Sometimes it is the simple things that can make a big difference. Take contouring, for example. It’s easy; so easy in fact that we often overlook it when we consider it in the context of conservation technology. I staked a lot of contour lines for farmers when I was a NRCS Soil Conservationist in the 1980’s. It was easy; just me, my hand level, and a fist full of flags. But it was also time consuming. It took hours to stake 160 acres of cropland, especially when I tried to minimize point rows. Today, my local conservation district no longer …
Let’s start taking the other 50% of soil erosion seriously.
I recall hearing a business maxim some years ago: “What gets measured gets done.” In other words, if there is no standard by which to measure something, it becomes a low priority. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with soil erosion.For years, resource professionals have had the RUSLE2 soil erosion model to predict the amount of sheet and rill erosion that occurs on a farm. Sheet and rill erosion is caused by a shallow sheet of rainwater that runs across the land. This picks up and transports soil particles already detached by a raindrop …