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Balancing Soil Health and Corn Production: Insights from Wisconsin's Conservation Efforts

In this discussion, Dan Cotter, District Conservationist at USDA NRCS in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, addresses the critical trade-off between soil conservation and oil-intensive corn production. Continuous corn cultivation increases tillage and soil erosion, raising concerns about long-term soil health. He highlights the benefits of crop rotation, citing the corn-soybean system as a sustainable alternative on erodible land. Judy Derricks, Conservation Agronomist, emphasizes the power of water in shaping soil quality, noting trends in organic matter decline and erosion rates. Tools like RUSLE2 and the Soil Conditioning Index are vital for assessing soil health.

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Balancing Soil Health and Corn Production: Insights from Wisconsin's Conservation Efforts

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Dust Cloud on the Horizon: Avoiding the Soil for Oil Trade-off

  2. A Word from the Field Dan Cotter District Conservationist USDA NRCS Lafayette County, Wisconsin

  3. More Corn Continuous Corn

  4. Break even point 2005 2007 Income from Market and USDA

  5. Oak Savannah, Lafayette County, 2006

  6. Reference point

  7. Reference point Cleared for cropland 2007

  8. Woodland (2005) to Cropland (2007), Grant County

  9. Pasture to Cropland, 2007 Green County

  10. Continuous Corn vs Crop Rotation • Continuous corn - more fall tillage • Corn-soybean crop rotation commonly grown using no tillage on highly erodible land

  11. A View from Above:Grant River at the Mississippi1937-2004

  12. Railroad 1937 Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  13. 1940 Railroad Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  14. Railroad 1949 Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  15. 1955 Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  16. 1981 Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  17. 1995 Mouth of Grant Potosi Point

  18. 2004

  19. 1949 2004

  20. Erosion, and Consequences Judy Derricks Conservation Agronomist USDA NRCS Wisconsin

  21. The Power of Water

  22. Vulnerable Soil • Declining Organic Matter, Microbial Activity, Soil Structure • When Saturated...loses its ability to stay together ****Test Soil Health and Consolidation

  23. Tools to Measure Soil Loss and Soil Quality • Soil Loss Prediction…RUSLE2 • “T” value • Soil Conditioning Index…SCI

  24. Soil Erosion Trends Wisconsin

  25. Impacts of Increasing Corn and Tillage • Soil Quality Declines • Erosion Rate Increases • Surface water risk from sediment and nutrients increases

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