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NRCS reviews and periodically updates conservation practice standards. To obtain the current 

version of this standard, contact your Natural Resources Conservation Service State office or 

visit the Field Office Technical Guide online by going to the NRCS website at 

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ and type FOTG in the search field. 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Natural Resources Conservation Service 

CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARD 

PEST MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION SYSTEM 

CODE 595 

(ac)

DEFINITION 

A system that combines an integrated pest management (IPM) decision-making process with natural

resource conservation to address pest and environmental impacts. 

PURPOSE 

This practice is used to accomplish one or more of the following purposes: 

• Reduce plant pest pressure 

• Reduce injury to beneficial organisms 

• Reduce transport of pesticides to surface and ground water 

• Reduce emissions of particulate matter (PM) and PM precursors (chemical droplet drift) 

• Reduce emissions of ozone precursors (pesticide volatilizations) 

CONDITIONS WHERE PRACTICE APPLIES 

On lands where pests are managed. 

CRITERIA 

General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes 

Use LGU or science-based IPM professionally accepted resources to develop a pest management

conservation system (PMCS) based on prevention, avoidance, monitoring, and suppression (PAMS)

strategies. 

Adapt the IPM system for the specific crop or crop rotation in a specific location and adhere to applicable

elements and guidelines of LGU standards. Where LGU standards are not available, use science-based

standards appropriate for the crop and the region. 

Identify target pests including plants, insects, and pathogens. Obtain information on their life cycles and

natural enemies in the impacted area. 

Evaluate and document the PAMS techniques chosen for the PMCS in the crop systems. 

When choosing tillage or soil incorporation activities, evaluate impacts with the current NRCS wind and

water erosion prediction technologies to plan systems that will address any resulting soil erosion resource

concerns. 

Document all activities and resources used to avoid development and to manage for pest resistance. 
Additional Criteria to Reduce/Discontinue Use of. or Mitigate for Effects of. Pest Management Activities That May Create Environmental Impacts to Water, Animal, or Air Natural Resources 

When pesticides are part of a PMCS, use the current version of the pesticide risk assessment tool

(Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN- PST)) to evaluate site-specific water quality impacts associated

with chosen pesticides. WIN-PST uses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data for labeled pesticides

and USDA Soil Survey, as well as locally observed soil properties to predict pesticide movement through

one of three pesticide loss pathways. They are— 

• Leaching. 

• Solution runoff. 

• Soil adsorbed runoff (pesticides adsorbed to soil carried in surface runoff water). 

Determine if any pesticides considered for use in the planned area pose potential impacts to humans or

fish, and their associated potential loss pathways. 

Use the following technical notes to evaluate current or planned techniques and existing or planned

conservation practices’ mitigation value. Plan additional techniques to further mitigate at least one

resource concern such as, but not limited to, water quality, beneficial organism habitat, etc. 

• Agronomy Technical Note 5 (Title 190), “Pest Management in the Conservation Planning Process” 

• Table 1—“IPM techniques for reducing pesticide environmental risk” 

• Table 2—“Conservation practices for reducing pesticide environment risk” 

• Agronomy Technical Note 9 (Title 190), “Preventing or Mitigating Potential Negative Impacts of

Pesticides on Pollinators Using Integrated Pest Management and Other Conservation Practices” 

• Table 2—“Risk Mitigation Practices and Techniques for Pollinator Protection Within Treatment

Areas.” 

• Table 3—“Risk Mitigation Practices and Techniques for Pollinator Protection Outside Treatment

Areas.” 

CONSIDERATIONS 

IPM guidelines from the LGU or extension service may be supplemented with information from

appropriately certified professionals including extension specialists, certified crop advisers, technical

service providers, etc. 

Support naturally occurring beneficial organisms, particularly when they are included as a pest control

strategy. Use an appropriate habitat assessment tool to evaluate the availability of adequate larval and

adult habitat for predator and parasitoid species of the target pests. 

Improving the habitat for beneficial insects may include hedgerows and conservation cover plantings on

adjacent land, and practices within the crop field such as crop rotation, intercropping, cover crops, and

mulching. 

On cropland, diverse crop rotations are an effective means to minimize the development of pest pressures

from weeds, insects, diseases, and nematodes. 

Adequate plant nutrients and soil moisture, including favorable soil pH and healthy soil, can reduce plant

stress, improve plant vigor, and increase the plant’s overall ability to tolerate pests. 

Design water management to avoid conditions conducive to disease development and minimize offsite

contaminant movement. Poor soil drainage may increase soil-borne diseases that thrive in moist

conditions (e.g., many root rot diseases). 

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Tillage for weed control and other physical soil disturbance reduces the presence of mycorrhizal fungi and

soil organic matter (i.e., carbon loss to the atmosphere) content which have benefits for both soil and plant

health. 

When providing technical assistance to organic producers, follow USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

National Organic Program standards including, but not limited to— 

• Improving soil health. 

• A diverse crop rotation that reduces habitat for major pests and increases habitat for natural

enemies. 

• Creating beneficial organism habitat. 

• Planting of locally adapted, pest-resistant crop cultivars. 

Resistance management techniques including but not limited to— 

• Rotating crops to disrupt the host plant/pest cycle and reduce the use of the same pesticides

season after season. 

• Managing the soil and crop/plant residue to maximize conservation goals and beneficial organisms

while reducing pest populations. 

• Planting certified (or tested by a certified lab) crop, cover crop, and pollinator habitat seed to reduce

introduction of new weed pests. 

• Manage the soil seedbank by reducing seed inputs and manage the soil and crop environment to

lessen the probability of weed establishment and to enhance seed decay and predation. 

• Using grazing animals in some cases to reduce (some) weed populations. 

• If available, using scientifically verified methods to sample pest populations and correlating them to

economic estimates of crop damage before applying pesticides. 

• Timing chemical applications when the most susceptible life stage of the pest is present for the

pesticide selected (e.g., adult emergence as detected in monitoring traps, or using degree day

models to predict egg deposition or larval emergence, or using preventive fungicide applications

when weather models predict conditions appear to be conducive to disease development). 

• Scouting before and after pesticide application to correctly identify the pest and to determine if the

application provided effective control. 

• Monitoring for favorable environmental conditions in the development of a given pest, such as with

a validated weather forecasting model for temperature relative humidity and rainfall (if applicable)

that could favor disease development. 

• Managing the crop according to recommendations from local IPM advisors for the location to

promote overall crop vigor, resilience, and competitiveness. 

• If thresholds are not available for a pest, then providing general decision-making guidelines for

each typical pest to assist determining when treatment is warranted. 

• Rotating or tank mixing products with different modes of action (MOA) based on consultation with

IPM experts. 

PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS 

Prepare a plan for each crop and record the information in an implementation requirements document or

equivalent. Include the recommendations of the LGU or science-based resources. 

The PMCS for each crop must include— 

• Plan and soils map where implementing the practice, if applicable (use conservation plan maps if

available). 

• Location of sensitive resources and setbacks. 

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• Identification of resource concerns used to guide development of the system. 

• List by crop or cropping system to include— 

• The specific pests (weeds, insects, and disease-causing pathogens) of concern either identified

on the planned acres or have a historical presence in the area or State. 

• The prevention and avoidance activities planned to reduce pest pressures. 

• The schedule for monitoring and scouting for each typical pest that can cause economic loss or

environmental degradation associated with the land use, crop, or plant community. 

• Description of thresholds or methods to determine a threshold before treatment is

warranted. 

• If thresholds are not available for a pest, then provide general decision-making guidelines

for each typical pest to assist determining when treatment is warranted. 

• Suppression techniques for identified pests. 

• Completed implementation requirements documentation. 

• Results of an evaluation of the IPM plan as implemented, noting efficacy of methods employed for

control of target insect, nematode, disease, and weed pest. 

• When addressing additional criteria include environmental impact analysis including WIN-PST

report for all pesticides identified as suppression alternatives in the Pest Management Conservation

System Plan. Where mulitple soil types are present, include a WIN-PST run for each signficant

soil/pesticide combination. 

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 

• Develop an operation and maintenance (O&M) plan that is consistent with the purposes of the

practice, its intended life, safety requirements, and the criteria for its design. 

• Producers and applicators are responsible for following all pesticide label restrictions and

instructions and complying with all applicable Federal, State, and local regulations. 

• At a minimum, plans must be reviewed and revised as needed, when crops, pest pressure, or

management options change. 

• Maintain records for at least the year in which practice implemented and 1 year after for

conservation planning purposes. Records of the use of federally restricted use pesticides (RUPs)

are required for at least 2 years. Pesticide application records shall be in accordance with USDA

Agricultural Marketing Service’s Pesticide Recording Keeping Program (see

https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/pesticide-records), and any State and local

requirements. 

REFERENCES 

USDA NRCS. 2014. Agronomy Technical Note No. 5 (Title 190). Pest Management in the Conservation

Planning Process. Washington, D.C.

https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=35618.wba

USDA NRCS. 2014. Agronomy Technical Note 9 (Title 190). Preventing or Mitigating Potential Negative

Impacts of Pesticides on Pollinators Using Integrated Pest Management and Other Conservation

Practices. Washington, D.C.

http://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=34828.wba.

USDA NRCS. 2011. National Agronomy Manual, Part 503, Section 503D, Integrated Pest Management.

Washington, D.C. https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=29608.wba.

USDA NRCS. 2009. General Manual (Title 190), Part 404, Pest Management Policy. Washington, D.C.

http://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/RollupViewer.aspx?hid=17015.

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USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Organic Regulations. Washington, D.C.

https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic.

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Beneficial Insect Habitat Assessment Form and Guide.

Portland, OR. (http://www.xerces.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/07/HAG_BeneficialInsects_June2015_web.pdf). 

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. 2016. Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects: Guidelines for

Conservation Biological Control. Portland, OR. (http://xerces.org/habitat-planning-for-beneficial-insects/). 

Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. 2017. Crop Protection Contributions Toward Agricultural

Productivity, Issue paper no. 58. Ames, IA. Go to http://www.cast-science.org/publications/ and search for

document title. 

National Roadmap for Integrated Pest Management. 2018.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/OPMP/IPM%20Road%20Map%20Final.pdf

USDA Regional IPM Centers. A national umbrella site for the regional IPM centers.

https://www.ipmcenters.org/index.cfm/

University of California Integrated Pest Management program. Davis, CA. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/.

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program, National List of Allowed and Prohibited

Substances. Washington, D.C. www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/national-list.

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