ACPF: 1. Developing Multipractice Watershed Planning Scenarios and Assessing Nutrient Reduction Potential

This paper introduces the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF), a geospatial method for identifying and evaluating where to place multiple conservation practices to lower nutrient loss in small Midwestern agricultural watersheds. Using high-resolution spatial data, such as soil, land use, and lidar-derived topography, the framework automates the process of finding suitable locations for conservation measures like cover crops, grassed waterways, controlled drainage, wetlands, and saturated buffers. The authors demonstrate the method in two different watersheds (Beaver Creek, Iowa, and Lime Creek, Illinois), creating planning scenarios and using a spreadsheet tool to estimate if various practice combinations can reach the targeted 40% nitrate reduction for Gulf hypoxia mitigation. The results suggest that strategic combinations of practices, particularly wetlands and cover crops, can fulfill nutrient reduction goals while taking less than 5% of cropland out of production, highlighting the framework's potential to support efficient, data-driven watershed conservation planning.