We Are The Soil

the footsteps of man have taken a heavy toll we've become efficient at using our natural resources but we've also become efficient at abusing them much that we use we waste fouling the air poisoning the water the signs are clear but the message is ignored on the land the signs are not as clear but the threat is just as real the consequences just as severe every year we lose another measure of our fragile topsoil every year we have less of this to thin layer in which we grow our crops our food time is wasting away with the soil the indians called it Iowa the beautiful land from Ohio into Nebraska and the Dakotas from Minnesota down into Kansas Oklahoma and Texas thousands of square miles the tall grass prairie slough grass wild bergamot prairie rose tall grasses flourished some reaching over 12 feet high with roots probing 910 feet into the earth the legacy of the great prairie a thick layer of rich topsoil held together by the roots of the grasses that protected it topsoil enriched each fall as its cover bowed back to the ground forming a thick blanket which once again became part of the soil it took thousands of years to form this soil thousands of cycles of life death regeneration and the Prairie warmed by the Sun over countless springs reaching toward the sky year after year man had never known it any other way the Native American lived in harmony with the Prairie chief Standing Bear said it best we are of the soil and the soil is of us in only three generations the Prairie would be gone they put the east behind them the played out farms the landlords the debts they sold out packed up and moved on new land new land to the west the first stayed close to what timber there was along the rivers and streams slowly the trees fell to accent bucks all the fields were cleared and crops were planted in the marginal forest soils but their crops were mostly grasses and with its favorable climate the Prairie grew the best grasses in the world on the Prairie a man and his team could break and plant an 80 in only two months compared to as many years in the timber the Prairie was broken the land was bare life for these early settlers wasn't easy it was hard demanding a sparse hand-to-mouth existence but they were a hardy breed and they were determined to carve a new land out of the wilderness in the mid-1800s the tall grass prairie blossomed into one of the richest farming areas on earth and there were still millions of acres left for the taking move on farmer there's new land free land further west we ran out of fresh farmland about the turn of the century there was no more land to the west the war to end all wars the Byward produce feed the women and children at home feed our boys over there food will win the war we had plowed it up millions of acres broken bear vulnerable 1917 1920 to 1927 we had ripped up the grasses that once held back the water the 30s the drought we had ripped up the grasses that once protected the soil in the spring of 1935 a black blizzard roared out of the Dust Bowl and settled over Washington DC in short order Congress responded and okay the long sought after Soil Conservation Service its purpose to provide the assistance farmers had asked for so they could control the erosion eating away at their land thousands of depression jobless found work with the CCC the Civilian Conservation Corps they earned the tag gulley pluggers repairing land damaged by decades of misuse at the same time researchers work to improve methods of stopping erosion before it got started soil improvement through crop rotation farming on the contour more effective terraces progress was made and from these first few steps a national soil conservation movement would emerge which promised to unite both urban and rural interests against a common problem over the years our population has grown a hundredfold and the tall grass prairie states have become the breadbasket of the world the farmer no longer just feeds himself some 50 people both at home and abroad depend on him for food and fiber new more powerful implements let him stretch the day get more done he uses advanced methods and modern technology all in all farming has become a highly specialized business and the farmer walks a narrow road between profit and loss with the emphasis on production caused by our increasing population many farmers have set aside soil conservation plans and erosion is taking its toll it's not as visible as the gullies of the 30s it's spread out over the land but the signs are still there planting up and down the hills plowing in the fall leaving the soil bare six months a year the consequences for every bushel of corn we produce in a year we lose an average of two bushels of topsoil forever on the average we're losing 13 tons per acre per year on unprotected sloping land and the losses aren't limited to our agricultural lands either soil that has been stripped of its cover for residential and commercial development and highway construction is just as vulnerable and the losses are just as significant overall in the last hundred years we've lost about half of our topsoil from unprotected sloping land in the next hundred years at today's rate of loss we could lose almost all of it even today the consequences of erosion are far-reaching sediment is the biggest pollutant of our surface water it clogs reservoirs channels and ditches it raises the cost of water treatment kills fish and wildlife and the chemicals and bacteria it carries off the land can cause health and environmental problems the washing away of add chemicals also represents a staggering economic loss in many cases fertilizer has been necessary to replace the natural Prairie nutrients that had been eroded away and we're losing even these applied nutrients all told as much as a billion dollars worth of plant nutrients is being washed away each year we permit erosion to occur by leaving the soil unprotected from the action of wind and water while often the more dramatic element wind is actually the lesser of the two evils it takes just the right set of conditions for the wind to be able to attack the soil surface with water the process begins when the first raindrop Falls there's a lot of energy and a raindrop when it hits it breaks loose small particles of soil as the water accumulates and starts moving downhill it picks up these loose particles and carries them off as the water picks up speed it starts to break down the surface it is moving over washing away more of the valuable topsoil the steeper the slope the worse the erosion moving water can carry a surprising amount of soil particles when it finally slows down the sediment settles out usually at an undesirable location soil erosion can be controlled and help is available it all starts at the grassroots level through the local Soil Conservation District the program is completely voluntary and anyone can apply for technical and financial assistance to help plan and carry out effective treatments expert technical services are available from both the US soil conservation service and the State Department of soil conservation some treatments may be expensive and these agencies are available to help share the financial burden since no two parcels of land are exactly alike each conservation plan is tailor-made to solve a specific erosion problem and there are many erosion control techniques to choose from contour planting follows the shape of the land around the hills instead of over them this way more of the water stays where it falls strip cropping is often used with contouring especially on steeper land between strips of corn and beans our strips of hay or small grain crops these strips of heavy cover check the runoff and allow sediment from the row crop strips to settle out waterways can carry excess runoff safely from both contour and conventionally planted land as the prairie grasses help save the land in the past so today the grass in waterways provides a measure of protection over the years terracing has been one of the best methods of controlling erosion built across the slope the terraces catch the runoff and hold it and the sediment in the field unfortunately some of these practices are expensive to install even with state and federal cost-sharing they can still represent a major investment for the landowner there is however a less expensive alternative for many situations conservation tillage is a system of soil management which leaves a rough soil surface and some are all of the previous seasons crop residue on the field this cover stays on the field that year-round minimizing the action of wind and rain it slows down runoff and catches the soil while it's still in the field studies have shown that soil losses can be reduced by two-thirds if not more in many soils without any loss in crop yield on steeper more difficult terrain conservation tillage can be used in combination with other practices such as contouring or terracing while not too fine solution conservation tillage may well be one of the best practical answers to soil erosion in addition to saving our valuable topsoil conservation tillage also helps protect our water resources because there's less runoff there's less chance of polluting our waterways with Ag chemicals they tend to stay in the field where they will do the most good because there's less runoff more water soaks in where it falls an important factor in wet years and dry years finally in addition to saving soil and water conservation tillage saves energy because the farmer can use a planter that combines tillage and planting operations into one he makes fewer trips over the field and consumes less fuel what it boils down to is that by saving our soil our water and our energy conservation tillage will help us to reach our goal of maximizing productivity while at the same time ensuring that that productivity will remain intact for future generations conservation tillage an attempt to return to the natural processes that built and protected the Prairie soils through ages past over the years a lot has been accomplished researchers have given us the tools we need to fully protect our crop lands many conscientious landowners have voluntarily put conservation practices to use but even more haven't even with the solutions at hand the problem is still acute why then is the progress so slow is the public aware of soil conservation I don't know too much about that yeah I think aloud it has to do with I think we should have a lot more trees in area well that's you're putting idle acres isn't it soil conservation side Lakers there are those who know what soil conservation is but do they know the severity of the problem I wouldn't save two major problems now our sponsor I think probably around here it isn't that much of a problem because of the coverage but mostly in California I think it is well I think it's probably a bad problem now and probably always been a problem but it's not a problem that I'm you know that concerns me in my day to day life in this it doesn't worry me because because it's just it's just not a problem that I run into every day of the week I'm sure it's a problem for the people that are in that the agricultural field the city dweller may not notice the amount of erosion on his doorstep but the farmer works with soil every day can he do something about it first you have to get the tile and the intakes in and and get it surveyed and the land has to be the type of land that you can stuck can construct the type of terrace you want and you have to line up a contractor and and apply at the ASC for cost share money this takes some time and maybe a few trips and it's like I say it's just easier not to do it well the people that are responsible for it are usually the people who don't really realize they have a problem they know there is such a thing as soil erosion but they really feel mostly that it's their neighbor who has the problem and they don't usually have the problem themselves whereas they I think they know they have it they don't want to face it well many landlords are out of state and they're not on the property and don't really understand the the physical loss the only thing they think in terms over is the financial what they can invest and what they can get back the people I guess to take care of the things around here farmers probably I could do two things different than what they do I think it's more the government's responsibility and helping the farmer do because it is quite a heavy load if they don't but it really helps conserve water and soil and everything did on our farm anyway there's been much debate about who is responsible for solving the soil erosion problem perhaps the responsibility lies with those who are affected by it it affects me with the crops that are grown I eat them it's food source yeah I could be could affect the farmers and us too as far as they are producing our food oh we need save the land for future generations and if we farm without any care for that the top soil will be gone and we won't have anything for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren on down well there are some estimates that in that in again in in some of our better areas we've lost like in in the neighborhood of half of our topsoil in the last hundred years occasionally you're catching glimpses and in the literature today that our rate of increase in production is not is not advancing as rapidly as we thought perhaps it might be we we might be able to do based on what technology had to offer by our research for example recently there was a report that our soybean production in in bushels per acre has not been going up as rapidly as we thought concerns of farmers and things but a lot of city people don't think too much about it I think the non farmers can be involved by becoming more informed about soil conservation its causes and some of the ways in which we can minimize the adverse effects of poor soil management they can get involved in providing economic incentives for the farmers to get this job done because if they don't do so and we lose our soil resources than the total society not only in this state or the nation but in the rest of the the world interest in conserving our irreplaceable topsoil has grown but it hasn't been enough we've been at it ever since the 1930s yet today only about one third of the land is protected from erosion only one third of the job is done to finish that job will be a tremendous task we have the ability and the resources but it will take more it will take the active interest and concerted effort of informed citizens both rural and urban to preserve one of our most valuable resources we are of the soil the soil is of us can we afford to waste it you