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Abstract
The Chesapeake Bay is a major water resource whose quality has been threatened by soil
erosion and agrichemical contamination. The control of agricultural pollution of the Bay is one of the
focal points of the 1987 Chesapeake Bay agreement formed by four states in the Bay's watershed
(Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia). Among the suggested solutions is
the promotion of low-input agricultural practices. However, some low-input practices also include
frequent cultivations of the soil for non-chemical weed control practices, which may induce erosion.
This analysis uses a case study approach to determine agricultural practice selection and
potential erosion under different soil erosion constraints. A multi-period mathematical programming
model was used to determine the preferred agricultural practices for a fanner maximizing net returns
in Richmond County, Virginia. Richmond County is adjacent to the Rappahanock River and above
the Columbia aquifer, major sources of fresh water for the Chesapeake Bay. A range of agricultural
practices was available, including conventional and organic practices. Soil erosion and the level of
chemical and nitrogen losses through sedimentation and leaching are discussed in this article. Soil
erosion constraints were introduced that reduced erosion by 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 percent from
current levels. These constraints were met without idled cropland, besides that enrolled in the
Conservation Reserve Program or Virginia's mandatory Buffer Strip Program. The results of this study
illustrate that soil conservation policies and low-input practices produce few environmental tradeoffs
between erosion control and the reduction of agrichemical pollution.