Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in the Ohio-Tennessee River Basin. Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP)

摘要

The United States Department of Agriculture has a rich tradition of working with farmers and ranchers to enhance agricultural productivity and environmental protection. Conservation pioneer Hugh Hammond Bennett worked tirelessly to establish a nationwide Soil Conservation Service along with a system of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The purpose of these entities, now as then, is to work with farmers and ranchers and help them plan, select, and apply conservation practices to enable their operations to produce food, forage, and fiber while conserving the Nation's soil and water resources. USDA conservation programs are voluntary. Many provide financial assistance to producers to help encourage adoption of conservation practices. Others provide technical assistance to design and install conservation practices consistent with the goals of the operation and the soil, climatic, and hydrologic setting. By participating in USDA conservation programs, producers are able to (1) install structural practices such as riparian buffers, grass filter strips, terraces, grassed waterways, and contour farming to reduce erosion, sedimentation, and nutrients leaving the field; (2) adopt conservation systems and practices such as conservation tillage, comprehensive nutrient management, integrated pest management, and irrigation water management to conserve resources and maintain the long-term productivity of crop and pasture land; and (3) retire land too fragile for continued agricultural production by planting and maintaining on them grasses, trees, or wetland vegetation. This report on the Ohio-Tennessee River Basin is the fourth in a series of regional reports that continues the tradition within USDA of assessing the status, condition, and trends of natural resources to determine how to improve conservation programs to best meet the Nation's needs. These reports use a sampling and modeling approach to quantify the environmental benefits that farmers and conservation programs are currently providing to society, and explore prospects for attaining additional benefits with further conservation treatment.