Providing information on the implementation of agricultural practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed Active
Issue:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides cost-share funding and technical assistance to support the implementation of agricultural conservation practices on farms throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Farmer participation in USDA conservation programs is voluntary and the implementation data are privacy protected.
Report and Selected Findings
The USGS released a report on the methods used to aggregate the datasets, and makes the data available to the public at county and eight-digit hydrologic unit code watershed scales, reporting annual implementation from 2007 through 2017. Some selected findings include:
- The number of funded agricultural conservation practices supported by the USDA within the Chesapeake Bay watershed increased from 2007 to 2017, with implementation peaking in 2012–13 coincident with funding increases associated with the NRCS Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative
- If lifespan is considered, such that practices are counted each year from their first implementation until they exceed their lifespan, the total number of active implemented funded conservation practices by state are shown below. The report also quantifies practices for which the USDA provided technical assistance without cost-share funding.
How the information is used to inform management decisions
The USGS aggregates the data to maintain farmer privacy, and subsequently provides the aggregated datasets to the public to inform conservation decision making. As part of that process, the USGS collaborates with the USDA to increase the understanding and quality of the USDA datasets and informs the interpretation of data records by Chesapeake Bay Program partners. The USGS obtains USDA conservation datasets in October of each year, performs data handling and quality checks as described in this document, and delivers aggregated summaries to the six Chesapeake Bay state jurisdictions for use in reporting conservation implementation to the Chesapeake Bay Partnership’s Annual Progress Review, which occurs in December of each year. The data are also used by USGS scientists to investigate the effects of conservation implementation on water quality outcomes.
To access the report and more information:
Agricultural conservation practice implementation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: by Hively, W.D., Devereux, O.H., and Keisman, J.L.D., 2018, U.S. Geological Data Series 1102, 46 p. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ds1102
For more information, contact W. Dean Hively whively@usgs.gov
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- Overview
Issue:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides cost-share funding and technical assistance to support the implementation of agricultural conservation practices on farms throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Farmer participation in USDA conservation programs is voluntary and the implementation data are privacy protected.
Report and Selected Findings
The USGS released a report on the methods used to aggregate the datasets, and makes the data available to the public at county and eight-digit hydrologic unit code watershed scales, reporting annual implementation from 2007 through 2017. Some selected findings include:
- The number of funded agricultural conservation practices supported by the USDA within the Chesapeake Bay watershed increased from 2007 to 2017, with implementation peaking in 2012–13 coincident with funding increases associated with the NRCS Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative
- If lifespan is considered, such that practices are counted each year from their first implementation until they exceed their lifespan, the total number of active implemented funded conservation practices by state are shown below. The report also quantifies practices for which the USDA provided technical assistance without cost-share funding.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsCumulative number of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded practices that have not exceeded their planned lifespan, implemented within the Chesapeake Bay watershed from 2007 through 2017, by state. How the information is used to inform management decisions
The USGS aggregates the data to maintain farmer privacy, and subsequently provides the aggregated datasets to the public to inform conservation decision making. As part of that process, the USGS collaborates with the USDA to increase the understanding and quality of the USDA datasets and informs the interpretation of data records by Chesapeake Bay Program partners. The USGS obtains USDA conservation datasets in October of each year, performs data handling and quality checks as described in this document, and delivers aggregated summaries to the six Chesapeake Bay state jurisdictions for use in reporting conservation implementation to the Chesapeake Bay Partnership’s Annual Progress Review, which occurs in December of each year. The data are also used by USGS scientists to investigate the effects of conservation implementation on water quality outcomes.
To access the report and more information:
Agricultural conservation practice implementation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: by Hively, W.D., Devereux, O.H., and Keisman, J.L.D., 2018, U.S. Geological Data Series 1102, 46 p. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ds1102
For more information, contact W. Dean Hively whively@usgs.gov
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