Conservation Programming

PDF downloads of NRCS Fact Sheets on conservation BMPs:

• Abandoned Well Plugging: a plugged well is no longer dangerous as an open hole to people, animals, and farm machinery.

• Ag Chemical Handling Facility: A farm chemical mixing or handling area is a place where chemicals are mixed or a field sprayer is filled so that any spills do not soak into the ground.

• Alley Cropping: Plant crops between tree rows to generate annual income and diversify your operation.

• Animal Mortality Disposal: An animal mortality disposal facility is a safe method to dispose of dead livestock. Typical methods include composting, incineration, rendering, and burial. 

• Balancing Animals with Forage: Increase pasture longevity by understanding your forage-animal balance.

• Biological Pest Management: Better control insects and disease with natural alternatives for your lands and structures.

• Composting Manure: Composting is well suited for manure that contains a lot of bedding material, such as straw, sawdust, wood shavings, or spilled hay.

• Cover Crops: Utilize planting grasses and legumes to combat crusting soils, soil erosion, weeds and more. 

• Farmstead Windbreaks: Reduce heating cost and provide a natural barrier for weather events and debris. 

• Fencing: Better manage and protect your resources by strategically limiting access from animals and people.  

• Forage Planting: Provide weed management, increase livestock feed, poor yields and lack of legumes. 

• Forest Farming: Diversify your land and make your land more profitable.

• Fuel and Fire Breaks: Increase protection of your property and resources from the hazards of wildfire.

• Grade Stabilization: Grade stabilization is installed to stop a gully at the edge of a field. It is usually installed with a grassed waterway that brings water to the structure.

• Heavy Use Area Protection: A heavy use area is protected by first removing all the mud and muck, then replacing it with something that will last for a long time such as gravel or clam shells.

• Irrigation Water Management: Irrigation water management is a plan to help you know when, how much, and at what rate to apply irrigation water in an efficient manner.

• Low-Cost Irrigation System: A low-cost irrigation system can be as simple as a series of troughs or gutters moving water by gravity.

• Managing Manure Nutrients - Central: Managing nutrients in manure means taking advantage of the nutrients, so you buy less fertilizer and improve soil and water quality.

• Managing Manure Nutrients - East:  Managing nutrients in manure means taking advantage of the nutrients, so you buy less fertilizer and improve soil and water quality.

• Managing Natural Vegetation - Early Successional Habitat Management: “Early successional” plants are those that first grow on an area following a disturbance, such as a fire. Managing these plants that grow naturally on your farm can provide habitat for common wildlife species such as deer, rabbits, quail, turkey, doves, and songbirds.

• Manure Storage: Storage makes it easier to get manure in the right place at the right time to improve the quality of your soil and the health of your crops.

• Native Pollinators: Improve crop production and quality with the help of native pollinators.

• Odor Control: Reduce unwanted smell or manure visibility of livestock operations.

• Pruning: Remove tree overgrowth to decrease fire hazard and increase production of vegetation.

• Rotations for Livestock Feed: Implement crop rotations to address livestock feed needs and reduce costs. 

• Rotations for Soil Fertility: Implement crop rotations to address soil issues and improve crop yields. 

• Runoff Management: Helps reduce water running off land around a livestock farm that can be polluted with manure and mud impacting streams and lakes.

• Selecting an Irrigation System: It is very important that increased yield and better crop quality will result in sufficient increase in income to offset the cost of installing and operating the irrigation system.

• Silvopasture: Take advantage of tree, forage and livestock production on the same acreage at the same time. 

• Small Woodlot Improvement: Address overcrowded woodlands to reduce wildfire risk and improve productivity.

• Soil Health: Increase plant health and decrease soil issues like erosion and runoff.

• Soil Testing: Identify production problems related to nutrient deficiencies or imbalances. 

• Sources of Water: Before you buy and install an irrigation system you must find a source of water and determine the rate (quantity) and quality of the water.

• Spring Development: Even a small spring flowing all the time can provide a lot of water.

• Stream Crossing: A stream crossing provides a hard, stable area where livestock or equipment can cross a stream without damaging the streambed or banks.

• Vegetative Barrier: Utilize perennial plants to address gully erosion in fields.

• Watering Facility: A watering facility can be a permanent or portable watering trough or a device like a nose pump that lets cows pump water from a stream or pond.