Farming for Water Quality

If you are a farmer in the Choptank watershed you probably already employ one or more Best Management Practice (BMP) designed to reduce nutrient and sediment inputs from agricutural sources.

BMPs:

• Prepare a nutrient management plan to optimize fertilizer use by plants and reduce nutrient runoff.
• Establish grass or forest buffers to protect streams, creeks, and tidal waters from agricultural activities. Prevent livestock from accessing these buffers. Natural vegetation absorbs and filters nutrients and controls erosion.
• Plant cover crops to hold soil and uptake nutrients during fallow seasons.
• Manage animal manure with proper storage, transportation, and field application to reduce nutrient and bacteria pollution of waterways. Livestock is the main source of fecal coliform bacteria pollution in the Choptank watershed.
• Employ no-till or minimum-till agricultural techniques to reduce soil erosion.

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LINKS:

• Chesapeake Bay Program: BMP descriptions
• Protecting Water Quality from Agricultural Runoff: Fact sheet from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that explains how agricultural runoff can impact water quality.
• Agriculture and its Effects on Groundwater: Primer on nitrogen pollution into groundwater supplies from Virginia Tech.
• Maryland Department of Agriculture: Nutrient Management
• Next-Generation Biofuels: Taking the Policy Lead for the Nation

PROGRAMS:

• Financial Assistance Programs for the Implementation of Agricultural BMPs
• Conservation Reserve Enhancement Progrem (CREP)
  • Maryland DNR
  • USDA-NRCS
• USDA-NRCS Programs