Baseline Conservation Practices Data for the National Agroecosystems Model

The National Agroecosystems Model (NAM) is a national-scale modeling framework built on the SWAT+ platform to simulate agricultural and hydrological processes across the contiguous United States (CONUS). NAM covers all HUC8 watersheds within the CONUS. Each individual HUC8 operates as its own distinct SWAT+ model. Together, these 2,000+ inter-connected HUC8 models capture high-resolution data for millions of cultivated fields, stream segments, and reservoirs to support environmental research and decision-making. This dataset provides the baseline extents of agricultural conservation practices utilized within the NAM framework. Dataset Description The uploaded datasets contain baseline conservation practice summaries (such as the area of terraces, grassed waterways, and cover crops) extracted from the baseline NAM configuration. The data is provided in CSV format at different spatial resolutions for regional and national-scale analysis: Conservation_Summary_County.csv: Summarizes the baseline conservation practices aggregated at the county level. Conservation_Summary_County_FIPS.csv: Summarizes the baseline conservation practices aggregated at the county level (includes county fips codes). Conservation_Summary_HUC12.csv: Provides high-resolution baseline conservation practice data aggregated by HUC12 watersheds. Conservation_Summary_HUC12_County.csv: Contains a cross-referenced summary of conservation practices mapping HUC12 watersheds to their corresponding counties. Relevant Publications The core development and framework of the National Agroecosystems Model are detailed in the following foundational papers: White et al. (2022). Development of a Field Scale SWAT+ Modeling Framework for the Contiguous U.S. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.13056 Čerkasova et al. (2023). Field scale SWAT+ modeling of corn and soybean yields for the contiguous United States: National Agroecosystem Model Development. DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103695 Gao et al. (2026). Physical continuous-simulation SWAT + framework to develop flow duration curves within the contiguous United States. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136278