ABSTRACT:
Grazing is an important land use in the humid, eastern U.S. When the grass is dormant, late fall through early spring, the land is most vulnerable to the pressures of livestock. Runoff and sediment losses from a small pastured watershed (WS) in eastern Ohio have been studied for 20 years. In Period 1, a beef cow herd grazed it rotationally during the growing season for 12 years and was fed hay in this WS during the dormant season (high animal density with feeding). During the next 3 years of this study (Period 2), there was summer rotational grazing only. There was no animal occupancy on this WS during the last 5 years (Period 3). Annual runoff was more than 10% of precipitation during Period 1 (120 mm) and less than 2% during Periods 2 and 3 (14 and 6 mm, respectively). The decrease in annual sediment loss was even greater with the change in management, yielding 2259, 146, and 9 kg/ha for the three respective periods. Over 60% of the soil loss during Period 1 occurred during the dormant season. In response to weather inputs, there was considerable seasonal and annual variation in runoff and soil loss within management periods. Low amounts of runoff and erosion from three adjacent watersheds with summer-only grazing supported the conclusion that the increased runoff and erosion during Period 1 resulted from the non-rotational, winter feeding on pastures. When the management was changed, the impacts of the previous treatment were not long lasting, changing within a year.
Footnotes
L.B. Owens and W.M. Edwards are at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, North Appalachian Exp. Watershed, Coshocton, Ohio 43812; and R.W. Van Keuren is (a professor emeritus) in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University, and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio 44691. This is a joint contribution of the USDA/ARS and OSU/OARDC.
- Copyright 1997 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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