Erosion hurts
How much is soil erosion hurting
America’s farm productivity? The
signs are everywhere that soil
erosion is taking a heavy toll and
predictions abound that someday
we will reach a time when our
weakened acres will no longer feed
our people. So far a lot of-ihe
about soil losses are
w strictly guesses. At best they’re
estimates. But now the Depart
ment of Agriculture is putting the
computer to work, hoping to find
some answers about soil erosion.
The Agriculture Department
experts figure well over five
million tons of topsoil are eroded
each year. And much of that comes
from farms. Enough soil washes
down the Mississippi River each
year, they say, to build an island a
mile long, a quarter mile wide and
200 feet high. These are
astonishing figures, but what do
they really mean in terms of our
total food production .system?
That’s where the computer gets
involved.
A new computerized analysis
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Farm
Talk
Jerry Webb
Delaware Extension
of Agriculture scientists is working
to put fragmented pieces of a
puzzle' together so they can
forecast how soil erosion may
affect the land’s ability to grow
food and fiber in the years ahead —
maybe even centuries in the
future. The project is called
“EPIC.” That stands for Erosion-
Productivity Impact Calculator.
When it’s all done, EPIC will bring
together that researchers know
about hydrology, erosion and
sedimentation, livestock grazing,
nutrient cycling, crop growth,
tillage, soil properties, climate,
pesticides, ' insects, diseases,
economics, and any other in
formation. Once all that is fed into
a computer it may be a lot easier to
make meaningful guesses.
Nearing pay off
After years of painstaking data
gathering, the EPIC team thinks
the work may be about ready to
pay off. “Once EPIC establishes
the relationship between erosion
and productivity, we will be better
able to put a dollar value on the
loss of U.S. soil,” according to
terry B. Kenny, Jr., administrator
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of USDA’s Agricultural Research
■ Service. He-says, “We also will be
; able to select management
strategies to maximize long-term
crop production.”
EPIC will provide information
on the current status of soil and
water resources in this country.
That’s part of the requirement by
the Soil and Water Conservation
1 Act of 1977. Beyond that, the effort
should help in the department’s
effort to determine why soil
productivity'has leveled off in
recent years.
Alarming data
Data generated by the EPIC
project could be quite alarming,
because no doubt the amount of
soil erosion in this country is
staggering. It’s gone on for cen
turies and it’s generally felt in
agricultural circles that not nearly
enough is being done to stop it. And
that’s frightening when you really
think about it. After all, only a few
inches of topsoil separate all of us
from our bountiful food supply and
total starvation. And already the
EPIC researchers are saying that
in some areas where erosion rates
are high and subsoils poor, crop
yields have been reduced by as
much as 40 percent in only 50
years. Combine that with the
projection of a U.S. population well tampa ctp» t
over 300 million in another 50 help farmers
years, and you start to realize the fatteiung
magnitude of the soilless problem. SfJESi Sj
It’s not just dirty streams and leaflet entitled
pesticide runoff. It’s a lot more
than environmental issue made t 8 ? 0 '
popular Ky the current nature c®ssful Fanning. The leaflet also
movement. There is no question ft
that without good soil, crop~£S“JS e ““** to
production suffers. Granted
fertilizers have eased the’ the £' giste , re<l
situations and have allowed us to 1181 a , few
produce more food than we really ?*? hogs
need, but how long can that con- r(K^ on arms year*
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tinue? Technology has not really
reached the point where our food
supply can be grown in test tubes.
Productive soil is still the basis for
productive agriculture.
Affects yield
Looking closer at the problem,
there is usually a relationship
between erosion control, soil
building efforts, and improved
crop yields. Those farmers who
are on top of erosion problems in
general seem to be the ones who
grow soil-enriching cover crops,
and add humus-building manure.
They worry about the soil’s feel, its
ability to hold water, and its
natural crop-producing charac
teristics. On the other hand, those
farmers with little concern about
erosion and soil building
techniques are often plaqued with
seemingly unavoidable problems
that result in low yields and un
profitable fanning.
Historically, fanners in some
parts of the country wore out
farms through bad cultural
practices and simply abandoned
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 23,1983-09
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them to move on to virgin ground.
During a time when land was
cheap and plentiful, an uncaring
and uninformed farmer could wear
out several farms in a lifetime. Of
course, that changed with the end
of homesteading and other cheap
land policies. Farmers went back
and reclaimed those worn out
places. Many were improved and
built up to become productive units
once again. But now,there’s an
increasing national concern that
modem farming techniques and an
economic squeeze that is ranging
farmers to take all they can and
put back as little as possible is
getting them into trouble again.
Maybe the EPIC project will
show graphically and
unquestionably that we are losing
our topsoil- at an unacceptable
rate. And just maybe that will be
the beginning of a national effort,
with a high level of public concern
and government funding to help
financially strapped farmers save
and rebuild the land before it’s too
late.
In addition, a graph shows when
they placed their commodities
hedge and the profit margin locked
in. Trade Tech’s president, David
K. Sander, believes farmers need
to use the commodities hedge as a
necessary tool in these times of
excessive price fluctuations.
To obtain this free leaflet, far
mers may call (717) 898-0139. Or
they may write to Trade Tech
Management, Inc., 1020 Stony
Battery Road, Lancaster, PA
17601.
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