SS—Lancaster Firming, Salurday. July 5. 1975
Chester Co. Conservationist
"More dirt washing away,
more gulleying than I have
ever seen before," Pownall
Jones, Chairman of the
Chester County Con
servation District told other
directors last week in West
Cheater. He described the
cause as a combination of 1)
fields being plowed up for
corn and cash crops and 2)
the scattered mini-hurricane
storms that have hit the
county this spring.
Directors agree that
Chester County is facing the
probability of extensive soil
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losses. Discussing the
problem, several directors
spoke of the factors which
are leading to the increasing
agricultural erosion in the
County.
"Corn prices have been
higher for the past two
years," Jones said. "Coats
for tractor fuel, machinery
repairs and other costs are
higher due to inflation.
Farmers are trying to make
two stalks of corn where one
grew before. This has led to
the planting of com on grass
strips, reducing the size of
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Talks to Member Directors
iod waterways 1.e., con*
aervation practices that
have been installed on farms
for the past twenty-five
years."
Robert Hodge, another
Director agreed, "corn
prices have been higher than
other farm income. Farmers
want to increase the money
making crops to make up for
low income on hay, feeder
cattle and other sources of
farm income. So, they are
planting cash crops
wherever possible - on
steeper slopes, less suitable
soils.”
Frank Mcßerty, Director
from Oxford explained that
the use of larger equipment,
bigger tractors and plows,
four row com planters, all
need more room to operate.
"The use of good con
servation practices such as
contour strip cropping and
planting across the slope,
make it more difficult to use
the bigger equipment,” he
said.
Robert Struble has been
Secretary-Treasurer of the
District since it was formed
in 1948. He told of hillsides
that have been in grass for
the past ten or fifteen years
and are now being plowed up
for corn and cash crops.
“Many of these farms and
fields are owned by city
people. They are not familiar
with the valuable top soil
that was washed from these
fields over the years. They
do not understand that it is
necessary to use con
servation practices to keep
the top-soil in place.”
“These absentee lan
downers want the land to
return them some dividends
to cover interest payments
and pay the taxes,” Clement
Sheppeck, Director from
Frazer explained. “These
landowners rent their fields
to cash-crop fanners to grow
com, soy-beans and grains.
The cash-crop renter, rents
from many different lan
downers. They have big
equipment. They want to
plow, plant and harvest just
as easily as possible with this
big equipment. There is just
not the labor available to
operate smaller equipment.
Tlie renter of the ground will
tend to ignore and wipe out
the conservation practices
that have taken many years
to establish,” Struble >iald.
If the price of cash crops
drop, than the renter will not
be interested in renting the
land next year. This means
that the land formerly
covered with grass and sod,
will then be left open. It will
wash and gulley much more
rapidly without the
protection of the vegetative
cover.
The renter does not want to
pay the cost of re
establishing the vegetative
cover. The absentee land
owner may not have the
equipment and know-how to
re-establish the cover. So,
the land lays open, to be
eroded and washed away. A
portion of the owner’s capital
has been lost.
As Ludwig von Mises
explains in his book HUMAN
ACTION, (and better far
mers agree)” ... many
farmers were slow in ap
plying the capital concept to
their land. ... many far
mers use a system of
bookkeeping that neglects to
pay heed to the land and its
contribution to produc
tion .... such accounts are
defective because ... they
do not indicate whether or
not the operation of the farm
has brought about a
deterioration in the land’s
capacity to contribute to
production .... if an
erosion of the soil has taken
place, their books ignore it,
and thus, the calculated
income (net yield) is greater
than a more complete
method of bookkeeping
would have shown.”
Directors recommended
that absentee land-owners be
provided with sample lease
agreements. These
agreements contain clauses
to insure that the renter used
good conservation practices.
The agreement would
provide that present con
servation practices on the
land be continued without
change. Or, that the renter
be responsible for any off
site damages as a result of
erosion and sediment from
the land-owner’s fields.
Land-owners should also
insist that the renter plant a
cover crop on the ground
after harvest. Fields should
not be left open for erosion to
take place during the winter
or the following year if they
were not rented again.
The Conservation District
was formed in 1948 to make
available the technical
services of the U.S. Soil
Conservation Service. Since
that time, over 3,000 land
owners have become
cooperators with the
District, These land-owners
have installed terraces, sod
waterways, tile drainage,
ponds, contour strip crop
ping to keep their capital
assets on their own property.
Directors all agreed that
farmers who used good
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conservation practices were
able to keep their valuable
top soil at home (It takes
hundreds of years for nature
to form one inch of topsoil.)
Fertilizers too, are not
washed away. Slowing water
down to a walk instead of
letting it run away has
prevented gulley washing in
farm fields. All of these
techniques reduce damage
to neighbor’s property.
Land owners who would
like suggestions for in
cluding conservation
protection in their rental
agreements, can contact the
Conservation District at One
West Gay Street, in West
Chester. Phone - 696-5126.
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