Location: Soil and Water Management Research
Project Number: 5062-12130-008-052-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Sep 1, 2030
Objective:
Expand the development and delivery of ACPF (Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework) databases and develop new functionality for the ACPF toolbox to be applied to new regions.
Approach:
Guidance for Adapting ACPF to Different Landscapes:
Appropriate application of the ACPF toolbox to regions outside the Midwestern United States first requires an understanding of the resource concerns and corresponding conservation practices shown to be effective in these regions. Literature reviews, stakeholder engagement, and an examination of priority watershed plans will provide a structured approach for the identification of new conservation practices and to develop technical guidance for the development and evaluation of new ACPF tools.
Improved Evaluation of Water Storage Opportunities:
New approaches for water storage practices will be developed to identify water storage opportunities in regions with minimal topography such as the California Central Valley and rice- growing regions of the Mississippi Delta.
Expanding Spatial Databases for Use by other Conservation Professionals:
Spatial databases that underly the ACPF toolbox have value in supporting a wide range of conservation efforts. As the science evolves and new tools are developed, the ACPF core data structure will need to be updated to meet the needs of new applications. This project will work closely with the ACPF HUB to maintain and update the core ACPF data structure enabling spatial datasets to become available to a wide range of users. Use of the ACPF database for conservation applications outside of traditional ACPF workflows will be supported, documented, and shared as a replicable process.
Improved Manure Application Budgets:
The ManureMap toolbox will be enhanced to account for sub-county variability in crop nutrient needs. This will result in more realistic nutrient budgets for agricultural landscapes as well as increase the value of this tool for addressing issues of legacy N and P.