Agricultural Best Management Practices

It's just like what our tagline says - "we work with people who work the land". In the Lord Fairfax SWCD, a majority of our land is agricultural, giving LFSWCD a great opportunity to work with farmers and producers to implement conservation practices on their operations.

District staff work directly with individual landowners to recommend, design and plan conservation practices that can protect natural resources and help improve overall management and profitability.

LFSWCD provides financial incentives, including cost-share and tax credits,
to implement conservation practices on a variety of operations.

your farm may be eligible
for cost-share assistance.

The Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District (LFSWCD) accepts signups for the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices incentives program year round. Currently, new applications are being accepted for cost-share and tax credit; assistance availability may change during the fiscal year which runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

This program offers incentive payments for farmers and landowners to install conservation programs on their farms. The Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices (Ag-BMPs) Cost-Share Program (VAC), which pays up to 75% of the installation costs (up to $300,000) for approved conservation plans, is administered by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and facilitated by your local SWCD.

The purpose of the program is to improve water quality in the state’s streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. The program encourages the voluntary installation of Ag-BMPs to meet Virginia’s non-point source pollution water quality objectives. Farmers in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren County should contact the LFSWCD office to schedule a farm visit and sign up for conservation programs they may be interested in. You may speak to any of our conservation technicians by calling 540-465-2424 ext 5.

Over 70 different Ag-BMPs are eligible for cost-share and/or tax credit within the VACS program. A few of these practices are highlighted below: