Profitable Conservation Around Margins: Integrating edge-of-field practices into production systems to deliver economic and conservation outcomes
This report demonstrates how edge of field (EoF) practices—such as vegetative buffers, wetlands, and saturated buffers—can help farmers improve profitability while delivering critical environmental benefits. The report identified unique areas where implementing EoF practices would deliver the greatest combined benefits for ecosystems and farm profitability, including significant opportunities in the Chesapeake Bay and Midwest regions. These acres are considered “low-hanging fruit” for future engagement because targeted EoF practices there can reduce nutrient runoff, improve soil health, and create wildlife habitat—while supporting farm efficiency and resilience.
Subject Tags
- Agriculture
Findings
The report’s findings show that water quality benefits are well-documented with practices like riparian buffers and wetlands that significantly reduce nitrate and phosphorus runoff. These improvements help safeguard drinking water and aquatic ecosystems while reducing downstream pollution. However, adoption remains limited.
The research also highlights that modest additional incentives—beyond existing federal and state programs—could enable greater adoption of EoF practices, especially when tailored to local economic and social contexts. Farmers interviewed for the study emphasized that profitability and ease of management are key drivers of adoption, leading researchers to offer several ideas for how to better align EoF practices and incentive opportunities with farmers’ needs, toward making these practices a practical solution rather than a trade-off.
Why This Matters
Regenerative agriculture is a whole system farming approach that restores soil health, protects water and sustains biodiversity while producing food, feed and fiber. EoF practices such as conservation buffers and wetlands are a cornerstone of this approach. By utilizing marginal lands to provide environmental outcomes farmers can make every acre profitable and maximize the productivity of their farms.
“Edge-of-field practices when considered as part of the whole farming operation provide a solution for what farmer’s defined as marginal lands ,” said Amy Jacobs, Chesapeake Bay program director and project lead for The Nature Conservancy. “By implementing EoF practices on marginal lands and connecting farmers with funding to pay for the environmental benefits provided, we can improve water quality and biodiversity while helping producers increase the profitability of their operation by making every acre more productive.”
Media Contacts
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Christine Griffiths
Associate DIr Communications, Marketing
The Nature Conservancy
Email: cgriffiths@TNC.ORG -
Amy Jacobs
Chesapeake Bay Program Director, Maryland and District of Columbia
The Nature Conservancy
Email: ajacobs@tnc.org