Conservation Cover

Establishing and maintaining permanent vegetative cover of either introduced or native grasses, legumes and forbs for nesting cover, winter cover, brood cover, pollinator habitat and food and habitat for wildlife.

Contour Buffer Strip 

Strips of grass or a mixture of grasses and legumes that run along the contour of a farmed field. They alternate down the slope of a field with wider cropped strips.

Contour Farming

Contouring means farming with row patterns nearly level around a hill – not up and down hill. The rows form small dams that slow water flow and increase infiltration to reduce erosion.

Cover Crop 

Crops such as cereal rye, oats and winter wheat are planted to protect the ground from wind and water erosion and supply living roots to the soil during times when cash crops are not present.

Crop Rotation 

Growing different crops on the same piece of land year after year in a planned, recurring sequence. This may include alternating row cash crops such as corn and soybeans. It also may involve a rotation to a small grain or a grass legume and may include crops planted for cover or nutrient enhancements.

Denitrifying Bioreactor

An edge-of-field structure containing a carbon source, such as wood chips, installed to reduce the concentration of nitrate-nitrogen in subsurface agricultural drainage flow via enhanced denitrification by the carbon source (i.e. wood chips).

Drainage Water Management 

Drainage water management is the process of managing water discharges from surface and/or subsurface agricultural drainage systems with water-control structures.

Field Border 

A strip of perennial vegetation, primarily introduced or native grasses, established at the edge or around the perimeter of a field.

Filter Strip

A strip of dense herbaceous vegetation such as grass, trees or shrubs that filters runoff and removes contaminants before they reach water bodies or water sources, such as wells. Filter strips are most effective when used in combination with other agronomic or structural conservation practices.

Forage and Biomass Planting 

Planting grass and legumes – suitable for pasture, hay, or biomass production – to reduce soil erosion and improve production.

Grassed Waterway 

Grassed waterways are shaped constructed channels that are seeded to grass or other suitable vegetation to direct water to a stable outlet at a nonerosive velocity. A structure is often installed at the base of the waterway to stabilize the waterway and prevent a new gully from forming.

No-Till 

Performing no full-width tillage from the time of harvest or termination of one cash crop to the time of the harvest or termination of the next cash crop in the rotation.

Pond 

A pond is a pool of water formed by a dam or pit. There are two types of ponds – embankment ponds, which are water impoundments made by constructing an embankment, and excavated ponds, which are formed by excavating a pit or dugout.

Prescribed Grazing

Managing the harvest of vegetation by livestock. This is often attained through a rotational grazing system where pastures are divided into four or more pastures with fencing. Livestock are moved from pasture to pasture on a prearranged schedule based on forage availability and livestock nutrition needs.

Saturated Buffer

A saturated buffer is a vegetated buffer in which the water table is artificially raised by diverting the water from a subsurface drainage system along the buffer to reduce nitrate loading to surface water via enhanced denitrification.

Strip-Till 

A system in which residue-free strips of soil are tilled ahead of planting. The strips are approximately 6 inches wide or about one-third the row width and 4 to 8 inches deep. These strips are cleared of residue and tilled for warming and drying purposes either before or during the planting operation.

Terrace

An earthen embankment constructed across a field slope. They break long slopes into shorter ones – usually following the contour. There are two basic types of terraces – storage terraces and gradient terraces. Storage terraces collect water and store it until it can infiltrate into the ground or release through a stable outlet. Gradient terraces are designed as a channel to slow runoff water and carry it to a stable outlet.

Water and Sediment Control Basin

An earth embankment or a combination ridge and channel constructed across the slope of minor watercourses to form a sediment trap and water detention basin with a stable outlet.

Wetland

A wetland is strategically placed to improve water quality through the removal of nutrients, specifically nitrates. A wetland may have standing water year-round or may hold surface water for only part of the year. Through NRCS assistance, wetlands can be created, enhanced or restored.

Prairie Strips

Prairie species slow water to provide erosion control, improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat. Prairie strips can be placed within or around the edge of a field, alongside or perpendicular to waterways or in terrace channels.