Summary Integrating Buffers with BMP's Types of Buffers Maintenance Conservation buffers can be used in a systems approach to help manage soils, water, nutrients, and pesticides for sustainable agricultural production which minimizes environmental impact. Buffers have long been a staple in conservation systems designed to prevent erosion and trap sediment and nutrients from field runoff. They also provide other benefits such as wildlife habitat improvement, streambank protection, and farming safety. Many studies have been conducted to document these benefits and to provide guidance in designing buffers for these purposes. Rainfall or irrigation can cause pesticides to run off the surface of treated fields.
Losses are greatest when severe rainstorms occur soon after pesticide application.
Until recently, few studies had been conducted to measure the effectiveness of buffers in trapping pesticides in runoff. Physical properties of pesticides affect their behavior and transport. Some pesticides are highly adsorbed to soil particles and are carried primarily adsorbed to eroded sediment. Trapping of these pesticides by buffers should be very similar to sediment trapping. However, some pesticides are only moderately adsorbed to soil particles, and are carried off fields primarily dissolved in water.