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. 

Des Moines Register Article: ISU study finds many Iowa lakes are dirtier, less healthy

Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA NRCS

A recent Des Moines Register article by Perry Beeman gives a preview of the results of a three-year, Iowa State University/Iowa DNR study on the quality of Iowa lakes over time. The study, based on sediment samples taken from 33 of Iowa's lakes, reveals the dramatic changes in the lakes due to intensified agricultural land use.

The implications of the study may be far-reaching: Beeman writes, "The findings by Iowa State University scientist John Downing and colleagues are likely to figure heavily in future debates over farm regulations and the next Farm Bill."

Conservationists also hope that this information can help provide realistic goals for cleanup and restoration.

Read the full article here.

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.”

Artificial Sweeteners Remain After Sewage Treatment

The potential heath effects of artificial sweeteners are still debated, but the controversy surrounding their effect on the environment is just beginning.

Researchers in Germany used a new analytical method to detect artificial sweeteners in waste and surface water. Out of the seven sweeteners they tested for, they found four: acesulfame, saccharin, cyclamate, and sucralose. These sweeteners are making it through the sewage treatment process, indicating that sweeteners are polluting rivers and streams that receive water from sewage treatment plants. In previous studies, only sucralose had been detected.

Click here for more information on this research.

Bioelectricity Creates Questions about Ethanol’s Efficiency

"For these beneficial approaches, we could do more to fight climate change by making electricity than making ethanol," said field and lead author Elliot Campbell of the University of California, Merced.

In a recent study published in Science Magazine, ethanol and bioelectricity were compared to determine their environmental impacts. Two factors were considered: how much cropland is used and the effectiveness at reducing greenhouse gas emissions when used as fuel.

Ethanol is a liquid fuel that can be used like gasoline to power vehicles. It is produced from plant biomass, like corn or switchgrass. Bioelectricity comes from the same type of source—biomass—but in this case the biomass is used to produce electricity, which is then used to power an electric car battery.

Bioelectricity outpaced ethanol by 81% in terms of land use, and it also offset 108% more greenhouse gas emissions. The source of the biomass did not affect the results; bioelectricity was the clear winner. For example, a small SUV could travel about 14,000 miles using bioelectricity produced from an acre of switchgrass, but it could only travel 9,000 miles using ethanol made with the same parameters. Bioelectricity is even more appealing because it has more potential to make use of carbon capture technology, which would offset even more carbon emissions.

Campbell offered an explanation for ethanol’s poor performance relative to bioelectricity.

"The internal combustion engine just isn't very efficient, especially when compared to electric vehicles," said Campbell. "Even the best ethanol-producing technologies with hybrid vehicles aren't enough to overcome this."

Still, more research should be completed before concluding that bioelectricity is the best approach.

"We also need to compare these options for other issues like water consumption, air pollution, and economic costs," said David Lobell of Stanford’s Program on Food Security and the Environment.

For more information on this study, go here.

Harvesting Rainwater would make Increasing Crop Production Possible

Many questions loom about water availability in the future. Will there be enough for crop production, especially with the increasing world population? Will climate change make water even more scarce? Past predictions suggest that there will be a water shortage, but recent research published in the Water Resources Research journal suggests that there may be a way to prepare and adapt.

A team of Swedish and German scientists decided to consider future water availability using both “blue” and “green” water. Blue water is what is usually considered when trying to determine if there will be enough water; it includes river discharge and groundwater. What makes this study unique is that it also looks at “green” water, which is water that is present due to rainfall. The results of this research show that well-managed rainfall will provide enough water for many countries to grow food to sustain their populations, despite population increases and climate change.

“Much of the past debate regarding various water-scarce regions focused on the absence of water rather than the opportunities linked to the presence of water,” says lead author Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

The research team plans to cooperate in future studies to explore specific green water management methods to expand future food production opportunities. More information about the current article is available from ScienceDaily.

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.

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.

Online Launch of the JSWC

The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (JSWC) is now online! You can check it out here:

http://www.jswconline.org/

To ask questions or to gain access to online pdfs, contact Robin Hockaday, SWCS member services, at memberservices@swcs.org or 515-289-2331 ext. 118.

New Features are Available!

Electronic Tables of Contents
Be the first to know! Sign up for electronic table of contents (eTOC) alerts. You will be notified whenever new JSWC content is available online. To sign up for eTOC alerts, go here:
http://www.jswconline.org/cgi/alerts

Search Capabilities
In the advanced search form, you can search by year, doi, authors, or keyword. Once an article is selected, you can choose to pull up “Similar articles in this journal.”

Browse Archive Back to 1981
You can browse the journal archive by year or by cover image.

Rollover Abstracts
Get a preview! In the table of contents and search results pages, the article abstract (when available) will pop up in an overlay when you mouse over the article citation. (This feature currently works only for abstracts of Research Section articles; at some point in the future, it will also work for excerpts of A Section articles). Try it here:
http://www.jswconline.org/content/63/1.toc

Special Features
Once you have selected an article, you will find valuable options in the panel to the right:

• Email this article to a friend
• Alert me if this article is cited
• Alert me if a correction is posted
• Similar articles in this journal
• Download to citation manager
• Get permissions
• Citing articles

View example:
http://www.jswconline.org/content/63/2/70.abstract

HTML Hyperlinked References
Reference lists are free for issues of 2008 and after. View example:
http://www.jswconline.org/content/63/5/273.refs

HighWire Platform
The online JSWC is hosted by HighWire Press at Stanford University, which also hosts Science, PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), SSSA Journal, Journal of Environmental Quality, Agronomy Journal, and thousands of other peer-reviewed science journals. The JSWC is one of the first journals to launch on the new HighWire H20 platform with new tools and features.

Contact Robin Hockaday, SWCS member services, at memberservices@swcs.org or 515-289-2331 ext. 118 for more information.

WEPPCAT: The Water Erosion Prediction Project Climate Assessment Tool

Guest Post by Timothy Bayley
The WEPPCAT is a web-based extension of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP). WEPPCAT allows users to model the effect that climate changes could have on soil erosion rates given user defined climate scenarios. Users are able to change rainfall intensity, total precipitation, number of wet days, and temperature highs and lows. WEPPCAT is the first model to allow easy manipulation of the intensity or volume of rain falling in individual storm events. In addition, WEPPCAT allows people to identify the optimal filter strip width for modified climate conditions using the filter strip assessment tool. The WEPPCAT model is recommended for use by land managers, farmers, planners, conservationists and teachers. The model is available in a web-based format accessible for free at http://www.weppcat.net/. Tutorials and scientific references are also available on the Web site.

Tillage Found to be More Harmful than Previously Realized

An article in the recent issue of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation reports that "filling ephemeral gullies on an annual basis during tillage operations may be more harmful to soil and water resources than previously realized."

The study finds that "routine filling of empheral gully channels during tillage practices may result in markedly higher rates of soil loss as compared to allowing these gullies to persist on the landscape, demonstrating a further advantage of adopting no-till management practices."

News release from the USDA Agricultural Research Service:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080711.htm

Reference
Gordon, L.M., S.J. Bennett, C.V. Alonso, and R.L. Bingner. 2008. Modeling long-term soil losses on agricultural fields due to ephemeral gully erosion. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(4):173-181.

Improving Industrial Farm Animal Production

Current industrial farm animal production (IFAP) practices have several problems that need to be fixed according to the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. First, IFAP practices put public health at risk. By having so many animals in close quarters, the opportunity for spreading disease is great. Farmers spend more time in closer contact with the animals, increasing the likelihood that disease will spread across species. IFAP animals are often fed antibiotics in an attempt to ward off disease, and this creates a golden opportunity for bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to become antibiotic-resistant as well.

Another problem the Pew Commission identifies is the IFAP’s impacts on the environment. For example, large amounts of animal waste accumulate at these facilities. While in theory, this waste could be used for fertilizer, there is too much waste, concentrated in too small of an area for it to be useful. When this waste is used as fertilizer, it allows nutrients, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals to be washed into waterways. All of these chemicals can contaminate water. The excess nutrients promote algal blooms that use up all the oxygen in the water, causing sea life to leave or suffocate to death. Furthermore, these animal confinements are bad for the environment because of the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Finally, the Pew Commission recommends the IFAP practices need to change because of the unjust treatment of animals. While we do our best to protect livestock from predation and disease, this does not justify intensive confinement of animals (gestation crates for pigs or battery cages for hens). They should be allowed to move around and proceed with natural behaviors. This helps keep distress at a minimum.

After identifying these problems, the Pew Commission came up with these recommendations to help the IFAPs improve:
1. Ban the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animal production to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance to medically important antibiotics and other microbials.
2. Implement a disease monitoring program for food animals to allow 48-hour trace-back of those animals through aspects of their production in a national database.
3. Implement a new system to deal with farm waste to protect Americans from the adverse environmental and human health hazards of improperly handled IFAP waste.
4. Phase out the most intensive and inhumane production practices within a decade to reduce the risk of IFAP to public health and improve animal wellbeing (i.e., gestation crates and battery cages).
5. Federal and state laws need to be amended and enforced to provide a level playing field for producers when entering contracts with integrators.
6. Increase funding for, expand, and reform, animal agriculture research.

Nutrient Supplement Alters Cattle Distribution

The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation recently included information about how nutrient supplements placed strategically in livestock confinements can be used to preserve water quality. See George et al. 2008; Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(1):11-17.)

“Environmental impacts of grazing livestock are frequently the result of poor livestock distribution,” George wrote. Cattle tend to spend time in environmentally critical areas, like riparian zones. Instead of using physical barriers, like fencing, to dictate livestock movements, George and his colleagues used nutritional protein supplements to lure the cattle away from sensitive areas of pasture.

Global positioning collars were used to document the movements of the cattle before and after the supplements were placed. The supplements successfully motivated the cattle to move more than 0.8 mi away from stock water, and the cattle tended to rest and graze near the supplement as well. Currently, protein supplements are not considered a best management practice, but George believes that they should be.

“The strategic placement of protein supplements can exert a strong influence on the distribution of range livestock,” George wrote.

Assessing Conservation Tillage Adoption by Satellite

The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (Vol. 63, No. 3, Pages 112-119) has published research by Dana Sullivan et al. assessing use of conservation tillage by satellite.

As indicated in a USDA Agriculture Research Service news release (http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080424.htm), "This satellite mapping technique shows promise for streamlining national efforts to monitor changes in conservation tillage adoption over time, evaluate the efficacy of conservation tillage placement, and reduce the need for time-consuming field surveys to ensure compliance with federal cost-sharing programs."

Image from the paper courtesy of the author (c) the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

Energy Demands on Fresh Water

What form of energy is best for our environment? A recent study at Virginia Tech examines this question with a new lens: water use. This timely research takes a look at energy production and the amount of water it takes to produce different forms.

Dr. Tamim Younos, a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and undergraduate student Rachelle Hill investigated 11 forms of energy, such as ethanol and coal, and five methods of generating power, such as solar power.

To allow comparison of water use across energy types, Younos and Hill decided to standardize their research with gallons of water per British Thermal Unit. This standardization sets their study apart from other studies that have examined energy production and water use.

Younos and Hill’s work revealed that, of the 11 fuel sources examined, natural gas is the most water-efficient energy source while biodiesel is the least efficient. Of the five power generation methods, hydroelectric power uses the least water, and nuclear uses the most.

Specific results can be found at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/watercooler.html.

Water Quality and Agricultural Responsibility

A headline story in the Des Moines Sunday Register (April 6, 2008) focuses on water quality and the practice of applying manure on frozen fields:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS/804060347

The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation regularly publishes research articles on a range of topics related to manure management, fertilizer practices, and water quality.

Here is a sampling from recent issues:

Lewandowsky et al. Groundwater nitrate contamination: A survey of private well owners. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(3)153-161.

Walker and Rhykerd. An economically sound manure treatment and application system. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(2)38A.

Iovanna et al. Treatment wetlands: Cost-effective practice for intercepting nitrate before it reaches and adversely impacts surface waters. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(1):14A-15A.

Sharpley et al. Overcoming the challenges of phosphorus-based management in poultry farming. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 62(6)375-389.

Special section on managing drainage ditches for water quality. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 62(4).

New Technology Tool: OMS

The USDA Agricultural Research Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service have combined their efforts to produce the Object-Modeling System (OMS). The OMS is a java-based program that combines the useful aspects of existing models such as SWAT, AGNPS, REMM to streamline the development of computer models and decision-support tools. OMS will especially benefit agricultural producers and others in natural resource analysis and conservation planning. One simple advantage of the OMS is that it reduces the amount of time that is required to answer model-related research questions. There is less need to run duplicate models. Another advantage of this new technology is greater model consistency. Models that are developed to answer a certain type of research question will have similar characteristics that will make it easier to compare the research and the results.

The consequences of land use fragmentation and livestock herd size

The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation recently published work on the impact of land use fragmentation and larger herd sizes on manure recycling energy and cost. (See Bartelt and Bland 2007; Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 62(5):345-352.)

What does that mean? It may sound kind of technical and esoteric at first, but the research addresses an important conservation issue in today’s changing landscape.

Bland summarizes the trend as follows: “Uses such as housing and recreation fragment the formerly contiguous areas of land that once surrounded many farmsteads, so farmers increasingly must travel past and work adjacent to lands used for purposes other than agriculture. At the same time, livestock herds are consolidating into fewer and larger units…. Environmentally sound recycling of manure from ever-larger herds requires greater energy and planning for transport and spreading within a landscape that is a mosaic of land uses.”

Is this fragmentation and diversification of land use occurring in your area and, if so, what has been the impact? Have manure hauling costs risen significantly? Has this affected manure recycling practices? Is this an opportunity to develop more efficient manure-management systems or should land development and herd sizes be called into question?

Are you aware?

Are you aware of the report published in dec 07 by Khan et al of the U. of Illinois which confirms that the long term use of chemical fertilizer releases carbon from soil and reduces soil organic matter? This was also confirmed by studies released by rodale and Iowa State in the first quarter. I think people are generally aware of the destruction of water quality in the gulf and chesapeake Bay caused by row cropping but are they aware of the tie to CO2 emission?

Message from Donald Kerstetter

Opening a can of organic worms

As a forum for the science behind the soil conservation movement, the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation regularly provides analysis and guidance related to no-till farming. No-till has been shown to result in significantly less soil erosion than conventional tillage.

The journal recently published a pair of stories related to tillage and organic farming systems. Organic farming is not a tillage system, but tillage is typically used in organic farming for weed control since chemical herbicides are not employed.

The first article was a summary of research conducted by the USDA (Teasdale 2007). The article explained that many organic farmers and no-till farmers share the same goals—using a production system that maintains soil fertility and sustainability. In the study, organic farming systems generally provided greater soil health than nonorganic no-till systems largely due to increased soil organic matter.

The second article presented two case studies of producers who switched from conventional farming to organic farming with minimum tillage (Rainford 2008). The farmers believed this change was environmentally beneficial. In addition, they have experienced a number of economic and productivity benefits as a result.

These seemingly simple articles have resulted in more letters to the editor and controversy than any other topic in recent months. The comments cover the spectrum from those who were upset to see the articles because they believe organic farming is an “environmental disaster” (because of its reliance on tillage) to those who thought the articles were an important new contribution to the literature.

“Organic” has certainly become a politically charged word. Some claim the basis for the antagonism is competition for financial assistance; some claim it is a misunderstanding of terminology. Is there more to it? Are both sides really only interested in protecting the environment? Do conservationists dare touch the topic? Is there a place for nonpolitical, science-based discussion of organic agriculture and natural resources? Do the pro-organic and anti-organic voices drown out the neutral, analytical ones?

References
Rainford, C. 2008. Soil health and productivity benefits of low-tillage organic systems. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 63(1):19A-21A.
Teasdale, J. 2007. Strategies for soil conservation in no-tillage and organic farming systems. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 62(6):144A-147A.