IMPACT OF NEW FARM BILL PROVISIONS ON OPTIMAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION ON HIGHLY ERODIBLE SOILS

The study focuses on incentives to produce crops under reduced tillage systems on highly erodible soils. A mixed integer, mathematical programming model was developed to identify optimal resource use under alternative farm program provisions. A positive counter cyclical payment only reinforces the incentive to comply with NRCS soil erosion constrains.Crop Production/Industries,

Modeling Agricultural Sheet, Rill and Ephemeral Gully Erosion

Mini-Symposium: Modeling Methodology for Agricultural Researc

IMPACT OF NEW FARM BILL PROVISIONS ON OPTIMAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION ON HIGHLY ERODIBLE SOILS

The study focuses on incentives to produce crops under reduced tillage systems on highly erodible soils. A mixed integer, mathematical programming model was developed to identify optimal resource use under alternative farm program provisions. A positive counter cyclical payment only reinforces the incentive to comply with NRCS soil erosion constrains

Buffers and Vegetative Filter Strips

This chapter describes the use of buffers and vegetative filter strips relative to water quality. In particular, we primarily discuss the herbaceous components of the following NRCS Conservation Practice Standards: Filter Strip (393) Alley Cropping (311) Riparian Forest Buffer (391) Vegetative Barrier (601) Conservation Cover (327) Riparian Herbaceous Cover (390) Contour Buffer Strips (332) Grassed Waterway (412) Placement of most of these practices is illustrated in figure 4-1. Common purposes of these herbaceous components (as defined by the NRCS Conservation Practice Standards) are to: • Reduce the sediment, particulate organics, and sediment-adsorbed contaminant loadings in runoff. • Reduce dissolved contaminant loadings in runoff. • Serve as Zone 3 of a riparian forest buffer. • Reduce sediment, particulate organics, and sediment-adsorbed contaminant loadings in surface irrigation tailwater. • Restore, create, or enhance herbaceous habitat for wildlife and beneficial insects. • Maintain or enhance watershed functions and values. • Reduce sheet and rill erosion. • Convey runoff from terraces, diversions, or other water concentrations without causing erosion or flooding (grassed waterway). • Reduce gully erosion (grassed waterway and vegetative barrier). The term buffer is used here to generally refer to all eight practice standards noted above. These can be further identified as “edge-of-field” and “in-field” buffers consistent with the terminology used by Dabney et al. (2006). Edge-of-field buffers include filter strips, riparian forest buffers, and riparian herbaceous cover. In-field buffers include conservation cover, contour buffer strips, alley cropping, and grassed waterways. Vegetative barriers could be either in-field or edge-of-field buffers

Changes in Erosion and Runoff due to Replacement of Pasture Land with Sugarcane Crops

The planting of sugarcane crops has expanded in the last decade in the southeast of Brazil, mainly due to its use for biofuel production, such as ethanol. This expansion in the State of São Paulo has occupied land that was previously used for cattle production. The change in land use affects soil and water through changes in ground cover and disturbance associated with farming practices. The objective of the following study was to determine the impact on runoff and erosion resulting from the conversion of pastureland to sugarcane for biofuel production. Erosion plots measuring 100 m2 were built on a farm in Itirapina-SP, Brazil, on land with a slope gradient of 9% and soil composed of Quartz-sand Neosols (Typic quartzipsaments). The treatments were an 18-year old pasture and a new sugarcane plantation, with three replicates for each. After each rainfall episode, erosion and runoff were monitored during the first and second years after sugarcane was planted. The results show increased runoff and soil loss during the first year, though levels decreased in the second year when the sugarcane residue mulch ground cover increased. In addition, the necessary rainfall characteristics (e.g., intensity, duration) required to produce runoff and soil erosion were identified