On Thursday U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the release of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed CEAP-Cropland Survey showing conservation measures installed on farms have reduced sheet and rill erosion rates by 57 percent and edge-of-field sediment losses by 62 percent since 2006, edge-of-field nitrogen losses in surface runoff were reduced by 38 percent, nitrogen losses in subsurface flows were reduced by 12 percent, and phosphorus losses were reduced by 45 percent compared to 2003-06 loss rates.

This new report, using data collected in 2003-06 and 2011, demonstrates that during the time between the last two surveys, agricultural producers have significantly increased their use of an array of conservation measures to improve and protect water and soil quality in the Chesapeake Bay region.

These conservation practices are generating substantial natural resource benefits for producers and the communities of the Chesapeake Bay region.  State by state results were not available.

A copy of the report is available online.

NewsClips:

Glenn Thompson: New Farm Bill By Christmas

Lawmakers Eye 2014 Midterms In Farm Bill Talks

Chesapeake Bay Program December Currents eNewsletter

12/9/2013