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Abstract
Excerpts: Agricultural conservation has been a priority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) since the 1930s, and USDA continues to promote conservation on working lands today. The use of conservation practices on farms can produce a variety of benefits, including improved soil and water quality, carbon sequestration, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduced production costs, and increased yields. USDA and other organizations encourage a wide variety of on-farm conservation practices, such as reduced tillage, irrigation management, and manure management planning. Each conservation practice provides a set of environmental benefits, and these vary depending on the practice. Results are presented regionally by cropping system and farm size. By combining publicly available survey data on the implementation rates of these agricultural practices between 2004 and 2016, this report provides an improved understanding of U.S. farmers’ use of conservation and establishes sector-wide trends in adoption of conservation practices during this time period. Importantly, this report tracks practices adopted by the agricultural community at large, reported only through statistically representative survey data. This report fills an important gap in USDA publications in that it presents national- and regional-scale data on conservation practice and technology trends. By identifying current adoption rates and trends of select agricultural conservation practices that both reduce GHG emissions and provide additional environmental benefits, USDA and other organizations can better understand farmers’ actions today and develop strategies to increase adoption of these practices in the future.