Bringing Marginal Land Into Production

1. Bringing Marginal Land Into Production Don Day Extension Associate - Energy

2. Concerns • Yield potential • Erosion potential • Practices needed • Farm program constraints

3. Conservation Problem – Soil Erosion

4. Early Soil Erosion Research

6. Early Conservation in Missouri

9. Aerial View of Erosion Plots

10. 26 Plots on First Tier

11. Upslope View

12. Gully erosion Sheet and rill erosion Types of Erosion

13. Effectiveness of Conservation Measures • Universal Soil Loss Equation: • A = R x K x LS x C x P • A = Soil erosion in tons per acre per year • R = Rainfall factor • K = Soil erodibility factor • LS = Slope length and steepness factor • C = Cover and management factor • P = Erosion control practice factor

14. What We Can Control • Slope length factor • Cover and management factor • Erosion control practice factor

15. Conservation Practices to Solve the Problem • Contour farming • Waterways • Terraces • Conservation tillage • No-till

16. Contour Farming • Rows planted on the contour • Can reduce erosion by up to 50%

17. Waterways • Transport large volumes of water • Can reduce gully erosion

18. Waterways • Cost could be about $2600 per acre of waterway • Cost share is available • Equipment has to be raised to cross them • Herbicide damage can occur • Establishment can be difficult

19. Terraces • Reduce length of slope • Transport water to waterway

20. Terraces • Cost can be considerable • Cost share available • If grass waterways are used, added time for establishment • May be more difficult to farm • Maintenance cost

21. Conservation Tillage • Greater than 30% ground cover

22. Strip Cropping

23. Strip Cropping • Could use perennials • Switchgrass • Miscanthus • Less cost than terraces

24. No-Till • Machinery had to be developed

25. No Till • May need machinery investment • Cost share may be available • New management techniques • May not solve all gully erosion problems

27. Live. And Learn.