Sustainable Farming Best Practices
We’re proud to work with farmers who strive to keep our rivers clean. North Carolina’s Riverkeepers are interested in supporting your sustainability efforts and hearing how you’re making your farm more sustainable.
Access a map of sustainable farmers near you:
https://waterkeeper.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=5c7390bf74df4a47b9c9ca7837585d56
Below is a list of best practices for sustainable farming.
Vegetative Buffers - Buffers with vegetation at least 3-4 inches tall along surface waters and wellheads of no less than 25 feet. Buffers should slow the movement of water over the soil or field surface and stop soil particle and nutrient movement.
Stream Protection/Fencing and Stream Restoration - Livestock should be fenced out of streams, ditches, and ponds that drain to streams. Restore banks or edges of streams that have been degraded by grazing animals, and improve degraded stream crossings and watering points.
Runoff Capture and Recycling - Runoff from farmyards or fields should be captured and recycled on the farm.
Feed, Forage, Barnyard Manure and Agri-Chemical Storage and Handling - Feeds, forages, fertilizers, and stored manures should be covered and protected from precipitation, runoff, and flooding.
Minimize Nutrient Imports - Optimize nutrient cycling and limit feed imports to the farm. Calculate your farm’s nutrient budget.
Pasturing or Loose-Housed Deep-Bedded Barns - Livestock/cattle/swine/poultry are on pastures with live/growing vegetation or are loose-housed at low density in a roofed structure or barn with bedding to absorb nutrients and facilitate composting.
Managed or “Holistic” Grazing - Pasture management should maintain 3-4 inches or taller of vegetative cover over more than 95 percent of the pasture area at any time. Avoid overgrazing.
Manure Management Plan - Farms should have, and follow, a waste management plan to manage, recycle and utilize manure and nutrients effectively; never exceeding recommended NCDA agronomic rates for any nutrient.
Manure Spreading/Dispersal - Accumulated manure, and bedding or compound fertilizers, should be applied to growing vegetation without exceeding recommended soil levels for nitrogen and phosphorus. Waste should not be spread within 48 hours of precipitation.
Avoid Erosion - Use no-till or minimal-till or reduced or strip tillage to reduce erosion and build organic soil matter, water retention and drainage.
