Extract: The most frequently used conservation practices in the Southeast are terracing, sod waterways, permanent vegetative cover crops, and conservation tillage. Costs of terracing per acre ranged from $125 in Kentucky to $17 in South Carolina. Sod waterway costs ranged from $1,854 in Kentucky to $858 in Tennessee. Permanent vegetative cover costs ranged from a high of $121 in South Carolina to a low of $73 in North Carolina. Conservation tillage costs ranged from a high of $48 per acre in Florida to a low of $9 in Tennessee.

Nutrients from livestock and poultry manure are key sources of water pollution. Ever-growing numbers of animals per farm and per acre have increased the risk of water pollution. New Clean Water Act regulations compel the largest confined animal producers to meet nutrient application standards when applying manure to the land, and USDA encourages all animal feeding operations to do the same. The additional costs for managing manure (such as hauling manure off the farm) have implications for feedgrain producers and consumers as well. This report's farm-level analysis examines on-farm technical choice and producer costs across major U.S. production areas for hauling manure to the minimum amount of land needed to assimilate manure nutrients. A regional analysis then focuses on off-farm competition for land to spread surplus manure, using the Chesapeake Bay region as a case study. Finally, a sectorwide analysis addresses potential long-term structural adjustments at the national level and ultimate costs to consumers and producers.