Overview
Private and public dollars to address erosion and nutrient-loss concerns from agricultural production fields are limited. A cost-effective way to reduce erosion and nutrient loss is to identify field situations that have higher risk critical resource concerns and then match best management practices (BMPs) for implementation to address the field situations.
Professionals from soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs), state agencies, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have limited resources to cover the watershed to identify critical concerns for farmers and landowners. Fortunately, many critical concerns have obvious visual keys that farmers and landowners can use to identify the critical concerns so that they can then seek assistance to address the concerns with BMPs. These visual keys can be observed in the landscape and as agronomic plans are reviewed.
The companion AgBMPs website (agbmps.osu.edu) houses more detailed information and is frequently updated as new research is summarized.
