Leave a buffer strip along drainage ways, and establish a perennial sod. Shape and seed hoe drain outlets to filter runoff. Use windbreaks and conservation tillage to control wind erosion. Wind erosion can be minimized by leaving the soil surface rough, maintaining crop residue on the soil surface, bedding to trap wind-blown sediments, keeping the soil wet, or maintaining a cover crop. Manage Water Flow .
Water management is closely related to erosion control, and some practices overlap.
In general, erosion is minimized when water flow is slowed or stopped. Use contour tillage, diversions, terraces, sediment ponds, and other methods to slow and trap runoff. The carrying capacity of running water is directly proportional to the flow rate. When water is still, sediments can settle out. Production practices such as installing water-control structures, such as flashboard risers, on field ditches in poorly drained soils benefit water quality significantly by reducing downstream sediments, phosphorus, and nitrogen.