doi:10.2489/jswc.73.4.96A

VIEWPOINT Principles and policies for and conservation Andrew Manale, Andrew Sharpley, Catherine DeLong, David Speidel, Clark Gantzer, John Peter- son, Rex Martin, Clare Lindahl, and Naveen Adusumilli

e, the Soil and Water Con- as a great people, begins with and rests on , which are likely to transform with servation Society (“Society”), the sustained productivity of our agricul- and societal pressures. W maintain that natural tural lands” (Bennett 1946). Agricultural Publicly funded research is necessary to are a nation’s heritage. Soil, water, wild- lands provide , fiber, and fuel, and if provide this information to all farmers, , and other resources must managed with regard to their environmen- practitioners, and the public. Education be protected for future generations. Over tal and social impact, can provide services, and Conservation Technical Assistance are decades of research and deliberations of such as and pollinator habitat, essential to promote adoption of conser- researchers, educators, and practitioners, clean water, clean air, and drought vation practices by farmers and ranchers the Society has identified and developed mitigation, and recreational opportuni- (SWCS 2011). As Ralph H. Musser (1946), the following principles for conservation ties. Healthy enable production of the first president of the Soil and Water on private lands. This paper is a commen- agricultural goods, filter water, sequester Conservation Society, stated, “At the core tary on working lands for the 2018 Farm carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and offset this great endeavor to hold onto the world’s Bill and is not meant to be an exhaus- release of greenhouse gases. store of productive soil and water, will be Copyright © 2018 Soil and Society. All rights reserved.

tive synthesis of all principles held by the Agricultural must be managed to the professional soil conservationist.” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Society. Here we describe eight Society ensure positive value for both products Implications for Policy. Agricultural principles for soil, water, wildlife, and and services. Clean water is a shared and research should be funded at levels suf- ecosystem conservation to inform future cooperatively managed , and agri- ficient to meet the needs of sustainable farm bill discussions and guide develop- cultural land should be managed so as not of agricultural lands and ment and review of agricultural policies to jeopardize this public good. Managing resources. Research priorities should and funding. land for ecosystem services protects the reflect the need to protect resource integrity of agricultural lands and pro- resilience in light of changing climatic PRINCIPLE 1: AGRICULTURAL SOIL, motes the expressed by Aldo conditions. Public funds should lever- WATER, AND ASSOCIATED WILDLIFE Leopold, which “enlarges the boundaries age private resources to increase funding. AND ECOSYSTEM RESOURCES MUST of the community to include soils, , Conservation Technical Assistance (“boots

BE SUSTAINABLY MANAGED FOR , and animals, or collectively: the on the ground”) is the main delivery sys- 73(4):96A-99A FUTURE GENERATIONS land” (Leopold 1949). However, not all tem of conservation knowledge to farmers In 1946 Hugh Hammond Bennett, the ecosystem services generate marketplace and ranchers, and this role must be safe- Society’s founder, stated, “Productive land, value. For these, their social and environ- guarded through public funding. therefore, is our base; for everything we do, mental value must be inferred through www.swcs.org all we share, even whatever we amount to consideration of public and long-term PRINCIPLE 3: HEALTHY SOILS ARE ecological benefits. PRODUCTIVE AND RESILIENT SOILS Implications for Policy. Public fund- is an essential com- Andrew Manale is a retired US Environmental

Protection Agency senior policy analyst, Silver ing is necessary to support conservation ponent of healthy soils. Soil organic Spring, Maryland. Andrew Sharpley is a distin- programs and research to protect services matter helps retain soil moisture, seques- guished professor in the Department of Crops, and their foundational resources that pri- ter N, enhance water conservation, and Soils, and Environmental Sciences, University vate markets undervalue. Institutional is as a major sink for greenhouse gases. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Catherine DeLong is special projects director for the Soil support is necessary for ensuring proper Maintaining or increasing organic mat- and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), Anke- social valuation. The concept of ecosystem ter levels in agricultural soils, including ny, Iowa. David Speidel is a retired agriculture services provides the best framework for grazing and pasturelands, must be a goal advisor/district conservationist, USDA Foreign understanding human needs and their reli- of farm policy. Healthy soils, because of Agricultural Service/Natural Resources Conser- vation Service, Benton, Missouri. Clark Gantzer ance on the ethical, holistic management their enhanced soil structure and increased is an emeritus professor of the University of of land and resources to serve these needs. infiltration capacity, are less vulnerable to Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri. John erosion and nutrient loss that can pol- Peterson is the SWCS Washington, DC, repre- sentative, Burke, Virginia. Rex Martin is chief PRINCIPLE 2: SUSTAINABLE lute . Improved cropping, executive officer of Alpha Gamma Rho Frater- STEWARDSHIP OF AGRICULTURAL fertilization, and management, includ- nity, Kansas City, Missouri. Clare Lindahl is ex- LANDS DEPENDS UPON ing reduced tillage, crop rotation, cover ecutive director of SWCS, Ankeny, Iowa. Naveen SCIENTIFICALLY SOUND RESEARCH crops, and sustainable grazing practices, are Adusumilli is an assistant professor and exten- sion economist in the Department of Agricultur- AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION important to maintaining and achieving al Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana State Long-term research, data collection, and healthy soils. University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. data availability are essential to the sus- Surface and subsurface drainage should tainable management of agricultural be managed to minimize water and nutri-

96A JULY/AUGUST 2018—VOL. 73, NO. 4 JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION ent loss. Although conservation practices PRINCIPLE 4: WETLANDS AND quality monitoring should also be consid- are implemented and managed at field FLOODPLAINS ARE ESSENTIAL TO LONG- ered to assess practice effectiveness. and farm scales, their benefits are better TERM RESOURCE captured at or watershed scales. Wetlands are necessary for managing PRINCIPLE 5: FARM BILLS SHOULD Public investment is needed to support excess farm nutrients, receiving, and INCENTIVIZE FARMERS AND UTILITIES the development of tools for identifying managing water in high rainfall events, TO WORK TOGETHER TO PROTECT and guiding conservation planning, such as adapting to drought conditions, and for watershed planning, and, importantly, the healthy wildlife . Many, if not All communities should have access to continuing education and training of peo- most, are irreplaceable. Mitigation bank- safe and plentiful drinking water, or ple who will provide and use those tools. ing can be a useful tool for maintaining source water. Rural communities are at Implications for Policy. Government and enhancing values and functions of greater risk to drinking water contamina- and private sectors must maintain incen- wetlands in situations where wetlands tion, according to the Center for Disease tives to manage soils for organic matter and high-value farming are in conflict. Control and Prevention (2017). Yet, these content and, where necessary, maintain Mitigation banking can be effective if communities are often unable to take on or promote incentives for soil and water “(a) banks are used strictly to mitigate costly utility and infrastructure upgrades conservation. Policies, such as the unavoidable wetland impacts or losses, (b) (Strosnider et al. 2017). In order to pro- Conservation Compliance, Wetlands impacts are mitigated on-site where pos- tect rural and urban source water, farmers Copyright © 2018 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

Conservation Provisions (Swampbuster), sible, (c) banks are located in the same should be incentivized to target conserva- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Sodbuster, and Sodsaver, must be main- watershed or ecological region as the wet- tion practices on land that surrounds and tained or enhanced, where necessary, land impacts they mitigate, and (d) banks impacts critical drinking water sources. to encourage stewardship. Agricultural provide in-kind replacement of wetland Implications for Policy. Conservation policy should encourage reduced tillage, functions and values lost” (US House of title funding in farm bills should encour- sustainable crop rotations, cover crops, Representatives 1994) age water utilities and farmers to C sequestration, sustainable grazing, and Floodplains represent special eco- partner through the Environmental Quality drainage management. Conservation pro- systems of particular importance to Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation grams should help the public and private the well-being of many communities. Stewardship Program (CSP), ACEP, and sectors acknowledge and reward good They serve numerous competing uses Regional Conservation Partnership stewardship through payments for conser- from transportation, urban development, Program (RCPP). Funding sources such vation performance. human and industrial water consumption, as the Water Infrastructure Finance and 73(4):96A-99A Innovative market mechanisms should agriculture, recreation, and wildlife habi- Innovation Act (WIFIA) and state revolv- be explored where the beneficiaries of tat. Knowledge of river systems’ presses ing loan funds, which allow utilities to sustainably managed agriculture contrib- and pulses is necessary to manage flood- leverage infrastructure upgrades to sup- ute directly to support these services, thus plain resources. Special consideration must port upstream conservation, should receive www.swcs.org supplementing public funding. Policies be made to maintaining connectivity to robust funding. Farmers should be incen- should support markets in livestock river systems to mitigate the impacts of tivized to target their conservation practices manure to ensure its appropriate use on and droughts on these competing to areas with the greatest potential to posi-

a watershed or regional basis. Crop subsi- uses. Farmed floodplains, when managed tively impact drinking water sources. dies, crop insurance, and income support sustainably, can store potential floodwaters, programs should require stewardship provide recreational benefits, and serve as PRINCIPLE 6: CONSERVATION of natural resources and protection of habitat for wildlife. OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS AND environmental quality, such as through Implications for Policy. Agricultural AGROFORESTRY SHOULD NOT CONFLICT the Conservation Compliance Program. policy should discourage the conversion WITH Although financial and educational sup- and poor management of wetlands, both Wildlife, especially pollinators, are essen- port occurs at the farm level, planning perennial and seasonal, and encourage main- tial for healthy . The public’s and program implementation should tenance and enhancement of their functions support of agricultural funding will be encompass watershed and landscape and values. Current farm bill programs, enhanced through understanding the scales for greater effectiveness. Timely such as Swampbuster, Wetland Mitigation potential for agricultural land to act assessment should guide program adjust- Banking, the Conservation Reserve as habitat for pollinators and wildlife. ments; understanding of will Program (CRP), and the Agricultural Moreover, the provision of wildlife cou- be gained, thus leading to more effective Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) pled with its many benefits, represents an practices for improving soil health and should be reauthorized and supported. important that can be a . Further, in farm significant source of revenue for landown- bills should make clear the preferential ers and farmers. management of floodplains for ecosystem Soils need to be managed for sufficient services, such as flood mitigation. Water protective residue cover to mini-

JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION JULY/AUGUST 2018—VOL. 73, NO. 4 97A mize soil organic matter loss, erosion, loss recreation, and aesthetic amenities. The nomic context in which the interventions of moisture, and resilience to extreme public, as consumers of food, fiber, and occur (evaluation), and placing appropriate weather events. In addition to commod- fuel, needs to understand how agricul- practices to address a concern (targeting) ity crops, such as corn (Zea mays), soybeans tural goods are produced, how well-being (SWCS 2006). (Glycine max), wheat (Triticum aestivum), relates to agriculture, and the public Model simulations, while powerful and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), which sector’s role in ensuring high-quality tools for estimating relative qualitative are vital components of the rural econ- products and services. Continued funding comparisons of varied conservation strat- omy, “perennial species, incorporated into for conservation research and implemen- egies, “cannot—and must not—substitute diverse agricultural systems, have great tation depends upon public awareness of for on-the-ground monitoring and inven- potential to enhance resilience against the benefits of soil and water conservation tory systems designed to determine if uncertain climate and market conditions” (SWCS 2011). An informed public will anticipated conservation and environmen- (Steiner et al. 2009). Through the develop- understand that healthy soil can serve as tal benefits are being achieved” (SWCS ment of on-farm and rural enterprises that a sink for C, N, and water; thus mitigat- 2006). People must manage these lands utilize agroforestry and horticulture, agri- ing the impacts of extreme weather events. to ensure their future productivity and culture can help revitalize communities Soil and water conservation practices can to protect them from degradation by a and provide healthy, locally sourced food alleviate the effects of changing seasonal changing environment. Adaptive manage- options (Steiner et al. 2009). temperature and precipitation regimes on ment can be an effective tool supporting Copyright © 2018 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

Agroforestry and perennial vegetation soils, plants, and animals. Education on soil agricultural conservation efforts. The prin- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation practices, such as windbreaks and ripar- health and water quality can help farmers ciple of requires that ian buffers, can reduce erosion impacts and ranchers, scientists, and conservation interventions be continuously assessed and and sequester C through enhanced root practitioners exchange information and refined to achieve maximum efficiency. development, and aboveground vegetation gain experience that improves the applica- In adaptive management, monitoring serves as feedstock. Agroforestry tion and adoption of conservation systems and assessment are built into the planning can provide wildlife habitat and pollination (SWCS 2011). and implementation process and funding services, and provide for the temporary Implications for Policy. Farm bills should reflect associated costs. Benchmark storage of water, mitigating the magnitude should continue to support educational measures should encompass not just proj- of flooding. activities associated with sustainable agri- ect sites but larger landscape and ecological Implications for Policy. The current culture through institutional support processes that are linked. The results of

relative importance of wildlife habitat in and funding. There should be adequate monitoring and assessment are used to 73(4):96A-99A the ranking of conservation funding pri- funding for economic and public policy make timely adjustments in management orities should be maintained. Existing analyses to valuate and convey the bene- decisions in order to improve outcomes. limits on CRP acreage should be raised to fits of well-managed agricultural systems, Implications for Policy. Government a level consistent with the needs of restor- to identify opportunities for developing should fund watershed planning and www.swcs.org ing critical wildlife habitat, to reflect public partnerships with the public and pri- programs, which are jointly managed at support for environmental amenities, and vate sectors, and to facilitate ecosystem federal and state levels and which provide to achieve resilience in a changing cli- service markets. Policy should encour- for targeting, monitoring, and assessment

mate. To achieve the same benefits, ACEP age government, private, and nonprofit necessary to achieve measurable results. should be maintained, with adjustments stakeholders to “coordinate efforts to These programs should be incorporated, to its program objectives to encourage communicate the relationship of soil where practical, into conservation projects participation across a wider public sector. and water conservation practices, climate to ensure effective outcomes and avoid Agricultural conservation policy should change mitigation and adaptation, and waste and mismanagement. Ideally, use of explicitly acknowledge the importance of ” and to share critical infor- monitoring/assessments should become agroforestry in protecting the integrity of mation (SWCS 2011). the norm in selecting and continuing ecosystems and conservation programs. watershed-scale projects and in determin- PRINCIPLE 8: RESPONSIBLE ing the level of annual expenditures. PRINCIPLE 7: AN INFORMED PUBLIC CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT Public policy should “ensure a long- IS NECESSARY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY term commitment of people and MANAGEMENT OF SOIL, WATER, The public has the right to know how resources to community-driven projects AND ASSOCIATED WILDLIFE AND funds are spent and what they have at the watershed scale,” as “the more tradi- ECOSYSTEM RESOURCES accomplished. Accountability in agricul- tional approach of providing short-term, All people need to understand and rec- tural conservation means collecting the three- to five-year grants to communi- ognize the potential role of agricultural right information on what the effort has ties will not work” (SWCS 2007). To this lands to provide ecosystem services, such achieved (monitoring), comparing the end, soil and water conservation districts; as healthy soils, water quality, flood pro- effects to established environmental goals watershed boards; and local, state, and tection, wildlife and pollination habitat, that are linked to the ecological and eco- federal agencies have a responsibility to

98A JULY/AUGUST 2018—VOL. 73, NO. 4 JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION make the best use of current and emerg- quality, 2010–2015—United States. Morbidity ing practices. The use of monitoring and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance assessments should become the norm in Summaries 66(13):1–10, doi:10.15585/mmwr. selecting and continuing watershed-scale ss6613a1. projects and in developing the level of SWCS (Soil and Water Conservation Society). 2006. annual expenditures. Final Report from the Blue Ribbon Panel Conducting an External Review of the US CONCLUSIONS Department of Agriculture Conservation Effects The eight conservation principles Assessment Project. Ankeny, IA: Soil and Water described here, are proposed as a frame- Conservation Society. work to ensure continued development SWCS. 2007. Planning for Extremes. Ankeny, IA: Soil of science-based strategies that protect and Water Conservation Society. soil, water, and ecosystem resources. These SWCS. 2011. Position Statement of Climate Change principles also serve as guides to inform and Soil and Water Conservation. Ankeny, IA: future state and federal conservation poli- Soil and Water Conservation Society. cies, support, and farm bill discussions. US House of Representatives. 1994. Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Environment, Copyright © 2018 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Credit, and Rural Development. Review the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions Impact of Wetlands and Nonpoint Source of the members of the Soil and Water Conservation Pollution Regulations on Agricultural Land. Society Science and Policy Committee, who reviewed 103rd Congress, 2nd session, March 23. Serial and commented on multiple drafts of these principles. No. 103-61. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. https://ia902608.us.archive. REFERENCES org/33/items/reviewimpactofwe00unit/ Bennett, H.H. 1946. A national program of soil con- reviewimpactofwe00unit.pdf?. servation. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 1(1):21-34. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 2017.

Rural Americans at higher risk of death from 73(4):96A-99A five leading causes. https://www.cdc.gov/media/ releases/2017/p0112-rural-death-risk.html. Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford www.swcs.org University Press. Musser, R.H. 1946. Why another society? Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 1(1):3-4. Steiner, J.L., A.J. Franzluebbers, and C.L. Neely.

2009. Expanding horizons of farming with grass. In Farming with Grass: Achieving Sustainable Mixed Agricultural , ed. A.J. Franzluebbers, p. 216-234. Ankeny, IA: Soil and Water Conservation Society. https:// www.swcs.org/resources/publications/books/ farming-with-grass-online. Strosnider, H., C. Kennedy, M. Monti, and F. Yip. 2017. Rural and urban differences in air qual- ity, 2008–2012, and community drinking water

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