Nutrient-Management BMPs

Best management practices are production methods that can help control nutrient and sediment runoff. Adopting such techniques may influence the way farmers till their fields, what crops they grow, and how they manage livestock to keep animals out of streams.

Some of the most widely accepted best-management practices endorsed by Penn State as part of the tributary strategies to clean up the Chesapeake Bay are:

• Riparian forest buffers—linear wood-ed areas at least 35 feet wide along rivers, streams, and shorelines that filter nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants while removing nitrogen from groundwater.
• Wetland restoration—activities that re-establish or create wetlands in agricultural or urban areas.
• Tree planting—replanting open land with the intent of creating forest-like conditions over time.
• Carbon sequestration—a permanent grass cover (such as switchgrass) that is maintained for a decade or longer to capture carbon and prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. The resulting crop may be sold for biofuel manufacturing.
• Conservation tillage—planting and growing crops with minimal disturbance of the surface soil, and leaving some crop residue in place to reduce erosion and minimize nutrient loss, while maintaining yield.
• Nutrient management—developing comprehensive plans that describe the optimum use of nutrients to minimize nutrient loss while maintaining crop yields.
• Conservation plans—a combination of agronomic, management, and engineering practices aimed at protecting and improving soil productivity and water quality.
• Cover crops—planted shortly after the fall harvest to absorb nitrogen left in the soil that would otherwise escape into groundwater.
• Pasture grazing management—includes a variety of actions—such as stream fencing, establishing off-stream watering sites, and rotational grazing—to prevent erosion and sedimentation.

—Jeff Mulhollem