Enhancing conservation on agricultural landscapes: A new direction for the Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Excerpt

Now, more than ever, we need solutions to the complex challenges of meeting the nation's food, fiber, feed, and fuel needs while simultaneously enhancing the environment. As agriculture strives to meet future production goals including new demands for bioenergy, both our agricultural ecosystems and our natural resources are likely to face unprecedented pressures and levels of intensity. The challenge of protecting and enhancing environmental quality through effective conservation becomes even more important when this new agricultural production paradigm is viewed in light of the mounting environmental stresses expected for future decades. Increased biomass production for alternative fuel sources (Schnoor et al. 2007), climate change and the associated increased probability of extreme events (SWCS 2007), and looming drought and water security challenges (Dobrowolski et al. 2004) will make the task of reducing risk to natural resources even more difficult.

In 2003, the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) was initiated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in partnership with other USDA agencies (Agricultural Research Service, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Farm Service Agency, and National Agricultural Statistics Service). CEAP was established to develop a scientific understanding and methodology for estimating the environmental benefits and effects of conservation practices…