Planting season is behind us and we look for some good summer days for crops to grow. Recent tours of “The County” have produced evidence of too much rain at the wrong time. These areas will need special care during cultivating and where applicable may need additional erosion control practices to alleviate future concerns. Some visual observations of gully erosion have caused this office to take a step back and ponder these annual occurrences.
As a conservationist I know it’s possible to introduce alternative practices or farming patterns to lessen the blow, if you will. How these alternative practices are implemented depends entirely on farm managers. Many decisions are made based on ease of planting, crop rental acres, and size of equipment. Soil conservation is not at the top of the list. Once the soil is gone we don’t get it back. Of course, some may argue that point as they are cleaning out the road ditch at the bottom of the hill. You need to ask yourself how it got down there in the first place.
Erosion starts when a raindrop hits the soil surface. Place a small clod on a white sheet of paper and drip one drop of water on it. See how many dispersed spots you end up with. Soil quality and surface residues are the only protection from erosion unless structural practices are managed and placed properly. Filter strips, contour farming, diversion terraces, mulching, crop rotations and waterways are practices most utilized on cropland in our area. There is a considerable need for these practices to decrease runoff potential, reduce gully erosion, and remove sediment from adjacent streams and rivers. When waterways become field roads or are tilled through with a farming pass, the ability to handle runoff of that area is gone. Gully erosion happens but there are simplistic practices to achieve desired results.
NRCS professionals are guided by a conservation philosophy instilled in the Service from experience. This is to assess the resources on the land, evaluate the conservation problems and opportunities, look to different sciences and disciplines for solutions, and integrate all into a conservation plan for the whole property. Through implementing conservation on individual projects, NRCS contributes to the overall quality of life in the watershed or region and always works closely with land users so that the conservation plan reconciles with their objectives. These principles have served well as a foundation for addressing conservation challenges for 75 years and will continue do so in the future.
Please visit the NRCS field office in your area to find out more about conservation practice application and available programs to reduce soil erosion on your farm. The Presque Isle Field Office of the USDA-NRCS services the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. This area extends from Bridgewater to Connor Township including the Northwest woods. Visit us at www.me.nrcs.usda.gov.
Darol Wilson is a district conservationist with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Presque Isle Field Office, 735 Maine Street. He can be reached at 764-4153 ext 3.
