Keeping nutrients such as phosphorus on the land where crops can use them is key to reducing phosphorus loads into the Thames and, by extension, into Lake Erie. Agricultural best management practices, or BMPs, are practical, cost-effective approaches to conserving a farm’s soil and water resources and protecting water quality. Some examples of BMPs include:

• developing a nutrient management plan
• installing fencing to keep livestock out of streams
• planting trees and shrubs to retire fragile land, create a riparian buffer, or provide a field windbreak
• installing erosion control structures such as berms or grass waterways
• bioengineering to prevent streambank erosion and improve aquatic habitat
• ensuring fertilizers, chemicals and fuel are stored and handled properly
• maintaining septic systems
• decommissioning unused wells
• conserving woodlands and wetlands

Agricultural BMPs will be an essential component of meeting the phosphorus reduction target for the Thames.