Dear Friend,

We are in your inbox today to pass along a survey from our friends at Virginia’s Voluntary Agricultural Best Management Practices Task Force:

"Virginia is embarking on a survey to help us learn more about voluntary conservation practices on Virginia farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed…like yours! The information you provide in response to the survey will help Virginia tell the story of what farmers are doing to conserve soil and improve water quality. This is incredibly important information that can help agriculture achieve its water quality goals for the Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay.

This survey was crafted over many months by members of Virginia’s Voluntary Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMP) Task Force. Task force members worked closely together and include representatives from the: Virginia Agribusiness Council, Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Virginia Department of Forestry, Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District, Environmental Protection Agency, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Office of the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Survey and Evaluation Research Lab, among other partners.

Your privacy is very important to us. When completing this survey please know that your responses will be kept completely confidential and your results will never be associated with your name or location information. Results from all survey responses will be combined at a county scale and provided to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to document the practices that Virginia farmers are doing to conserve soil and water and protect water quality. Ten percent of the participants in this inventory will be randomly selected by Virginia Cooperative Extension for farm visits with the help of your local Soil and Water Conservation District to assess the accuracy of the overall inventory. The data from the survey and farm visits will not include names or locations of participants. Please note that, if your farm is selected for a visit, you will be contacted in advance and asked for permission.

Please answer each question the best you know how. You will be able to more quickly and completely answer the survey questions if you have copies of your nutrient management plan(s) and any BMP contracts with you.

Please complete the survey by June 30, 2026. The survey link and answers to frequently asked questions can be found on the survey website located here: https://vaswcd.org/virginia-farm-voluntary-agricultural-bmp-inventory. If you need help completing the survey, please contact your Extension agent or participating Soil and Water Conservation District office.

We sincerely appreciate your time and effort with this survey and the hard work you do every day to be stewards of the land and provide Virginians and others with a safe and stable food supply."