phosphorus loading into the Western Lake Erie Basin since 2015.
AUDIO: Jordan Hoewischer, Ohio Farm Bureau
Tags: algal bloom, conservation, H2Ohio, Lake Erie, News, Ohio, Ohio Farm Bureau, Sustainability, water, water quality, Western Lake Erie Basin