Soil Erosion - Reducing DetachmentErosion can be minimized by limiting both the detachment and trans

Soil Erosion - Reducing DetachmentErosion can be minimized by limiting both the detachment and transport processes. Rain drops travel at high velocities as they strike the ground and so have a great deal of energy. The first defense against detachment is to reduce the force of rain drop impact on the soil by keeping the soil covered at all times with living plants or plant residues which absorb most of this energy. The next task is to encourage the formation of soil aggregates that will not break into individual particles when hit by raindrops. These water-stable aggregates are held together mainly with organic materials, so additions of organic matter to the soil is encouraged. The organic matter that provides surface cover also serves this purpose.In farming operations, soil cover is best maintained by growing perennial crops such as grasses and legumes. When clean-tilled crops such as corn and soybeans are grown, cover is maintained by leaving the crop residue on the surface. If this cover is insufficient to control erosion, a winter cover crop should be planted in the fall after harvest. A winter crop will grow enough during the late fall so that its roots will help bind soil particles together and its tops will provide surface cover over winter and early spring when soils are very subject to erosion. A winter crop can be killed with herbicides or turned under [or rolled] before the next crop is planted in the spring. It also adds organic matter to the soil.In traditional farm operations, the surface soil is first turned over by a moldboard plow or by chisel plows, which bury crop residue. Then the crop is further tilled by several trips with disks, and the new crop is planted into the finely-pulverized soil. This soil is very erodible. In conservation tillage methods, all or most of the crop residue is left on the surface, and the new crop is planted through the residue. This reduces soil pulverization (leaving more aggregates), reduces compaction and saves fuel costs by minimizing the number of tillage operations. Live plants and crop residue also slow down runoff. Weeds, and often winter cover crops, are killed with chemicals in the no-till system.”-Helmut & Franzmeier, Soil Science Simplified, 4th ed.They can also be smushed, with a giant roller thing, which is a non-chemical and non-tillage method. The big thing now is multi-species cover cropping in winter, for the annual growers, as shown in the last picture. -- source link

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