A Survey of the Awareness and Use of BMP's on North Dakota Beef Operations

A survey was sent to a sample of 1,000 North Dakota beef operations to determine the awareness and adoption of surface water best management practices (BMPs). Results demonstrated that the majority of beef producers were unaware of BMPs. North Dakota has three cost-share opportunities to finance BMPs (EQIP, LP3, ESP). The majority of the respondents who had adopted BMPs self-funded the project with the second largest group of adopters used EQIP. None of the respondents reported using the two state programs (LP3 and ESP). The results of the analysis indicate that additional focus needs to be put on educating producers about surface water BMPs and the cost-share opportunities available at the state level.