Overview

This Policy Note outlines how the environmental performance of agricultural BMPs can be estimated, and what steps are necessary for improving these estimations--both important elements for effectively allocating conservation funding. This Policy Note sets forth the following recommendations:

• Standardize estimation methodologies to quantify the environmental outcomes of agricultural best management practices.

• Conduct site-specific assessments of environmental performance through programs such as the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) to:
• Increase site-specific research on estimating environmental outcomes and environmental co-benefits;
• Establish a monitoring framework to validate estimation methodologies and test their accuracy; and
• Create a central repository to provide access to estimation methodologies and monitoring data.

• Utilize online tools to make standardized estimation methodologies widely available.