SWCS Razorback Chapter in Arkansas Cosponsors Cover Crops Conference

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
News Release No.: 080513-01

LITTLE ROCK, AR August 5, 2013 - Interest in cover crops has begun to surge in Arkansas over the last five years. More and more farmers and ranchers are discovering that cover crops have the potential to provide multiple benefits in a cropping system. They prevent erosion, improve soil’s physical and biological properties, supply nutrients, suppress weeds, improve the availability of soil water, and break pest cycles along with various other benefits.

Those benefits were discussed at the Southern Agricultural Cover Crops Workshop recently held in Jonesboro, AR. The workshop was hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in response to the increasing demand from farmers and ranchers for information on cover crops. It was designed to help farmers successfully adopt cover crop management systems congruent to agriculture conditions in the south.

Sponsors of the workshop included NRCS; Arkansas Natural Resources Commission; Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts; University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension; Arkansas State University College of Agriculture and Technology; Arkansas Agriculture Department; Farm Credit; Arkansas Farm Bureau; Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education; Monsanto; and Soil and Water Conservation Society – Razorback Chapter.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of acres being managed with cover crops as a part of the cropping system,” said Mike Sullivan, Arkansas NRCS State Conservationist. “This workshop provided a forum for farmers and ranchers to exchange information, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and learn about new and successful practices related to cover crops.”

Case study presentations identified and discussed the strengths and pitfalls of real applications. Specific sessions included discussions on cover crop management, no‐till, soil management, water management, pest management, disease management and economics. The workshop presenters included farmers, crop consultants, and research scientists who have extensive experience in cover crop management. Among them were: David Lamm, NRCS National Soil Health and Sustainability Team Leader; Dr. Don Tyler, University of Tennessee Engineering and Soil Science; Steve Groff, of Cedar Meadow Farms in Lancaster County, PA; Dr. Ray Massey, University of Missouri Agricultural and Applied Economics; and Dave Brandt of Brandt Farms in Ohio.

“Hopefully, this workshop will be the catalyst to get more farmers involved in not only preserving but also restoring our soils,” said workshop speaker Mike Taylor of Long Lake Plantation in Helena.

Cover crops enhance soil quality and keep nutrients in the fields. Although cover crops can be effective under conventional tillage, they also improve soil quality and ease the transition to continuous no‐till.

“Southern farmers cannot simply rely on the tried and proven management techniques that the Midwest employs to manage cover crop mixes,” said John Lee, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service State Agronomist in Arkansas. “Conditions in the South are different, and we need to plan to manage crop mixes according to southern agricultural farming practices.”

There were 152 participants from 12 states who attended the two day workshop July 24th and 25th coming from as far away as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

“I commend NRCS’s leadership for organizing an excellent conference with a lot of great information,” said workshop speaker Dr. Mike Daniels, Extension Water Quality professor at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. “It was very timely and reminded us that we all have a lot of work to do to advance cover crops in Arkansas as a key practice in the future. More and more cover crops will help with soil health, productivity, weed control and natural resource protection.”

“I thought the conference was excellent and offered farmers, researchers and educators a wide array of perspectives and opinions about cover crops and how they fit into a comprehensive soil health program,” said Keith Berns, a no till farmer with Green Cover Seeds in Bladen, NE . “The producers that I visited with were very interested and had a true desire to learn how to increase the health of their soil. That is what it is all about, regardless of whether you farm in Arkansas or Nebraska.”

Through conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NRCS is working to help farmers adapt cover crop practices to their farms. Cover crops improve soil organic matter, soil moisture availability, and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. Farmers can reap dividends on their cover crop investment for years because their benefits accumulate over an extended period of time.

For additional information about cover crops, when and how to plant and when to terminate or incorporate the plant into the soil, visit the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov or call your local NRCS field office listed in the telephone book under U. S. Department of Agriculture.

PowerPoint presentations from the workshop are available online at the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Web site. 

Voluntary Stewardship: Will More of the Same Produce Different Results?

By Tom Prout, SWCS Canadian Region Director

I write this article with the knowledge gained from more than 35 years of experience in watershed management in southern Ontario and with the anticipation that it may generate some response from conservation practitioners, farm organizations, and farm leaders.

For at least seven decades, many landowners have been implementing stewardship projects and applying a conservation ethic when making management decisions. These voluntary actions are beneficial and do contribute to the maintenance of water quality levels. However, considering our ongoing concerns with the health of our watersheds, perhaps it is time to reflect on the following questions:

• Is voluntary stewardship taking too long and using too much money to actually achieve the water quality society desires?
• Are changing farming practices and farming technologies outpacing the good that can be achieved by voluntary stewardship?
• Are we using the correct Best Management Practices (BMPs) and stewardship practices in the right places?
• Do we need new and improved BMP and stewardship practices? 
• What are the confounding factors that prevent us from making bigger improvements in the water quality of our lakes, rivers, and streams?
• What will the next generation of BMPs and stewardship look like?

Canada and the United States are two of the world’s leading countries, but are our societies committed to changing our lifestyles to help improve the environment we all live in and appreciate?

For decades, farmers in southern Ontario have publicly said that they would spend more time and money on stewardship projects if they received a fair or higher price for their product. However, after two consecutive years of very high commodity prices and some record yields, I am observing the opposite reaction: less conservation tillage, higher fertilizer rates to achieve record yields, increased sales of moldboard plows, and the removal of windbreaks and forests to make larger fields. With record-high farmland prices and larger equipment, farmers seem to have less time for conservation. Perhaps it is time to let farmers manage their lands as they see fit and, instead of offering stewardship grants, set water quality standards for them to meet.

Municipalities must meet water quality standards for their sewage treatment facilities, and in some municipalities there are now water quality standards for storm water discharge that developers have to meet. Local businesses have to meet discharge standards from their processing facilities. Nonpoint source pollution is really just many forms of point source pollution combined. Farmland is being systematically drained at an ever increasing rate to increase productivity. Will these tile outlets provide a way to measure nonpoint sources of pollution? Can we realistically measure nonpoint sources at the field level and tie water quality to field scale operations?

If society wants to get serious about water quality in our lakes and streams, it may be time to set water quality standards for surface and subsurface drainage from farmland. We must determine whether society can continue to afford annual payments to encourage voluntary stewardship. In making these decisions and answering the questions listed above, we will discover what the next generation of BMPs will look like.

I am not suggesting that the decades of conservation work are all for naught, and I am not suggesting that farmers intentionally pollute. However, I do believe it is time to stop and reflect on our current approach to watershed management and ask ourselves one more question: will doing more of the same thing achieve the water quality standards we want to achieve, or will doing more of the same thing get us more of the same results? We—as in the big we, society—need to decide if we want maximum productivity from farms and some of the lowest food prices in the world at the expense of the air and water quality we need to survive.

SWCS 2013 Annual Conference: Call for Presentations

The Soil and Water Conservation Society is seeking oral and poster presentations and symposia proposals for the 2013 International Annual Conference in Reno, NV.

Each year SWCS identifies topics or a theme for special attention at the Annual Conference. The overarching theme for the conference this year is Resilient Landscapes: Planning for Flood, Drought & Fire. 

At the 2013 SWCS Annual Conference, we would like to explore conservation planning, policy, and practices that, by improving system resilience, help adapt to and mitigate the adverse effects of Flood, Drought, and Fire. This may include urban, suburban and rural natural resource environments and landscapes as well as working agricultural lands. We hope that your abstracts for oral presentations, posters, and symposia submissions will address the technical, educational, and informational needs of conservationists as we work together to address the challenges encountered in creating resilient landscapes.

In the face of pressures from a highly dynamic climate, changing markets, and evolving environmental conditions, agriculture must produce not only food, feed, and fiber but also fuel and a broader array of landscape or ecosystem services. Conservation professionals need to adapt to new resource demands and changes in our client base and needs. Conservation must deal with larger spatial-temporal scales of soil and water management and conservation, such as landscape and watershed scales, and planning for extreme events. Achieving these changes will require improved collaborations with different agencies and research institutions to plan and apply on the ground conservation. It may also require returning to our conservation roots to invigorate local coalitions to prioritize and plan conservation needs and programs.

The submission deadline is December 17, 2012. Download the full call for presentations here. 

US Dairy Sustainability Awards: Upcoming Nominations Deadline

The Innovation Center for US Dairy is currently accepting nominations for this year’s US Dairy Sustainability Awards. The awards will recognize operations that have made commitments to environmental, economic, and social sustainability in the dairy industry. Nominations will be accepted through November 15, 2012, for the following awards:

• Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability
• Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing Sustainability
• Outstanding Achievement in Renewable Energy
• Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency 

Visit the awards page and view the video below to learn more about the award selection criteria, the expert panel of judges, and past winners.

Nabbing Nitrates Video Series

The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) and the Iowa Chapter of SWCS are among 14 cosponsors of a new video series that shows how conservation practices remove nitrates from water. Missouri & Mississippi Divide Resource Conservation & Development Inc. (M&M Divide), based in west central Iowa, produced the four new water conservation videos in a series titled Nabbing Nitrates—Before Water Leaves the Farm.

In both English and Spanish, the series includes animation that shows what happens in wetlands and below the ground in four conservation practices that remove nitrates from surface and groundwater: “Water Conservation Drainage,” “Riparian Forest Buffers,” “Working Wetlands,” and “Bioreactors.” The series was produced with a Conservation Innovation Grant awarded by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRSC).

The objective of the series is to educate landowners and producers of practices that can assist in solving the nutrient water quality issues in the Iowa Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) target watersheds.

Copies of the videos have been distributed to USDA NRCS, Farm Service Agency, and Iowa State University Extension offices in 25 counties that are part of the Iowa MRBI target watersheds. Those watersheds (and counties) are

• North Raccoon River Watershed: Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Sac, Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Dallas, and Polk counties;
• Boone River Watershed: Kossuth, Hancock, Humboldt, Wright, and Hamilton counties;
• Upper Cedar River Watershed: Worth, Mitchell, Floyd, Chickasaw, and Bremer counties; and
• Maquoketa River Watershed: Fayette, Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Jackson, and Clinton counties.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts and USDA NRCS offices in the six Iowa counties served by M&M Divide also received copies of the videos, which can be checked out for viewing. They are Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Green, Guthrie, and Sac counties.

The videos are also available for viewing online on the M&M Divide’s projects page at www.mmdividercd.org.

Along with SWCS and the Iowa Chapter of SWCS, other partner sponsors who helped fund the series with cash and in-kind donations include Des Moines Water Works, Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Environmental Council, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Division, Agri Drain Corporation, Raccoon River Watershed Association, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Carroll County Extension Council, Carroll County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Iowa Conservation Education Coalition.

Contact SWCS if you are interested in checking out our copy of the video series: 515-289-1227.

SWCS/NRCS Workshop and Webinar - Soil Health for Grazing Lands and Croplands

SWCS/NRCS Workshop and Webinar

Soil Health for Grazing Lands and Croplands

Live from Monte Vista, Colo

November 2, 2010

8 a.m. — 3:30 p.m.

Two soil health experts from North Dakota will discuss the latest on cropland and rangeland system cover crops. The workshop will be streamed live on the web via Ustream.

Topics Include:

·         Soil Health Timeline

·         Cropping Systems Based on Soil Health

·         Cover Crops as a Tool

·         Team Building

·         Grazing Systems Based on Soil Health

·         Rebuilding Soil Health on a Farm (The Why)

Featured Speakers

Jay Fuhrer, District Conservationist

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Bismarck, North Dakota

Ken Miller, District Grazing Specialist/Technician

Burleigh County Soil Conservation District

Bismarck, North Dakota

There is no charge to participate via Ustream. Go to: www.swcs.org/colorado to watch.

To register and attend in person (in Monte Vista, CO) or for more information on the workshop, contact Mike Collins at (719) 589-6432 ext 138 or email at mike.collins@co.usda.gov.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) have partnered to conduct the training session.

Mapping Erosion to Aid Conservation Planning

Where is the best place to focus conservation practices on farmland? The answer varies depending on many factors, such as the shape and slope of the land and even the conservation practice being introduced. A new research paper by A.C. Pike, T.G. Mueller, A. Schörgendorfer, S.A. Shearer, and A.D. Karathanasis uses logistic regression and neural networks to create maps that highlight areas where channel erosion is common. Grassed waterways can be used to reduce channel erosion, so knowing where the most erosion occurs would be very useful for conservation planning.

For more information about this research topic, check out the full article: “Erosion Index Derived from Terrain Attributes using Logistic Regression and Neural Networks.”

New USDA Program has Funding to help Farmers with Water Conservation

The new Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), established by the 2008 farm bill, provides funds to farmers to help them establish practices that support water conservation. On July 30, Dave White, Chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, said that $58 million is accessible for 63 projects in 21 states. Click here for information about the projects and the amount of funding approved for each state.

Environmental Working Group Recommends more Focus for EQIP Program

The goal of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is to encourage farmers to use conservation practices on their land that reduce farm runoff, improve water and air quality and preserve wildlife habitat. The initial implementation of a new conservation practice can be costly; this program helps provide funding to farmers who volunteer and who meet the eligibility requirements. More information about the program can be found here.

Agricultural practices are the primary cause of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Conservation efforts should help reduce agriculture’s impact on the gulf, but a new report released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that relying on voluntary participation for conservation effort is not enough. Their report recommends targeting taxpayer money to the highest priority locations, particularly in the Mississippi River watershed, to make the most of the money and to have the most improvement on water quality.

This new EWG report is called Making EQIP Work for Water Quality in 10 Mississippi River Border States. The EWG recommends that the USDA NRCS takes action to increase the effectiveness of the EQIP program, including setting specific goals for how much pollution needs to be reduced, identifying which lakes, streams or tributaries are priorities for improvement, and setting a timetable to achieve the goals.

More information about this report can be found here.

Organic Agriculture Funding Approved

The 2009 Organic Initiative was created to provide financial assistance to encourage organic production. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan has announced that $50 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program will be available to help fund this initiative nationally.

"The objective of this initiative is to make organic food producers eligible to compete for EQIP financial assistance," said Merrigan.

Both National Organic Program certified organic producers and producers who are moving toward organic practices may apply. If you are interested, you should visit your nearest USDA Service Center to make sure you are eligible. Applications must be turned in by May 29.

Applications will be ranked using two National Screening Tools (one for certified producers and one for producers who are transitioning to organic practices). Ranking will be based on core conservation practices and resources concerns related to National Organic Program objectives. For a list of the objectives or for more information, go here.

Farming Practices Need Change to be Sustainable

To accommodate the increasing world population and climate change, farming methods must be both productive and sustainable. Shivaji Pandev, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Plant Production and Protection Division, advocated for strategic improvements to farming practices throughout the world at the IVth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture in New Delhi.

"The world has no alternative to pursuing Sustainable Crop Production Intensification to meet the growing food and feed demand, to alleviate poverty and to protect its natural resources. Conservation Agriculture is an essential element of that Intensification," Pandey said.

To increase production, farmers throughout the world have made similar mistakes: ploughing too often, applying too much fertilizer or pesticide, or providing too much irrigation water. While these strategies may appear effective in the short-term, they have long term consequences that reduce productivity.

To increase production effectively over the long term, farming practice changes should be focused on conservation agriculture, which is a practice that eliminates ploughing and includes the use of crop rotation and permanent soil cover.

Conservation agriculture helps increase productivity, but it has additional benefits as well. It reduces the carbon footprint created by farming and reduces water loss since healthy soil loses less water to evaporation. For more detail about Pandev’s presentation or recommendations, view the full article here.

Conservation Project Begins in Hawaii

The USDA Commodity Credit Corporation and the State of Hawaii have teamed up to improve water quality, increase groundwater recharge, filter agricultural runoff to preserve reef diversity, restore habitat, and control invasive species.

"USDA is proud to collaborate with the State of Hawaii on this important agreement that will improve the state's water quality and wildlife habitat. It will protect the Hawaiian Islands' vital watersheds and riparian areas on marginal pastureland and cropland," said Carolyn Cooksie, acting administrator of the USDA Farm Service Agency.

The partnership, which is based on a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program agreement, will encourage preservation and restoration of land on Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and Oahu. The goal for this project is to enroll 2,000 acres for forest restoration and 13,000 acres for wetland restoration.

Participation in this program is voluntary, and the signup date will be announced soon. For more information about available practices and incentives, click here.

Provide Shelter for Wildlife and Conservation

Winter challenges the survival skills of even the healthiest wildlife. Winter shelters help protect animals from drifting snow, reduce wind chill exposure, and provide protection from predators.

Conservation benefits can also be achieved by providing winter cover such as a cattail slough at least 10 acres in size or a woody cover planting consisting of conifers and shrubs.

If you own land, consider making it easier for wildlife by providing cover and/or a food source on your property. If you want to add shelter to your property, work with what you already have. For example, you could add one or two rows of pine trees to an existing field windbreak.

Some government programs, like the Conservation Reserve Program, are set up to promote conservation and can also provide information on shelter benefits.

Conservation Effects Assessment Project to advance conservation effectiveness

The Soil and Water Conservation Society has released a special issue of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation dedicated to the Conservation Effects Assessment Project, commonly known as CEAP.

CEAP is a unique effort led by the United States Department of Agriculture to quantify the benefits of conservation efforts. The special issue of the journal presents the best science to date on the effectiveness of conservation programs and practices in the United States.

This special publication is an important step in a major effort to provide policy makers an account of what taxpayer investments in conservation are producing and an opportunity to retool conservation programs for greater effectiveness.

Guest editor Doug Karlen notes, “The Agricultural Research Service watershed-scale research and computer simulation modeling presented in this special issue of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation provide the scientific base that will enable the Natural Resources Conservation Service to effectively use simulation models such as SWAT [Soil and Water Assessment Tool] and AnnAGNPS [Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source model] to make reliable national assessments of conservation benefits.”

In addition, the journal documents the new STEWARDS data system (Sustaining the Earth’s Watersheds–Agricultural Research Data System) that allows users to search and view soil, water, climate, management, and economic data from Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds.

The special publication represents the cooperative efforts of numerous federal agencies, universities across the country, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

The special November/December 2008 journal issue is available through the Soil and Water Conservation Society by visiting http://www.jswconline.org/content/63/6.

Special Report Released on Soil Conservation in Nigeria

The Soil and Water Conservation Society has just released a special report entitled Soil Conservation in Nigeria: Past and Present On-Farm and On-Station Initiatives. The report reviews agronomic, soil management, and mechanical methods of soil conservation in Nigeria.

In a Foreword to the special report, Dr. Rattan Lal of the Ohio State University provides a context for the utility of the report and the urgency of improving soil conservation practices in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Lal states that “resource-poor and small land holders in SSA and elsewhere in the developing world must be paid for ecosystem services rendered through the adoption of recommended management practices.”

The report is available for free download here:

http://www.swcs.org/en/publications/soil_conservation_in_nigeria/

Soil Sensors Being Developed at Iowa State University

Researchers at Iowa State University are working on sensors and transceivers that could measure and report the amount of moisture in the soil. This would allow farmers to better understand how water travels through a field, allowing action to be taken to optimize water management.

The sensors will be buried about a foot underground so they would not affect current farming practices. Since the sensors will also be able to report their location, they will not get lost.

The research team hopes to improve the sensors so that they can also detect nutrient content and soil temperature. This would help farmers know how much nutrients to apply to which parts of the field. This information would allow maximum yield while minimizing environmental impacts.

The research team includes team leader, Ratnesh Kumar, Stuart Birrell, Ahmed Kamal, Robert Weber, Amy Kaleita, Candace Batts, Giorgi Chighladze, Jing Huang, and Herman Sahota.
For more information, go here.

USDA Announces Public Access CRP Incentive

The USDA Farm Service Agency announced today that "USDA would fully implement President George W. Bush's directive to offer incentives to farmers and ranchers for opening up their land in the Conservation Reserve Program [CRP] to the public for hunting, fishing, bird watching and other recreational activities."

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer stated that the goal of this incentive is to double public access by providing up to 7 million acres of CRP land for public access in the next 5 years in participating states.

According to a USDA Farm Service Agency news release, "The CRP public access incentive permits partnerships with existing state public access programs to identify and mark tracts of land as publicly accessible and publish maps for hunters and recreation enthusiasts. The incentive is consistent with current state public access incentives and will enhance the ability of state game departments to use hunting seasons as a wildlife management tool."

Fore more information, go to:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/10/0256.xml

Living Soil and Its Function

Guest Post By Jon Stika

Soil quality (the ability of the soil to function) should be the number one concern of all conservationists. The reason I believe this is that restoring and improving soil function is the solution to our natural resource problem and all the symptoms of that disease.
For many years, most conservationists have regarded soil erosion as a problem. Soil erosion is not a problem; it is a symptom of soil not functioning. For many years conservationists have prescribed conservation programs and best management practices as solutions. Conservation programs and best management practices are not the solution to natural resource concerns, they are tools.
First, we must understand that the problem is the fact that our soils are not functioning. Soil is supposed to regulate water, cycle nutrients, support plant and animal life, as well as filter, buffer, degrade, immobilize, etc. what ever is thrown at it.
Second, we must examine why our soils are not functioning. Our soils are not functioning because very few farmers, ranchers, researchers or conservationists understand what makes soil "tick" and so do not know how to manage soil so it can function to the best of its ability. What makes soil tick is the diversity of life (mostly microscopic) that is supposed to be living in it. Once we understand that the key to restoring soil function is to create and maintain suitable habitat for the microscopic life (aka the soil food web) in the soil, we will solve the natural resource problem of non-functioning soil, and the symptoms of soil erosion, water quality impairment, etc. will disappear. Soil aggregation, water infiltration, creation of organic matter, nutrient cycling, etc. are all at the mercy of the soil food web.
I have seen the results of managing for soil quality on several farms and ranches here North Dakota and am convinced that once folks understand that improving soil quality is the solution, they can intelligently apply tools to build it.

Edward Faulkner’s Plowman’s Folly Still a Masterpiece on Soil Quality

Guest Post by Steve Chick, Nebraska State Conservationist

Congressman Smith’s Field Representative Barb Cooksley recently loaned me a copy of the book Plowman’s Folly. I can honestly say it is a must read for any one interested in understanding and appreciating the value of minimizing disturbance to the soil.

On the opening page Faulkner writes, “The truth is that no one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing.” Later in the first chapter he wrote, “We have equipped our farmers with a greater tonnage of machinery per man than any other nation. Our agricultural population has proceeded to use that machinery to the end of destroying the soil in less time than any other people has been known to do it in recorded history.” It is well documented that we have lost as much as 12 inches of topsoil in Eastern Nebraska and Iowa, which has exposed mineral subsoil.

Faulkner went on to say, “The chief trouble with our farming is that we have concerned ourselves with the difficult techniques of supplying our farm crops with new materials for growth, when we could easily take full advantage of the almost automatic provisions of nature for supplying plants with complete rations in secondhand form. We have made a difficult job of what should be an easy one.” He was referring to our unfortunate reliance that quickly swept this nation for utilizing manufactured fertilizers instead of taking advantage of the natural fertilizer provided through crop residue.

Faulkner cited an excerpt from Paul Sears book Deserts on the March which reads, “The face of earth is a graveyard, and so it has always been. To earth each living thing restores when it dies that which has been borrowed to give form and substance to its brief day in the sun. From earth, in due course, each new living being receives back again a loan of that which sustains life. What is lent by earth has been used by countless generations of plants and animals now dead and will be required by countless others in the future…No plant or animal, nor any sort of either, can establish a permanent right of possession to the materials that compose its physical body.” Faulkner follows this with, “This is the solemn, necessary truth; and the earlier it becomes a part of our thinking, the more quickly can we plan intelligently the necessary work of recreating the soils on our farm lands. We have been too squeamish to visualize dead tissue being transformed into living, though with every mouthful we eat we demonstrate precisely that fact.”

There are many favorite quotes I can cite from this book, but one for sure is the following, “The task of this book is to show that our soil problems have been to a considerable extent psychological; that, except for our sabotage of nature’s design for growth, there is no soil problem.” Another quote that grabbed my attention is, “The drain tile and the moldboard plow, therefore, become suspect of complicity in robbing our people of their birthright of vigorous health—by stealing away vital elements from the plowsole before plant roots are able to salvage them. So logical does this inference seem that it is difficult to understand why it has never been investigated officially.” Faulkner’s point is that the plow was responsible for eroding away valuable topsoil, while the underground tile line sucked nutrients from the bottom side of the soil profile.

Faulkner said it took seven years of experiments and tests before he broke away from conventional ways of thinking about the soil. He said, “Then I discovered, through certain tests, that the trouble lay in the operation which preceded all of the tests, namely plowing. It was as if one tried to assemble a picture puzzle with the pieces upside down. By simply correcting basic error—by incorporating all of the organic matter into the surface of the soil—the difficulties all disappeared as if by magic.”

He said, “…if planting and cultivating equipment had been designed to operate in the trashy surface it would have left, there would never have been a moldboard plow. It should be clear that the immaculately clean material we now have on most of our farms cannot be called soil except by the most liberal license. Our ideal of the soil includes of necessity that it must be easy to work, free from obstructions. It must be tidy. The fact is that untidiness to an extreme—a surface covered or filled with abundance of decaying trash—is really the proper condition. We must, therefore, revise our ideas as to the nature of the material upon which we can depend for sustenance. We certainly cannot depend upon the almost white soils we now cultivate with the plow.”

I could go and on with citations from this book, but I will end this week with the following quote because it cited research work in Nebraska. “Planting can be done in a trashy surface. It had to be done so when the land was first cleared. Doubtless, it is easier to manage land which has nothing on the surface to be caught and dragged along by the sliding equipment we use for planting and cultivating. But, if the crop planted in such smooth land must necessarily produce a smaller yield because of the purity of the minerals (freedom from decaying organic matter); it seems logical to suggest the wisdom of trying to devise implements which negotiate the trashy surface. Equally, if crop yield s greater from a trashy surface, as has been proved by the official tests at the Nebraska Experiment Station, the desirability of the necessary equipment is beyond question.”

Edward Faulkner promoted the use of a disk harrow in place of the moldboard plow because at that time no-till planting equipment had not yet been invented that could directly plant seeds into undisturbed crop residue, but Faulkner clearly recognized the importance of leaving crop residue at or near the soil surface. Over the next couple of weeks I will share a little more information from this book – a book that is very difficult for me to put down.

Reprinted with permission by Steve Chick.

Conservation Benefits of Rotational Grazing

Guest posting by Dick Tremain

Iowa farmer Paul Ackley checks cattle watering tanks that are part of a new rotational grazing system NRCS designed for his farm. Ackley says he likes rotational grazing because the system allows him to raise the same number of cattle with one-third less land.

Rotational grazing is paying off for a Taylor County, Iowa, farmer. Paul Ackley, of Bedford, Iowa, says he can raise the same number of cattle on one-third less land thanks to rotational grazing. He installed fences, cattle watering tanks and lines, and methodically moves his 100-head of cattle among 15 paddocks so they always have fresh grass.

US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helped design and fund the building of Ackley’s watering systems and fencing in 2006.

Ackley said he’s found a number of benefits to rotational grazing. “The big benefit,” he said, “is needing only two acres per cow instead of three. This means we can now devote 120-acres of former pastureland to standing winter hay.

“Another benefit we have found,” he said, “is that flies tend to stay with manure. The manure helps us two ways. When we move cattle, the flies stay behind. This eliminates our need to spray cattle for flies. The manure also reduces our fertilizer bill by $8,000 per year because our pastures do not need chemical fertilizers.”

Ackley’s use of rotational grazing is a 180-degree turn from five years ago. “I used to think it was silly to fence cattle out of a pond,” he said, “but now I can see that’s the way it should be.”

Cattle are like mini-bulldozers to Ackley. “When they go down to a pond to drink, they push soil into the water, pollute it and fill it,” he said. “Soon I’ve got a major expense to dig it out so cattle can drink from it again.”

“Thanks to rotational grazing,” said Ackley, “the ‘bulldozers’ are leaving my stream banks and ponds alone. That saves me a lot of time I can devote to other things.”

Doug Davenport is the NRCS district conservationist for Taylor County. He says he sees this conservation practice as just one more the Bedford man uses to save soil. “Paul Ackley is a Conservation Security Program (CSP) participant which clearly demonstrates his strong belief in conservation,” said Davenport.

I didn’t happen all at once. Ackley has been farming for 40 years. Over much of that time, Ackley and the team of conservationists at the Taylor County Soil and Water Conservation District have worked together planning, finding financial assistance, and designing and installing many conservation practices on his 1,100 acres. “NRCS, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) have all worked with him on many soil saving practices,” said Davenport. “On his farm you can find filter strips, no-till, terraces, grassed waterways, wetland construction, and riparian buffers. It was a logical next step to suggest Paul apply for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) financial assistance to help set up a prescribed grazing system for his cattle.”

Davenport’s team designed a paddock system for Ackley that allows him to use rotational grazing and keeps his cattle away from pond and stream banks. Water for the cattle is gravity fed from an erosion control structure and can be piped in from a high pressure water source on Ackley’s farm.

Ackley says this is the way to go. “I am very happy,” he said. “The cows are no longer ruining my ponds and stream banks. Cattle are getting better quality water because they are not loafing in the ponds and streams fouling the water they drink. Rotational grazing forces them to loaf elsewhere and scatter their manure evenly. Cattle end up getting better water and better grass. I like this system. It is a better way to raise cattle on fewer acres of land.”

Dick Tremain is a public affairs specialist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Des Moines, Iowa.