Innovation in Agricultural Conservation in Chesapeake Bay: Evaluating Progress and Addressing Future Challenges

It is now apparent that restoring the Chesapeake Bay will require nutrient and sediment reductions far beyond those currently achieved. The Chesapeake Bay Program recently agreed to new capped loads of 175 million pounds per year of nitrogen and 12.8 million pounds per year of phosphorus delivered to the Chesapeake Bay. Watershed farmers have been leaders in implementing conservation and nutrient management plans and other traditional conservation technologies. However, all sources of nutrients and sediments to Chesapeake Bay, including agriculture, will need to achieve major additional reductions while assuring that reductions from current practices are realized and maintained. Developing meaningful strategies to meet these goals will require scientific assessment of current, emerging and potential practices, programs and policies to assure that all opportunities for reductions are realized. This forum will brought together leading experts on various aspects of agricultural nutrient pollution control to discuss current, emerging and future practices, technologies and policies that can help achieve needed reductions within a sustainable agricultural system. Speakers provided their vision for innovation based on recent, emerging and future innovation while discussion among scientists, engineers, and economists broadened and diversified the vision. The forum also included discussion of factors that influence adoption of innovation and policies and approaches to implementing innovation.