Data on Conservation Practices :: Conservation Technology Information Center

Past Projects

CTIC and its partners lead projects at the local, regional and national level to address agriculture's pressing conservation needs. Each project includes public and private sector partners, shares information about new technology and tools, and promotes agricultural systems that are both economically viable and environmentally beneficial.

Data on Conservation Practices

Since its inception, CTIC has been the go-to source for data on the adoption of conservation practices across the U.S. Though federal support of the popular crop residue management transect survey ended in 2004, scientists, policy makers and marketers have continued to tap CTIC's databases. Now, we're at the forefront of using remote sensing to bring back state, regional and national data on crop residue and cover crop management.

Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS)

The Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) has been developed by Regrow, TNC, and CTIC as a method for the automated use of remote sensing (satellite-based) data to monitor conservation practices in agricultural systems, including various forms of reduced tillage and the planting of winter cover crops.

Crop Residue Management Survey Data

Since 1982, CTIC's National Crop Residue Management Survey (CRM) has been the only survey in the U.S. designed to measure and track the type of tillage used by crop at the county level through direct observation of field conditions by on-the-ground experts at mile or half-mile intervals. Funding for the full national survey ended in 2004, though some states have continued to submit their own data since then. A searchable database is available here.

Past Projects