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Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs)
 

Agricultural Best Management Practices are practical, cost-effective agronomic/vegetative, structural and management practices that ag producers can employ to protect the natural resources and minimize the environmental impacts from farming.

Continual management and maintenance of BMPs are essential for proper functioning. Structural practices such as waterways, terraces and roof gutters are designed for a specific storm frequency (2 year, 10 year, etc.) and may suffer damage when larger storms occur. Structural practices that require earth disturbance and stabilization should be frequently checked to assure that vegetation and other types of stabilization are adequate to protect the structure and to assure that it will continue to properly function.

Other BMPs, such as strip cropping, contour farming, and grass buffers, require attention annually to assure that boundaries, adequate vegetation, and other types of stabilization are maintained. Practices that are performed annually, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, crop residue management, and crop rotations, must be carried out according to the conservation plan. These practices require detailed attention to assure they are carried out when and to the extent specified.

Click here to see A Conservation Catalog - Practices for the Conservation of Pennsylvania's Natural Resources. The Pennsylvania Conservation Catalog describes conservation practices to reduce soil erosion and enhance and protect water quality. The Catalog also addresses other resource concerns. It explains how each practice works, gives tips on installing and managing practices and suggests how practices may be combined to form a conservation system.

                                               

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