Purpose: to reduce or eliminate pests by introducing biological control agents that may not be native to the area, or not present in sufficient quantities, into the environment. For example, beneficial mites are commercially available and can be released in the field. These must be introduced before pest numbers are out of control, and periodic re-releases are usually needed. These agents include parasites, predators or disease pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: required for initial information and start-up

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

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b. Appropriate Cultural Controls

Definition: use of various farming practices that impact pest populations.

Purpose: to destroy or remove a pest‘s habitat by such practices as plowing, crop rotation, manipulation of planting and harvest dates, animal housing sanitation and manure management, and tillage. For example, alfalfa fields with significant numbers of alfalfa weevils may be harvested early to avoid further losses and reduce weevil populations. Crop rotation can be extremely effective in breaking up pest life cycles (e.g. the Colorado potato beetle). Various methods can be employed to destroy breeding refuges and over-wintering sites, including escaped apple trees for apple maggot. Included in this category are all practices that provide optimum growing conditions for the crop, thereby enhancing plant health and resistance and reducing plant stress. There is a wide range of cultural controls. Not all of them are appropriate on all farms, and farmers need to select carefully.

Examples of cultural controls include the following:

    —  site selection: choosing sites that are less favorable to pests

    —  cultivar selection: choosing varieties that are resistant to pests

    —  crop rotation: rotating away from crops of the same family can prevent weed growth and break up pest cycles

    —  intercropping: planting a mixture of crops may reduce insect damage, e.g., underseeding broccoli with clover

    —  cover cropping: can provide shelter for beneficials

    —  trap cropping: planting crops to attract the pest away from the main crop; for example in tomatoes, trap crops of potatoes and eggplant can be used for Colorado potato beetle

    —  tillage: provides weed control and may kill some insects and pathogens

    —  timing and method of planting: may help to avoid a generation of the pest

    —  sanitation: removal of pest habitat such as cull piles or dropped fruit; for example, potato cull piles provide a place for potato late blight and other diseases to overwinter

    —  pruning: removes a food source or point for infection and increases circulation

    —  healthy seed and transplants: avoids introducing pests; use of seed that has been certified disease-free

Initial Costs: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required - desirable

Other Benefits: certain cultural control practices may also improve soil tilth and fertility.

Other Considerations:

c. Appropriate Physical Controls

Definition: use of physical structures or mechanisms to exclude pests from crops.

Purpose: to prevent or reduce crop losses from pest damage by providing physical barriers such as netting over small fruits and screening in greenhouses or milkhouses. Row covers and fencing are also examples.

Initial Cost: low - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

d. Calibrate and Maintain Pesticide Application Equipment

Properly calibrating pesticide application equipment assures proper application rates throughout the season, reducing both pesticide waste and the risk of environmental contamination.

Definition: adjustment of application equipment by properly calibrating applicator nozzles; general maintenance of equipment parts.

Purpose: to assure proper pesticide application rates throughout the season. Such calibration should occur minimally at the beginning and middle of each season; ideally, each time pesticides or application rates are changed. Improper calibration of application equipment can result in application rates that are significantly different from the intended rate. Low applications can result in poor pest control, yield losses and costly repeat applications. Rates which are too high waste pesticide, reduce profitability and pose a greater risk of environmental contamination than necessary. Higher than recommended application rates also promote the development of pest resistance to the pesticide, do not achieve better pest control and may result in poor pest control. Since nozzle wear can increase application rates and change spray patterns, calibration rates should be checked during the spray season. Even small, hand operated applicators, such as hand-pump sprayers, should be calibrated each season. Sprayer equipment should be maintained regularly.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable for initial information

Other Benefits: lower costs due to less pesticide use.

Other Considerations:

e. Data Collection

Data collection allows farmers to make informed pest management decisions based on knowledge of cropping patterns, current and historical pest problems, pesticide use and soil and physical characteristics of the site.

Definition: inventory of field, crop and pest information.

Purpose: to make informed pest management decisions based on knowledge of cropping patterns, current and historical pest problems, pesticide use and soil and physical characteristics of the site. Attention should be paid to the history of crop production, information on soil types, exact acreages of each field, and information about past pest problems, pesticide use and other information for each field. Additionally, particular attention should be directed to areas where mixing, loading and storage activities take place, and physical limitations such as proximity to well heads and surface water, runoff potential, highly permeable or poorly drained soils, and shallow aquifers.

Initial Cost: none

Maintenance Cost: not applicable

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits: may enhance efficiency and reduce cost

Other Considerations:

f. Pesticide Application Plans and Records

Definition: a procedure for planning and documenting pesticide use that includes specific pesticide selection, application and handling.

Purpose: to assure the proper selection, timing and rates of application to maximize effective and judicious use of pesticides while minimizing unnecessary, excessive or inappropriate uses. Pesticides that are least likely to cause contamination to surface or ground water should be selected. Available models such as NPURG can assist in determining relative risk from a pesticide given crop, soil, water and topographic conditions. If an evaluation indicates a high risk, consideration of slope, foliar coverage and other risk reducing site factors or management practices such as spot spraying or banding will help. Such plans should also account for proper timing of applications. Replace calendar date scheduled applications with crop, pest and weather specific timing to increase effectiveness and reduce risk as well as waste (from, for example, application before a heavy rain or during windy conditions). Record keeping is an important component of any pesticide use, as well as a legal requirement. Knowing what went on which field and how successful it was in obtaining desired results is useful planning data.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable for start-up

Other Benefits: may enhance wildlife habitat; may contribute to farmer health and safety

Other Considerations:

g. Protect and Enhance Natural Controls

Definition: The encouragement of naturally-occurring populations of biological control agents such as beneficial mites and certain fungi, worms and wasps.

Purpose: to allow natural controls to contribute to pest management by fostering and not destroying their habitat. Natural enemies can be encouraged by providing shelters or food sources. For example, a sod or weedy cover in an apple orchard provides an overwintering site for predatory mites, which control European red mite and two-spotted spider mite. Selecting pesticides that have minimal effect on beneficials is an important consideration; applying only when needed, and carefully scheduling to have the least effect on beneficials, will also encourage native populations of many biological control organisms.

Initial Cost: none

Maintenance Cost: not applicable

Technical Assistance: desirable for initial information

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: other management practices, such as burning or mowing of field edges, may diminish beneficial populations.

h. Safe Storage, Mixing, Loading and Disposal of Pesticides

Proper storage and handling of pesticides avoids contamination risks associated with accidental spills and misuse of pesticides.

Definition: specific management activities for the proper storage and handling of all pesticides.

Purpose: to avoid contamination risks associated with accidental spills and misuse of pesticides. Surface water, ground water and soil can be contaminated in areas where pesticides are stored under inappropriate conditions, or improperly mixed and loaded into application tanks, where equipment is washed and rinsed after application, and where containers are disposed of improperly. Pesticides should be stored in the original containers with the label intact, in a closed and locked building. Such containers should be recycled where possible. The building should be located at least 200 feet down-gradient from any surface water body and 150 feet down-gradient from any wellhead. A secondary containment area, such as a curbed, impermeable pad, is recommended to contain any accidental spills or leaks.

Chemical mixing and storing and equipment rinsing stations should be located at least 300 feet away from aquifer and wellhead areas and open water. Backflow prevention devices should be installed and operating properly. Proper warning signs must be posted, and use of an impervious pad to contain spills and facilitate clean-up is desirable. Of course, such materials should be locked and out of reach of children and animals. Mixing and loading areas should be located to minimize the impact of spills. All transfer of pesticides between containers should be conducted over a spill containment surface designed to intercept, retain and recover spills, leaks and wash water. This can be a specially constructed pad or alternate system such as a portable basin.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: low - medium

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits: may reduce human health and safety risks, may reduce future liability risks

Other Considerations:

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i. Scout for Pests

Scouting for pests provides an early detection system that locates and identifies potentially serious pest situations before economic losses occur.

Definition: crop monitoring for presence of pests.

Purpose: to accurately sample and record pest populations and to recommend and track control actions based on scouting data. Determining how many pests are present on a crop at a point in time requires that the crop be monitored on a regular schedule. Scouting usually involves visual plant or animal inspections and/or environmental monitoring. Scouting provides an early detection system that locates and identifies potentially serious pest situations before economic losses occur. Used with pest action thresholds, it also helps to avoid unnecessary pesticide applications. Samples are collected according to certain protocols. Often, scouting is done by agribusinesses or private consultants.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low - medium

Technical Assistance: desirable for initial information

Other Benefits: may result in higher quality crop

Other Considerations: a consultant may be hired to perform this function and provide pest management advice.

j. Special Handling of Sensitive Areas

Special handling of sensitive areas involves reducing or eliminating pesticide applications to wet spots, stream sides and areas near well heads.

Definition: with respect to pesticide application, particular attention to and appropriate management of areas such as wet spots, stream sides and areas near well heads; may include avoiding application entirely.

Purpose: to reduce risk of contamination by identifying sensitive areas and reducing or eliminating pesticide applications there. Use of a map locating such areas is helpful, making sure that the applicator is aware of such locations and any specific requirements. New Jersey Department of Agriculture has useful fact sheets about applying high risk pesticides in high risk areas.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: these sensitive areas should be treated with special handling when applying nutrients also, to avoid leaching of nutrients, especially nitrates, into ground water

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4. Strategies for Livestock Barnyard, Manure and Waste Management

Concerns about potential contamination of surface and ground water from livestock focus on two components of farm animal management. The first is on areas or structures where animals are stabled or held and fed or maintained, plus areas used for processing and storage of product (such as feed), manure, facility wastewater (e.g., milkhouse waste, barn and pen cleaning water, animal washing) and other related runoff. These areas are typically centered around the barnyard and are sometimes referred to as “confined animal facilities”. The second is on animal grazing areas, particularly riparian, or stream-side zones (see Section 5, below).

Pollutants from confined animal facilities include nutrients, salts, pathogens and organic solids from manure and bedding. Phosphorus is a concern from milkhouse cleaning. Milk itself, if it gets into a stream and decomposes, uses up oxygen, and bacteria growing in milk transmit diseases downstream. Surface waters can be seriously impacted, causing fish kills, anaerobic conditions, eutrophication and unsuitability for drinking, fishing or swimming. Ground water can be contaminated by nutrients and salts from manure storage areas and related runoff seeping into the ground. Silage wastes are extremely concentrated and can be toxic to plant and animal life if discharged directly. Water running from up-slope through a confined animal facility, as well as rain and snow from roofs, increases the volume of facility runoff.

While most livestock manures are applied to cropland, improperly stored or handled manure can pose a direct threat to water resources. Direct runoff from manure stockpiles, leaking or overflowing storage units and barnyards can contribute nutrients (and pathogens; see below) directly into sensitive areas.

Some common disposal practices not only threaten groundwater but also may be illegal.

It has become commonplace to think of manure as a “waste”. Regarding manures as valuable and cost-saving resources that contribute to farm fertility, rather than as a waste, may lead to improved handling and utilization. As a resource, manures applied to cropland add nutrients and organic matter to soils. But over-application of manures can contribute to water pollution because excess nutrients that are not taken up by the crop leach or runoff. So “waste management” and “nutrient management” are companions in a comprehensive management system and whole farm plan.

As with pest management and nutrient management above, developing a waste management system is the recommended first step. Such a system will address limiting discharges from confined animal facilities by identifying appropriate systems that collect solids, reduce contaminant concentration and reduce runoff. The system will also address management of stored runoff and accumulated solids by identifying an appropriate waste utilization system. Utilizing wastes to the fullest extent possible is a prudent waste management strategy as well as a potentially effective and cost-efficient nutrient management strategy. A good waste management system will include management practices for storage, handling, treatment and disposal of manure and other agricultural wastes. The aim is to minimize the potential impact of the manure-associated pollutants in both ground and surface waters. A waste management system may consist of one or more components, appropriately suited to the particular operation.

Cost effectiveness is a major concern when choosing appropriate waste management practices for a farm. Livestock operations of all sizes may need to or choose to install storage structures, which can be a costly component of a livestock enterprise. There are numerous manure storage systems available; the choice of the system will depend on the location, type and size of the farm operation, available sites and equipment, and economics.

Consider the variety of products commonly used in households and on farms: paints, solvents, oils, cleaners, wood preservatives, batteries, adhesives and pesticides. In addition, some common disposal practices not only threaten groundwater but also may be illegal.

Small, unusable amounts often wind up spilled, buried, dumped or flushed onto farm property. Minimizing the amounts of these substances used on the farm, along with practicing proper disposal practices, can reduce both health risks and the potential for groundwater contamination. Farmers and their families are generally familiar with the hazards of pesticides commonly used in the farm operation, but they may be less aware of the hazards of other chemicals that make many tasks around the home and farm easier or more efficient.

Improper use of hazardous products may cause toxic health effects. Improper storage may allow chemicals to leak, causing potentially dangerous chemical reactions, toxic health effects or groundwater contamination. Improper disposal allows these dangerous chemicals to enter directly into drinking water through surface water or groundwater.

Your drinking water is least likely to be contaminated by your hazardous wastes if you follow appropriate management procedures or dispose of wastes in any location that is off your farm site. However, proper offsite disposal practices are essential to avoid risking contamination that could affect the water supplies and health of others.

The following is a list of the BMPs that are recommended to reduce or eliminate water pollution from barnyards, manures and wastes.

Best Management Practices for Barnyard, Manure and Waste Management

A good waste management plan will include management practices for storage, handling, treatment and disposal of agricultural wastes.

a. Combined Waste Facility(s)

Definition: a structure or system for handling more than one type of waste.

Purpose: to meet environmental protection needs by maximizing efficient waste facility design. For example, milkhouse waste may be added to liquid manure or manure run-off storages that already exist. If a facility is being constructed to handle multiple storages, it must be designed to handle the total volume. Milkhouse wash water will dilute manure which makes it easier to pump. Silage leachate also may be combined with other wastes and manures.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: federal cost share may be available

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b. Diversion(s) - grass or other

Definition: a drainageway constructed across a slope to divert surface runoff.

Purpose: to divert water away from barnyard, bunker silage storage areas and other heavy use areas, preventing excessive runoff from carrying organic wastes, sediments and other pollutants to surface water bodies.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits: may facilitate barnyard maintenance by reducing surface water

Other Considerations: will require periodic maintenance to remove debris and assure stability.

c. Filter Strip

Filter strips are areas of vegetation for removing sediment, organic matter and other contaminants from runoff and wastewater.

Definition: a strip or area of vegetation for removing sediment, organic matter and other contaminants from runoff and wastewater.

Purpose: to trap organic materials from concentrated livestock areas by trapping them in the vegetative material of the filter strip. Properly located filter strips may also filter pollutants from controlled overland flow treatment of liquid wastes. Filter strips must be managed and maintained. Saturated filter strips will not function properly.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: may provide wildlife and/or beneficials habitat

Other Considerations: will require maintenance.

d. Heavy Use Area Protection(s)

Definition: installation of semi-impervious or hard impervious surfaces in heavily used areas.

Purpose: to prevent degradation and to stabilize areas intensely used by livestock, and to allow for collection, management, and utilization of animal wastes, thereby reducing migration of contaminants to surface water bodies. Grading and surfacing of heavily used areas helps protect them from erosion, trampling, rutting or other deterioration, and helps prevent the collection of pollutants. Concrete or asphalt paving will be necessary if runoff is to be collected for treatment. Compacted gravel or other earth materials may otherwise be sufficient to stabilize the ground surface. Drainage and runoff control devices and filter strips may be components of heavy use area protection.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

e. Manure Composting

Manure composting prevents water contamination by biologically treating organic wastes. The by-product of this process is a safe-to-use soil amendment.

Definition: the process of controlled and accelerated aerobic biodegradation and stabilization of livestock manures. (See also, Agricultural Composting, under Nutrient Management)

Purpose: to prevent water contamination by biologically treating organic wastes. The by-product of this process is a safe-to-use soil amendment. Composting stabilizes nutrients and reduces pathogens, making them less likely to leach into surface or ground water. Active composting usually takes place in windrows, static aerated piles or in-vessel structures. Passive “composting”, with no active effort to manage or monitor the process, is not an effective or acceptable technique for managing organic wastes high in nitrogen. Successful composting requires careful attention to: site selection and design, selection and carbon:nitrogen ratio of ingredients, moisture, temperature, timing, proper equipment and management.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance:required

Other Benefits: compost may be used on farm as a soil amendment/crop nutrient or sold commercially.

Other Considerations: needs careful management; there may be odor concerns; there may be regulatory considerations.

f. Manure Storage Facility(s)

Definition: a permanent, constructed structure for temporary storage of animal manures or other organic agricultural by-products.

Purpose: to reduce contaminant loading to surface waters by intercepting and storing polluted runoff from manure stacking areas, barnyards and feedlots. Such structures may be earthen impoundments (ponds), tanks or other facilities constructed of concrete, wood, steel, plastic or other materials. Tanks are used for liquid and slurry wastes and can be open or covered, inside or outside or beneath slotted floors. Stacking facilities are used for solids and may be open or roofed.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: federal cost share may be available.

g. Manure Storage Field Stacking Area

Manure storage facilities reduce contaminant loading to surface water by intercepting and storing polluted runoff from manure stacking areas, barnyards and feedlots.

Definition: a temporary stacking area for solid manures located in a field.

Purpose: to temporarily stockpile manure for at most six months in a location where ground and surface water will be least threatened by contamination. As a component of a waste management plan, such an area is not a substitute for a manure storage structure, but may supplement the storage volume of such a structure. A stacking area allows temporary storage, when weather or field conditions may prevent daily field application, or when waiting to spread until after crop harvest. A well designed, located and managed stacking area may help in the timely application of stored manures, thereby reducing water quality impacts; a poorly designed, sited or maintained area may cause increased water quality problems.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable; may be necessary for establishment

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: site must be carefully selected to avoid negative impacts to ground water, wetlands and other sensitive areas, and to avoid odor problems with neighbors.

h. Plan for Manure and Waste Utilization

Using animal manures or other appropriate by-products on land in an environmentally acceptable manner; maintains and improves soil and plant resources.

Definition: using animal manures or other appropriate by-products on land in an environmentally acceptable manner while maintaining or improving soil and plant resources.

Purpose: to reduce transport of sediment and other pollutants to surface waters by applying wastes to fields where they may be incorporated, allowing crops to use nutrients that might otherwise contaminate ground water. As an essential part of a manure management plan, a waste utilization plan needs to be coordinated with a nutrient management plan that determines the amount, form, placement and timing of waste applications to meet agronomic needs. Technical assistance is useful to evaluate field and other conditions to maximize utilization without compromising water quality.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

i. Roof Runoff Management(s)

Definition: a facility for collecting, controlling and disposing of runoff water from roofs.

Purpose: to prevent roof runoff water from flowing into or across concentrated waste areas, barnyards, livestock or equipment laneways or other areas where clean roof runoff could wash contaminants into surface or ground waters. Such facilities include erosion-resistant channels or subsurface drains installed along building foundations below eaves, and roof gutters and downspouts.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits: may contribute to animal health and safety

Other Considerations:

j. Sediment Basin(s)

Definition: a depression constructed to collect and store polluted runoff.

Purpose: to slow runoff that may contain animal manures. The basin may be dug or constructed as an earthen embankment. It allows solids to settle before runoff is discharged.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits: may control erosion and sediment; may enhance nutrient management

Other Considerations: basin will need periodic cleaning or dredging.

k. Silage Leachate Waste Management

Silage leachate may be land applied, alone in diluted form or mixed with manure or other wastes according to a waste utilization plan and a nutrient management plan, paying particular attention to application rates.

Definition: a planned system for collection, storage and disposal of silage wastes in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Purpose: to collect, store and dispose of silage leachate in a manner that minimizes threats to water resources. Silage leachate is an extremely strong organic waste, using up tremendous amounts of oxygen if released into water bodies or into the soil. The best strategy is to prevent or minimize the formation of silage leachate and to safely store and dispose of if any generated. Proper siting and sizing of silage facilities is the first step. Practices such as harvesting the silage at a moisture content that will not result in excessive silage leachate production, covering the silage pile to eliminate rain infiltration, and installing drains and/or diversions to separate ground water and surface water runoff from the ensiled forage are also important. A properly designed waste collection and storage system may combine silage leachate with other agricultural wastes. Leachate may be land applied, alone in diluted form, or mixed with manure or other wastes according to a waste utilization plan and a nutrient management plan, paying particular attention to application rates.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium - high

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits: may have nutrient value as soil amendment

Other Considerations: federal cost share may be available.

l. Wastewater Treatment System(s)

Definition: a planned system for biological treatment of wastewater generated in milkhouses, typically consisting of a settling tank, distribution system and treatment system.

Purpose: to reduce threats to water quality by biologically treating organic milkhouse waste. In situations where milkhouse waste is not combined with liquid manures, biological systems for treatment will reduce the amount of suspended solids, biological oxygen demand and dissolved nitrogen that may enter the water table. Such systems are not designed to include waste milk or sewage. An underground treatment system is similar to a traditional septic system. In suitable soils, organic matter treatment beds function like leach fields, using organic matter to absorb the waste.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations: regular maintenance is required; discharging milkhouse wastes into a municipal sewer should be considered; this practice may not be effective in treating the cleaning agents used to disinfect the milking system; availability and disposal of organic bedding material must be considered.

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m. Petroleum Product Storage Facility

Definition: a permanent above ground structure for the storage of petroleum products for use in farm machinery.

Purpose: to reduce contaminant loading to surface and groundwater by preventing spills and leakage. Such structures should be made of non-corrosive materials located above ground so they can be periodically examined for leakage.

Initial Cost: High

Maintenance Cost: Low

Technical Assistance: desirable for siting

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

n. Hazardous & Household Waste Management

Definition: proper use and disposal of toxic or pathogenic products as a result of domestic use around the farmstead. This includes but is not limited to sewage, paint, solvents, cleaners, preservatives, batteries, adhesives.

Purpose: to reduce the use and encourage the proper disposal of hazardous wastes. Small amounts of these materials can be hazardous to your health especially when found in the drinking water. Proper management can reduce the potential for toxic effects.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: proper use of chemicals can save money

Other Considerations: small amounts of toxic materials can be deadly to humans and animals.

5. Strategies for Livestock Grazing Management

Water quality concerns related to livestock grazing focus on potential impacts to sensitive areas such as streambanks, wetlands, estuaries, ponds and lakeshores. Sensitive areas also include the riparian zone, an extremely diverse and vital vegetated ecosystem along a water body.

Impacts to ground water, surface water bodies and the riparian zone include sedimentation, and the introduction of nutrients, pathogens and organic solids. Healthy riparian and wetland ecosystems rely, in part, on good management of the immediate areas as well as upland areas. Careful selection of grazing management systems, controlled access and vegetative stabilization practices all should be considered in the development of a grazing and pasture management plan.

A grazing management system needs to accommodate the demands of vegetation, terrain and type of livestock operation. A well-designed system supplies and improves grazing lands and facilities, develops appropriate water sources, and protects streamsides and other sensitive water resources. Well-managed pastures are stable, with suitable plantings and minimal erosion. Uncontrolled access to streams and ponds for watering may seem economical and convenient, but cost-efficient alternatives that avoid negative water quality impacts are available. Pasturing systems (for example, rotational grazing) can be designed to maximize forage opportunities while minimizing stresses on land and water systems.

The following is a list of the BMPs that are recommended to reduce or eliminate water pollution from livestock grazing.

Water quality concerns related to livestock grazing focus on potential impacts to sensitive areas such as streambanks, wetlands, estuaries, ponds, and lake shores.

Best Management Practices for Livestock Grazing Management

a. Alternative Water Supply(s)

Definition: several options for livestock watering that keep animals away from streambanks and riparian zones.

Purpose: to protect streambanks, wetlands and riparian zones from adverse impacts from livestock trampling and waste. For example, a pipeline may be installed to convey water to an upland area. A livestock pond can be excavated or constructed with a dam or embankment. A trough or tank, with devices for water control and wastewater disposal may be installed. This practice may encourage better distribution of livestock over the pasture and grazing may be better controlled. In some cases, the development of a well or spring is a positive alternative.

Initial Cost: low - high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

b. Fencing(s)

Fencing keeps animals from riparian zones and other sensitive water resources, preventing wastes from entering water bodies.

Definition: enclosing or dividing an area of land with a suitable structure that acts as a barrier to livestock.

Purpose: to keep animals from riparian zones and other sensitive water resources, to prevent wastes from entering water bodies, streambank degradation, compaction of soils and loss of vegetation in riparian zones. As part of a grazing management plan, location of fencing should take into account the fact that fencing can have the effect of concentrating animals in particular areas, such as along the fence line, where paths may become channels that concentrate and accelerate runoff. Some fencing, when installed across the slope, can serve to slow down runoff. Exclusion fencing may be accompanied by installation of properly designed and located livestock crossing across streams.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: prevention of livestock access to some areas can preserve desirable habitat and plant species.

Other Considerations: Fencing must be installed properly using appropriate materials to be effective.

c. Pasture Management

Definition: proper treatment and use of pastureland.

Purpose: to minimize adverse impacts to ground and surface water by maintaining or improving the quality and quantity of forage, protecting the soil, conserving water and optimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides on pasture. Practices include postponing grazing or resting grazing land for a prescribed period, which protects pasture areas with bare ground or little ground cover from eroding. Proper pastureland management will minimize movement of sediments from exposed soils and nutrients from manures to ground and nearby surface waters. As vegetative cover increases, the filtering processes are enhanced, trapping more silt and nutrients. Early spring grazing on wet and soft soils should be avoided. Soil testing and proper application of lime, manures and other nutrients are key to healthy pasture management.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits: may enhance crop health and vigor

Other Considerations:

d. Plan for Proper Grazing

A plan for proper grazing reduces transport of sediments and other pollutants from grazed areas by assuring a healthy and stable vegetative cover.

Definition: A plan for grazing at an intensity that will maintain enough cover to protect the soil and maintain or improve the quantity and quality of desirable vegetation.

Purpose: to reduce transport of sediments and other pollutants from grazed areas by assuring a healthy and stable vegetative cover. Overgrazed pastures result in poor plant cover and plant health, and exposed soils. Deferred grazing and rotational grazing are two practices that encourage proper grazing intensity. Pasturing animals in woodlands should be limited to areas that produce a significant amount of forage that can be harvested without damaging other forest values or creating negative impacts to ground or surface water quality. Wooded areas should be grazed at a rate that maintains adequate cover for soil protection and maintains or enhances the quantity and quality of trees and forage vegetation.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: optimum livestock health; improved forage production and quality

Other Considerations: grazing areas may be restricted by eliminating wooded and/or wet areas.

e. Prescribed Grazing (Planned Grazing System)

Definition: a practice in which two or more grazing units are alternately rested and grazed in a planned sequence.

Purpose: to decrease movement of sediments, nutrients and other substances into downstream waters by increasing the quality and quantity of vegetation in grazed areas. With a planned grazing system (e.g., the “Voisin” method, or intensive rotational grazing) livestock spend less time in each pasture or section of pasture. The vegetation helps trap manure.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: medium (for management time)

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: may yield economic savings; may increase grazing efficiency; may increase and improve quality and production of forage (including season extension); may improve flexibility in a grazing program; grass-based livestock management may decrease manure handling, decrease fertilizer use, require less machinery; may enhance wildlife habitat

Other Considerations: requires increased management; requires supplying livestock water.

f. Riparian Buffer

Definition: an established area of vegetation located next to and up-gradient of water courses, water bodies and associated wetlands.

Purpose: to maintain or improve surface water quality by removing or buffering the effects of sediment, nutrients, organic matter and some pesticides. As a grazing practice, it is most applicable in areas downslope from pastures. Management practices include protecting or establishing vegetation, installing an up-gradient filter strip, installing livestock exclusion fencing, excluding heavy equipment, and designing and installing proper livestock access and crossings. Buffer width varies depending on soil type and vegetative cover; 35 feet is considered minimum. If possible, native species should be planted/encouraged and fertilizers and pesticides should not be used.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: may enhance streambank stabilization; may improve wildlife and aquatic habitat (see also, nutrient management, pest management and erosion and sediment control)

Other Considerations: may reduce amount of active grazing land; may limit livestock access to water or shade.

g. Stream Crossing

Definition: a stabilized area to provide access across a stream for livestock; may be used for farm machinery.

Purpose: to avoid degradation of streams and streambanks from animal trampling and wastes. Properly designed and installed stream crossings minimize bank and streambed erosion, reduce sediment and enhance water quality. A crossing might be graded and stoned or might consist of a constructed bridge or a culvert.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: some stream crossings may enhance wildlife habitat

Other Considerations: may require wetlands permit.

h. Vegetative Stabilization

Vegetative stabilization practices which improve or reestablish vegetative cover on pastures reduce erosion into water bodies.

Definition: practices designed to improve or reestablish vegetative cover on pastures.

Purpose: to reduce erosion into water bodies. Such practices include seeding or reseeding stands of adapted forage species, planting vegetation such as grasses, shrubs or trees on highly erodible or critically eroding areas, brush and weed management and prescribed burning.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: desirable

Other Benefits: may enhance habitat

Other Considerations:

6. Strategies for Irrigation Management

While cranberry producers are the most significant users of irrigation water in New Jersey, other growers irrigate vegetable, fruit, nursery, greenhouse and other specialty crops. While New Jersey typically is blessed with abundant rainfall, irrigation is occasionally necessary. Chemigation, the practice of applying fertilizers and/or pesticides to crops through irrigation systems, is also used by some farmers.

The concern associated with irrigation is the potential movement of pollutants such as sediments, organic solids, pesticides, metals, microbial organisms, salts and nutrients from the land into ground and surface waters. Ground water is particularly vulnerable where coarse textured soils allow high infiltration.

Proper irrigation management will help minimize discharge of pollutants while also reducing water waste and improving water use efficiency. An irrigation management plan will include components that address irrigation scheduling practices, efficient application, proper utilization of tailwater, drainage and runoff, and backflow prevention. The first step in such a plan is the development of a water budget and water balance for the crop to be irrigated. Technical assistance may be required for these calculations.

The following is a list of the BMPs that are recommended to reduce or eliminate water pollution from crop irrigation.

Best Management Practices for Irrigation

a. Backflow Prevention(s)

A backflow prevention system prevents chemical backflow to the water source during chemigation.

Definition: a system to prevent chemical backflow to the water source during chemigation.

Purpose: to prevent contamination of a water source by installing devices that prevent chemicals from entering the irrigation water source in cases when the irrigation pump shuts down. There are several different systems used as backflow preventers such as an air gap, a check valve with vacuum relief and low pressure drain, a double check valve, a reduced pressure principal backflow preventer and an atmospheric vacuum breaker. Factors to consider when selecting a backflow prevention system are the characteristics of the chemical that can backflow, the water source and the geometry of the irrigation system.

Initial Cost: low - medium

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

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b. Efficient Irrigation System

A planned system of crop irrigation has as its goal the efficient use of water resources. Systems will vary with the type of crop grown, the soils and the topography.

Definition: a planned system of crop irrigation that has as one goal the efficient use of water resources. Systems will vary with the type of crop grown, the soils and the topography.

Purpose: to ensure efficient use and distribution, minimize runoff or deep percolation and eliminate soil erosion. Several kinds of systems, properly designed and operated, can be used. Drip or trickle irrigation is a system in which all necessary facilities are installed for efficiently applying water directly to the root zone of plants by means of applicators (e.g. porous tubing or perforated pipe) operated under low pressure. A typical trickle system has a mainline with a control head, leading to laterals placed in the field. Runoff is reduced in this system, but potential hazards to shallow ground water exist if chemigation is used.

A sprinkler irrigation system applies water by means of perforated pipes or nozzles operated above ground, under pressure. Proper management of such a system controls runoff and prevents negative impacts to downstream surface waters. Chemigation with this system allows management of nutrients, wastewater and pesticides, but poor management may cause pollution of surface and ground water. Surface and subsurface irrigation systems deliver water by surface means, such as furrows, borders, contour levees or ditches, or by subsurface means. Proper management of such systems will prevent downstream pollution associated with runoff and percolation, including elevated temperatures of receiving waters.

Initial Cost: medium - high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits: conserves water; enhances efficient delivery of fertilizer and/or pesticides (known as “fertigation”)

Other Considerations:

c. Irrigation Water Management

Definition: determining and controlling the rate, amount and timing of irrigation water in a planned and efficient manner.

Purpose: to minimize the loss of dissolved substances and sediments from the irrigation system to surface or ground water. Effective use of available irrigation water will promote the desired crop response, control water loss and protect water quality. An irrigation management plan will take into account the various and complex factors that need to be considered. The grower must know how to determine when irrigation water should be applied and how to measure or estimate the amount of water required for each irrigation. Proper scheduling requires consideration of factors such as soil properties, type of crop, its drought sensitivity and status of crop stress, stage of crop development, availability of a water supply and climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature. Proper irrigation also requires the ability to make necessary adjustments to the water stream, rate and time, and management of irrigation runoff.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: required

Other Benefits: conserves water

Other Considerations:

d. Tailwater Recovery System(s)

A tailwater recovery system collects, stores and transports irrigation tailwater for reuse in the farm irrigation distribution system.

Definition: a facility to collect, store and transport irrigation tailwater for reuse in the farm irrigation distribution system.

Purpose: to increase water efficiency and reduce potential for contamination by recovering irrigation water for reuse in irrigation or for proper disposal. Using runoff water to provide additional irrigation or to reduce the amount of water diverted increases the efficiency of irrigation water use. In a tailwater recovery facility, sediments and substances attached to them (e.g. salts, metals, soluble nutrients and pesticides) are trapped, thereby decreasing downstream impacts to water quality. Recovered water with high salt or metal content will have to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner and location.

Initial Cost: high

Maintenance Cost: medium

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits:

Other Considerations:

e. Water-measuring Device(s)

Definition: an irrigation water meter, flume, weir or other water-measuring device installed in a pipeline or ditch.

Purpose: to measure the rate of flow and/or application of water and the total amount of water applied to the field with each irrigation. Such information can assist the grower in maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of irrigation scheduling and equipment and provide data with which to consider modifications.

Initial Cost: low

Maintenance Cost: low

Technical Assistance: not required

Other Benefits: conserves water

Other Considerations:

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Chapter Notes