Q&A: How Scientific Monitoring Makes Voluntary Conservation Work

When it comes to water quality, farmers aren’t guessing. They’re using data to inform their decisions and track the progress of their work. Across the Mississippi River Basin and beyond, farmers are partnering with the USDA, universities and conservation organizations to track voluntary practices and their positive impacts. These partnerships go beyond field trials. They represent a growing national commitment to measurable progress, driven by producers and grounded in science.

Programs such as the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), edge-of-field monitoring and the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) are at the center of this effort.

What is USDA’s CEAP program?
The CEAP measures the impact of voluntary conservation practices on soil and water. It focuses on practices such as cover crops, nutrient management and reduced tillage. CEAP helps the USDA and its partners understand what's working so they can fine-tune future investments. The program was launched in 2003 and collects data at the field, regional and national levels.¹

How does monitoring happen on the farm?
Through edge-of-field monitoring, farmers partner with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local researchers to measure runoff, sediment and nutrient loss. These projects are designed as multi-year efforts to capture weather variability and cropping rotations. Researchers often compare treated fields to untreated ones to measure impact. Data is collected using automated sensors and water sampling systems.²

What are farmers learning from these efforts?
Data provides farmers with site-specific insights about when and how nutrients leave the field. That allows them to adjust fertilizer timing, placement or rates to reduce loss and protect yield. It also helps them adopt conservation strategies that fit local soil types and rainfall patterns. The goal is to be proactive, not reactive.

What happens beyond the edge of a single field?
Watershed-scale monitoring examines regional water bodies, such as streams and rivers. CEAP supports this work in 24 active watershed studies across the country.³ Researchers track the downstream impacts of multiple farms that use conservation practices. These projects help scale individual success stories into broader landscape strategies.

What is the role of the National Water Quality Initiative?
The NWQI brings technical assistance, financial support and monitoring to high-priority watersheds. Since 2012, it has helped more than 6,000 producers implement conservation practices across 1.37 million acres.⁴ Each project begins with a local water quality plan and ends with measurable outcomes.

What has been the overall effect of voluntary conservation on water quality efforts?
These programs collectively transformed conservation to evidence-driven, targeted and locally validated strategies, leading to tangible water quality improvements and more efficient conservation spending.5

Science builds trust
Voluntary conservation works because farmers are willing to test, track and improve. By investing in long-term monitoring, the ag community is proving that conservation isn’t just good stewardship — it’s strategic. When science backs the story, it’s easier to bring new partners to the table. These programs show how a voluntary approach can deliver accountability, transparency and progress at scale.

Brought to you by America’s soybean farmers.

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2023). Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) – Frequently Asked Questions. USDA NRCS. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ceap/faqs 

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2022). Ask the Expert: A Q&A on Voluntary Edge-of-Field Water Quality Monitoring with Karma Anderson

. USDA NRCS. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/water/edge-of-field-monitoring 

3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2023). Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) – Watershed Assessments. USDA NRCS. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ceap/watersheds 

4. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2024, March). National Water Quality Initiative: FY 2023 Progress Report. USDA NRCS. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/NWQI-FY-2023-Progress-%20Report.pdf 

5. U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2023, December 18). Informing Conservation Decisions and Policies through 20 Years of USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project. USDA Blog. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/informing-conservation-decisions-and-policies-through-20-years-usdas-conservation-effects-assessment