Conservation Planning

Want to increase farm productivity and profitability? Reduce the off-site impact of nutrients and fertilizers on water quality? Improve farm resiliency to extreme weather events? Reduce flooding and hold more water in the soil profile? Increase wildlife and pollinator habitat? Consider conservation planning.

Which conservation activities can CFSA help you with?

Organic Transition

• CPA 138 Conservation Plan Supporting Organic Transition contains planned conservation activities that address resource concerns resulting from the transition from conventional to organic production systems. It will include:
  • A discussion of your farm’s objectives.
  • A whole-farm resource assessment and identification of resource concerns.
  • Selection of best conservation practice options for addressing resource concerns.
  • A summary of the impacts of potential conservation practices on soil erosion and quality.
  • The nuts and bolts of your Organic System Plan (OSP) as defined in the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) Standards.
  • Here is a sample CPA 138 plan.

• DIA 140 Transition to Organic includes information on implementing structural and management practices that address resource concerns. It will include:
  • An assessment of natural resource concerns and identification of conservation practices.
  • Detailed implementation plan for each conservation practice includes
    • Implementation requirements for preferred conservation practices.
    • Recordkeeping, operation, and maintenance requirements.
  • Cost estimates.
    • Alternate practices may include
    • Establishment of soil-building rotations.
    • Establishment of field borders and buffers.
    • Beneficial and wildlife habitat.
    • Organic nutrient management and cover cropping.

Soil Health Plans

• CPA 116 Soil Health Management Plan identifies soil health concerns related to the soil’s physical, biological, and chemical properties. It will include:
  • A resource inventory including conditions of natural resources, environmentally sensitive areas, and documentation of previously installed or implemented conservation practices and their impact on resource concerns.
  • A comparison between current conditions and future conditions’ impact on resource concerns.
  • Results of assessment tools include soil testing and soil health assessments.
  • An evaluation of the conservation practice’s effects on land use, capital, labor, management, risk, profitability, and public health and safety.
  • Here is an example of a CPA 116.

• DIA 162 Soil Health Management develops site-specific recommendations and designs for soil health-related practices that address the principles of soil health as identified in CPA 116. It will include:
  • Soil Health Management Plan to minimize soil disturbance and maximize soil cover, biodiversity, and living roots.
  • An assessment of natural resource concerns and identification of conservation practices.
  • Detailed implementation plan for each conservation practice includes
    • Implementation requirements for preferred conservation practices.
    • Recordkeeping, operation, and maintenance requirements
    • Cost estimates.
  • An operation and maintenance plan for each design that you can use after implementing the practices is complete.