Farm Conservation Practices
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There are many beneficial ways to conserve resources on your farm.
And we can help, with science-based assessments and management options that help improve yields.
Agricultural Water Quality
Want more information on agricultural water quality?
Clean water is essential for wildlife and our community
To protect water quality from agricultural activities, Oregon has established Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plans. In East Multnomah County, we have plans for the Lower Willamette Basin and the Sandy Sub-basin.
Key water quality concerns in Multnomah County include:
- Soil Erosion – Prevent soil from washing into waterways.
- Nutrient Runoff – Manage manure and fertilizers to avoid excess that can cause harmful algae blooms and drinking water pollution.
- Water Temperature – Create and maintain shade along waterways to protect salmon species by keeping temperatures down.
- Pesticides – Apply properly to prevent harm to humans, animals, and water bodies via drift or erosion.
- Bacteria – Prevent manure from running off to ditches and creeks that could impact you or your neighbors.
Healthy soil is more productive, has better drainage, holds on to nutrients, resists erosion, and has better water holding capacity.
Key practices for maintaining healthy soil include:
- Minimize soil disturbance
- Increase biodiversity
- Keep the soil covered with plant matter
- Enhance plant diversity
Soil Fertility
A crucial first step in planning is understanding what’s happening below the surface. Analyzing your soil’s nutrient content, pH, and organic matter levels is essential for achieving your farming goals.
Begin with a soil test to gauge soil health and determine the right type and quantity of fertilizer needed. This assessment can enhance yields, improve water-holding capacity, and boost resilience to climate variability, leading to better productivity and sustainability in your farming practices.
Erosion Prevention
Some soil erosion (soil movement off the field) is natural, but accelerated erosion is not, and it’s preventable.
Get to know your soil type to better understand how your soil is going to act under changing environmental conditions and farm-use scenarios. The Web Soil Survey is a great place to start.
Excessive erosion reduces the productivity of agricultural soils by removing topsoil, carries pollutants into streams, plugs road ditches, and degrades fish habitat. Economically and environmentally, it pays to keep soil in place. Everyone lives downstream of someone else.
Below is a brief sampling of conservation practices that can be used to prevent erosion. These practices are more effective when used in combination.
Filter strips and buffers
Slow down water speed, filter pollutants, and trap sediment with filter strips and buffers. Grass filter strips are effective on slopes less than 10 percent. Streamside plantings of native trees and shrubs protect streams and can be anywhere from 40 to 300 feet wide, based on site conditions and stream width.
Grassed waterways
Flat-bottomed channels planted with grass are designed to slow water down to prevent gulley formation. Farm equipment can drive over the side slopes during the dry season. Waterways may need to be combined with rock linings or drop structures on steep slopes.
Conservation tillage
Reduces the amount of tillage and leaves at least 30 percent cover from crop residue after harvest and during winter months. Soil loss is reduced by 50 percent compared to bare soil.
Contour farming
By running rows across the slope rather than up and down, crop rows create small dams that slow water and can cut soil loss by up to 50 percent.
Cover crops
These temporarily protect the soil until your main crop is planted. Cover crops also add organic matter and reduce weed growth.
- Download this free book from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) for more details:
Managing Cover Crops Profitably - This OSU Extension booklet contains guidance on selecting and descriptions of cover crops used in Oregon: Guide to Growing Cover Crops
Suggestions for Cover Crops in Western Oregon
| Summer Cover | Planting timing | Rate, lbs/A drilled | Rate, lbs/A broadcast | Seeding Depth | Incorporate |
| Sudan Grass | Min. 65 F soil temp | 20-40 | 30-50 | 1” | Let winter kill |
| Buckwheat | Min. 55 F soil temp | 40-50 | 60-80 | ½-1 | Before flower |
| Winter Cover | Planting timing | Rate, lbs/A drilled | Rate, lbs/A broadcast | Seeding Depth | Incorporate |
| Cereal Rye | By 11/1 | 60-100 | 90-160 | ¾ -2” | At 18-24” |
| Winter Wheat | By 10/15 | 70-100 | 100-150 | ½-1½ | At 18-24” |
| Crimson clover | By 10/1 | 15-25 | 25-30 | ½-¾” | Before or at flower |
| Red Clover | 9/15-10/7 | 15-20 | 20-30 | ¼-½ | Before or at flower |
| Common Vetch | 9/15-10/15 | 60-75 | 75-90 | ¼-1” | Before flower |
| Hairy Vetch | 9/15-10/15 | 25-40 | 40-60 | ¾-1½“ | Before flower |
| Field pea | By 9/15 | 70-100 | 90-160 | 1-2” | Before or at flower |
Irrigation Efficiency
Want more information on irrigation efficiency?
By increasing the efficiency of your irrigation system, you can save on water and energy costs.
Additionally, effective management techniques, such as irrigation scheduling and soil moisture monitoring, can save time, water, and money while potentially boosting crop yields.
Irrigation Scheduling
Good irrigation scheduling means applying the right amount of water at the right time. Scheduling maximizes irrigation efficiency by minimizing runoff and percolation losses. It also results in lower energy and water use, maximizes the effectiveness of fertilizers, and produces optimum crop yields. You want to replace water losses from the Evapotranspiration Rate (ET) for your area over a given number of days.
Soil moisture monitoring
Pairing scheduling and soil moisture monitoring together will paint a more complete picture of what is happening in the soil and allow you to make informed decisions on irrigating your crops. Irrigation scheduling is enhanced by monitoring soil moisture. By tracking daily evaporation rates, you can establish an Allowable Depletion rate (MAD), which indicates how much water plants need before experiencing stress or yield loss. Installing a soil moisture sensor in your crop row allows you to determine the MAD for your crop, enabling irrigation based on plant needs rather than just ET.
Livestock Manure and Mud Management
Want more information on managing mud and manure?
We can help you plan for and address the most common livestock challenges.
A 1,000-pound horse or cow can produce about 50 pounds of manure daily, making manure management a challenge on many properties. Proper management converts manure into a valuable nutrient source for pastures and gardens.
Practices for transforming waste into a valuable fertilizer source:
- Pick the right location. Place the manure pile in a dry, flat area, away from downspouts, ditches, streams, rivers, wetlands, ponds, and the property line.
- Keep it covered. This is crucial for protecting water quality. Uncovered manure can wash into local streams and rivers, carrying bacteria and nutrients.
- Compost. Composting reduces odor, saves space and creates a fertilizer source for other areas of your farm.
- Manure Composting – To Aerate or Not to Aerate – that is the question.
- Whether you choose static piles that rely on natural air circulation or aerated piles that use fans and perforated pipes, both methods require space, time, and infrastructure, each with pros and cons.
- Heavy use area. Designate a “heavy use area” where animals can be kept, to protect pastures during wet conditions or while plants are recovering from grazing.
- Share manure! Visit our Manure Connection page to find folks who are looking for manure to use in their gardens.
Pasture Management
Want more information on pasture management?
Pasture management balances livestock type and numbers, quantity and quality of forage, and water for a healthy farm income and environment.
Pastures with at least 70 percent plant cover typically have little erosion and produce more forage.
Why Manage Grazing?
- Increases forage production and saves $$$
- Improves forage quality
- Reduces erosion and compaction
- Reduces weed pressure
Keys to good grazing
- Ensure a healthy balance of soil nutrients in your pasture.
- Manage timing of grazing. Ensure grazing only occurs when grass is above 6 inches.
- Manage duration of grazing. Don’t allow grass to be grazed below 3 inches.
- Rest pastures. Allow plants to recover and regrow between grazing.
Keep in mind that livestock do not graze evenly. They take preferred plants first, then move on. It’s important that you are monitoring the paddocks and moving animals when most of the paddock hits 3-4 inches height (which is just about the height of a horse hoof).
Get help and request a site visit.
Contact Jeremy Baker, Senior Rural Conservationist:
