August is National Water Quality Month, celebrating one of earth’s most vital resources: clean water. Across America, farmers and ranchers are working with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to protect the water that connects our country’s farms, families, and communities.
Several factors impact how nutrients move through the landscape, including rainfall amount, rainfall intensity, and soil moisture. By using the agency’s whole-farm holistic conservation approach, producers can bundle practices to build healthier soils, optimize nutrient management, and increase edge-of-field filtration - ultimately improving water quality and operational efficiencies.
Conservation practices such as grazing management demonstrate how protecting water quality and building operational productivity go hand-in-hand. A well-managed grazing system in which livestock are rotated around smaller paddocks can help lower feed costs while increasing forage quality, improving livestock health and productivity. The practice also offers a number of water quality benefits. By allowing sections of pasture to rest, the practice prevents overgrazing, reducing runoff and limiting soil erosion.
NRCS also offers financial and technical assistance to help producers build nutrient-rich, healthy soil through practices such as conservation crop rotation, cover crops, and residue and tillage management. These practices build organic matter in the soil, increasing its ability to absorb and filter the water while improving the cash crop’s nutrient efficiency.
Source : usda.gov