Field of clean-cultivated winter wheat in Washington State brought two hundred tons soil loss per acre. Photo by F.A. Mark
I took a drive into the hills of western Iowa this weekend, and saw some of the worst soil erosion I've seen in a long time. Heavy rains on exposed soils have really taken a toll on some fields, especially those that appear to have just been brought into crop production this spring. I saw several fields that looked to be CRP ground or pasture that had been planted to row crops. Given the slope and the gulleys, it's hard to believe you could even drive a tractor safely on fields like that.
Farmers on Agriculture Online report similar sightings. Even with conservation practices in place, major damage has occured on sloping soils. In Crop Talk, one Iowa farmer said, "I have some of the worst erosion we have ever had. It starts at the base of the terraces and is anywhere from 10 to 15 feet wide all the way to the bottom and 3 inches deep."
A couple weeks ago, Agriculture Online Correspondent Roy Smith wrote a piece, 7,000 years of farming, based on his reading of the pamphlet, "Conquest of the Land Through 7000 Years."
Roy wrote, "The reason that my attention was drawn again to this publication is that eastern Nebraska has suffered severe erosion from two very hard rain storms in the last month. I can look out my office window and see evidence of permanent damage done to the soil from these two rains of four inches each in less than two weeks. Such rains are common in this area, coming at least once in five years. As I look at the fields in my neighborhood, I wonder if some day they will look like the pictures of fields in the Middle East and North Africa shown in the pamphlet."
Roy, a seasoned Nebraska farmer, goes on to bemoan the way that "conservation has fallen by the wayside" in our modern era of agriculture.
I hear ya, Roy....
5 comments:
Mike from western Ia.
I have 95 acres of wheat and the rest of the farm in permanent pasture. While we experienced severe upland flooding, our farm looks much better than neighbors due to less overgrazing and having a well established crop cover. Sometimes being a bit "unconventional", pays off.
Years ago I only had structures and when they failed, because of too much rain on frozen ground, they channeled a large amout of water in one place so it washed to bedrock. Now with direct seeding it does not overcome the structures.
Good day !.
You may , perhaps curious to know how one can make real money .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you need
The firm represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
It is based in Panama with affiliates everywhere: In USA, Canada, Cyprus.
Do you want to become a happy investor?
That`s your choice That`s what you really need!
I`m happy and lucky, I started to take up income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper companion utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s it!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and my first deposit was 1 grand only!
It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://cyropepeqi.greatnow.com/zysafy.html
and go! Let`s take this option together to feel the smell of real money
Hello !.
You re, I guess , perhaps curious to know how one can manage to receive high yields .
There is no initial capital needed You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you thought of all the time
AimTrust represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
It is based in Panama with structures around the world.
Do you want to become a happy investor?
That`s your choice That`s what you really need!
I`m happy and lucky, I began to take up real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a correct partner utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I take now up to 2G every day, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://ymadysasur.1accesshost.com/ohuxih.html
and go! Let`s take this option together to get rid of nastiness of the life
Hi!
You may probably be very interested to know how one can manage to receive high yields on investments.
There is no need to invest much at first.
You may begin to get income with a sum that usually is spent
for daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one company's work for several years,
and I'll be glad to let you know my secrets at my blog.
Please visit blog and send me private message to get the info.
P.S. I make 1000-2000 per day now.
http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]
Post a Comment