WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its 2022 Watersheds report, providing insights into farm operations based on watershed boundaries.

Part of the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, the report offers a detailed look into U.S. farms, land use, fertilizer and chemical application and specific commodities segmented by watersheds. As another way to analyze agricultural data, this granular approach helps examine the potential impact of agriculture on watersheds. It also tracks the progress the agriculture industry has made toward achieving water quality goals. This data also can aid in decision-making about policies, grants and programs related to agriculture and conservation management.

“Publications like Watersheds augment the already expansive collection of data from the census of agriculture,” said NASS administrator Joseph Parsons. “The Watersheds publication provides agricultural and environmental data users with a novel way to examine and compare ag census data, in addition to the nationwide, state, county and congressional district-level data NASS provided earlier this year.”

Farmers voluntarily implement conservation and sustainable practices like no-till, reduced till and nutrient management to protect waterways. According to the report, the U.S. saw an almost 8% increase in no-till and a 5% increase in reduced-till practices among farmers from 2017 to 2022.

Additionally, the report indicated the number of farmland acres treated with commercial fertilizers, lime and soil conditioners declined nationally by over 16 million acres between 2017 and 2022.

Virginia has land in three USDA watershed regions: the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic-Gulf, and Ohio, with most of the state in the Mid-Atlantic watershed region. The number of farms practicing no-till and reduced-till practices in this region increased slightly between 2017 and 2022, and the use of commercial fertilizers, lime and soil conditioners decreased by over 327,000 acres, or 6%.

While the numbers reflect the number of farms and farmland acres lost during this period, it also shows the implementation of conservation practices that Virginia farmers use.

“This report demonstrates that when given the resources, farmers take advantage of voluntary incentive programs through USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service,” said Martha Moore, senior vice president of governmental relations for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “In addition to the no till and reduced till, Virginia farmers also are appreciative of Virginia providing additional incentive programs for a suite of conservation practices through their local soil and water conservation districts. Farmers are working hard to take advantage of this help to prevent the loss of nutrients into Virginia’s waterways.”

The report also found that farmers in the Mid-Atlantic watershed region applied manure to 1.7 million acres in 2022, down from nearly 2 million acres in 2017. Pesticide use showed a steep 26% decline, going from 2.5 million acres in 2017 to 1.8 million acres in 2022.

To view the full report, visit bit.ly/4cOfAXL.

Media: Contact NASS at nass-media@usda.gov or Moore at 804-347-5752.