Soil + Water Management

Stewardship of the soil and water: It’s at the heart of sustainable agriculture. Best management practices maintain the quality and productivity of land and water by supporting the natural composition, structure and function of and entire ecosystem.

Land quality and performance can be maintained through production technologies and management practices that include 

• Crop pattern rotations for fertility conservation, weed control, and disruption of disease and insect cycles

• Crop residue management (CRM) for cost-efficient erosion control and improved organic nutrient content

• CRM tillage methods like conservation tillage, no-till, ridge-till, mulch-till and reduced-till for reduced soil compaction
  and per-acre water use

• Conservation buffers and structures like grass waterways, terraces, contour-farming, strip-cropping, underground
  drainage outlets and surface diversion/drainage channels

• And efficient irrigation practices to minimize production input runoff to surface waters and leaching into groundwater supplies

For more detailed information on soil and water management, check our sources.

• Agricultural Production Management: Soil Management + Conservation
  (USDA Economic Research Service)                                

• Agricultural Production Management: Irrigation Water Management
  (USDA Economic Research Service)                                                                     

• and Best Management Practices for Corn Production in South Dakota (2009)
  (South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service)                                               

And be sure to visit

• USDA Farm Service Agency: Conservation Programs

• USDA National Agricultural Library: Soil + Water Management

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Soils

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: South Dakota State

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Web Soil Survey