Bedford Co. Farmers to Be Surveyed on Use of Conservation Practices

If you’re a farm operator in 14 central Pennsylvania counties, you now have a chance to highlight what steps you have taken to protect and enhance water quality for your local streams and the Chesapeake Bay.

Several agricultural and governmental organizations have partnered to develop a survey, found at https://farm-bmp.psu.edu, that asks producers in Bedford, Centre, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder and Tioga counties to document conservation practices they have adopted to promote water quality and soil health in the bay watershed.

“Pennsylvania agriculture has done much to improve water quality in our local rivers and streams and the Chesapeake Bay,” said Matt Royer, director of the Agriculture and Environment Center in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “Yet that positive story often is not told. We are giving farmers a chance to tell that story.”

This survey follows a successful effort undertaken in 2016, when farmers across Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed were invited to fill out a similar survey. Nearly 7,000 did, resulting in many conservation practices reported and credited in Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts.

Yet even with that successful effort, conservation practices on an estimated 80 percent of Pennsylvania farms in the bay watershed remain unreported. In addition, farmers who filled out the 2016 survey will have a chance to report new practices installed since then, report on annual practices such as nutrient management and cover crops, and report on the continued success of previously reported practices.

The survey is being administered by the Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center, which will mail a letter this week with the survey web link to farmers in the 14 counties encouraging their participation. College of Agricultural Sciences researchers will analyze the survey responses, and cumulative results will be provided to Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Office to document the practices farmers have adopted to conserve soil and water and to protect water quality.

Ten percent of the participants will be selected randomly for farm visits by Penn State Extension to assess inventory results and help researchers better understand the methods used and challenges encountered when adopting various management practices.

Responses will be kept completely confidential and never will be associated with a farmer’s name or location, according to Royer, the lead researcher for the survey.

“The results reported to Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Office will be provided in summary form and will not include any names or locations of survey participants,” Royer said.

Rick Roush, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, noted that many of the conservation practices that farmers have implemented over the years are not accounted for in tracking the progress made toward meeting priority water quality goals, including cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

“This is especially true where farmers have adopted these practices on their own initiative and by using their own dollars,” Roush said. “This survey will allow farmers in 14 high priority counties in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to report conservation practices implemented on their farms so the agricultural community can get the credit it deserves for improving water quality. We also hope it will help us set priorities for research and extension educational programs that can assist producers in identifying and adopting appropriate best management practices.”

Farmers are encouraged to fill out the survey online at https://farm-bmp.psu.edu. This new and improved online tool for completing the survey is secure and user-friendly and will facilitate data collection and analysis. Farmers also will have the option of filling out a paper version of the survey, which will be mailed in February to those who have not yet completed it online.

Participants are asked to submit their responses by April 1. All farmers who complete the survey will receive a complimentary Penn State soil test kit. Farmers who participate in Extension farm visits will receive a complimentary copy of the Penn State Agronomy Guide.

The survey was developed collaboratively by Penn State, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, PennAg Industries Association, Pennsylvania Farmers Union, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission, the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.