The agricultural best management practices below include a range of different activities that reduce or eliminate soil loss, prevent runoff, and provide for the proper application rates of nutrients to cropland.

Best practices for agricultural management:
 - Vegetated buffer strips at the edge of crop fields
 - Conservation tillage: any tillage planting system that leaves at least 30 percent of the field surface covered with crop residue after planting is completed and involves reduced or minimum tillage. 
 - Strip cropping: a technique in which alternate strips of row crop or small grain and hay are planted in the same field. There are three main types: contour strip cropping, field strip cropping and buffer strip cropping.  
 - Animal waste management: This includes state of the art animal waste management systems, such as manure storage structures, runoff controls for barnyards, guttering and nutrient management. These systems address the handling, storage, transport and utilization of animal waste as fertilizer on cropland.
 - Diversion
 - Waterways
 - Soil conservation and water quality planning
 - Nutrient management planning
 - Stream bank fencing

For more information on agriculture conservation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed:
 - Chesapeake Bay Program
 - Environmental Protection Agency
 - United States Department of Agriculture