Excerpt
RECENTLY released data from the 1987 National Resources Inventory (NRI), conducted by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), estimate that average annual sheet and rill erosion on U.S. cropland declined from 4.3 tons per acre per year in 1982 to 3.8 tons per acre per year in 1987 (6). Although wind erosion rates rose during this same time period, declines in sheet and rill erosion occurred in every region of the country. Possible explanations for this reduction in soil loss include adoption and improvements in conservation practices (4), temporary diversions of cropland to federal land-idling programs during the 1982–1987 period (2), and conversion of erodible cropland to noncropland uses. The 1987 NRI is designed to allow analysis of changes in land use and land use conditions during the five-year period from 1982 to 1987.
Sheet and rill erosion changes
Sheet and rill erosion declined nationally by more than 11 percent between 1982 and 1987. Regionally, the declines were most significant in the Corn Belt, which contains about 22 percent of the nation's cropland. The Southern Plains, Mountain, and Northeast regions showed little or no declines in sheet and rill erosion. These regions …
Footnotes
Linda K. Lee is a visiting associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, 0629–4021.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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