Iowans must change or face a soil and water catastrophe

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that in Iowa we have a major soil erosion and nutrient loss problem stemming primarily from agriculture. This unsustainable loss of soil and nutrients is bad for the long-term health of both the soil and the water.

It is an age-old problem. History supplies us with examples of how soil use and abuse led to the eventual collapse of civilizations in ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and in large agricultural regions of the United States such as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Despite our modern age of agriculture-based technology, the health and productivity of our soils is degrading just as rapidly if not faster than at any time in history.

SOLUTIONS EXIST

On the bright side, there are numerous simple solutions for slowing down the looming catastrophe, while maintaining production and profitability, cleaning up our waters, and reducing flooding all at the same time.

Unfortunately, most of the efforts have been expended on pointing fingers, denying there is a problem, or purposely developing propaganda aimed at deceiving the public into believing that something is actually being done to improve water quality.

The simple solutions being slowly adopted by a growing number of producers are called no-till and cover crops. These are not revolutionary; they have been around for decades. However, implementation of these techniques in the high-tech world of modern 'precision” agriculture and on a scale massive enough to actually make a difference hasn't happened.

I recently attended a soil health workshop co-sponsored by the Cedar River Watershed Coalition and University of Northern Iowa. The featured soil health expert was Ray Archuleta of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you want to see a couple of profound demonstrations on soil health and function of tilled vs. untilled soil, Google 'Ray's soil health page.”

Now extrapolate the benefits from no-till and cover crops to 23 million acres, with some further innovation for proper manure application, and presto! The best part is these solutions reduce costs and save time for the producer, while dramatically improving soil health and water quality at the same time.

SCALE OF USE CRITICAL

Efforts need to focus on getting these solutions implemented among more than a handful of producers if any meaningful water-quality gains are ever going to be made. The 2012 Ag Census reported 10.3 million acres of cover crops in the U.S., with Iowa lagging at only 380,000 acres planted.

If more people understood that a river doesn't have to turn high, muddy, and full of nutrients after a rain, there would be a movement to demand a refinement of agricultural techniques toward the no-till, cover crops, and other proven conservation practices.

TIME BOMB

Look closely as you drive across the rural landscape. What you will see is nearly every crop field left bare following tillage. It's like a soil erosion time bomb waiting for the next heavy rain. According to Archuleta, in addition to the lack of vegetative cover that normally protects the soil from washing away, the disturbed soil becomes unstable because the biotic glues and the organic matter that hold it together are burned up by tillage. This reduces rainwater infiltration, causing the collapsed soil particles and nutrients to run into the nearest lake or stream.

Formation of the Turkey River Watershed Alliance and Watershed Authority is an example of a large-scale attempt to promote sweeping changes to improve water quality and reduce flooding in the 1 million-acre, northeast Iowa watershed. If successful, it could serve as a model for the entire Midwest. If every producer in the Turkey River watershed converted to no-till and cover crop systems, the problem of soil erosion and flooding would be solved.

TESTIMONIALS

More are becoming convinced. Daryl Landsgard, who farms near Gunder began using no-till 20 years ago, and has been completely no-till for eight years. 'At first I wanted to keep this a secret because it gave me a distinct advantage over those doing tillage, but I enjoy clear water and fishing enough that I wanted to share what I'm doing with others,” Landsgard said. 'No-till also allows me to get in the field to plant sooner and I use less fuel, fertilizer, herbicide, and I don't need expensive equipment,” he added.

Neighboring farmers Lee and Craig Embretson have also been using no-till and cover crops the past 20 years on about 1,000 acres. 'You can really see the difference when you take a drive down the road after a heavy rain and look at fields that were tilled,” Lee said.

With more than 88,000 farmers in Iowa, the challenge is even greater on a statewide basis but is achievable, hopefully voluntarily rather than by mandate.

ROADBLOCKS TO CHANGE

If you watch the Archuleta videos, it becomes glaringly apparent that three big-ticket items are no longer needed to maintain yields: ever-increasing size tractors and tillage equipment, large amounts of expensive fertilizer, and artificial field drainage systems (tiling). Even though the bottom-line profit margin increases for the individual producer in a no-till/cover crop system, corporate implement manufacturers and dealers, tile manufacturers and contractors, and fertilizer suppliers and dealers may effectively block improved soil health.

It's like pushing on a rope if the big economic players of the current system resist or have little to gain by supporting the change. Tillage is a farm culture tradition, an economic model that's not going to change overnight. One big exception could be corporate agri-giant Monsanto, which would likely jump on board the cover crop bandwagon because it would open up a whole new seed market.

FEEDING THE WORLD

Another myth to dispel: Our current agricultural practices are somehow crucial for feeding a hungry world. The current 'acceptable” soil erosion cost (5 tons/acre) amounts to two semi loads of dirt lost for every truck load of corn produced.

If feeding the world was a true mission of American agriculture, then the first step would be to eliminate the use of feed grains for both ethanol and livestock production, and send grain directly to the hungry. Promoting or requiring truly effective and profitable farming techniques that better promote the long-term health of the soil and the water would not hamper any such mission.

Do we want to continue the historical cycle of degrading our soil and water? Or leave our descendants with the means to feed themselves by making use of simple and cost-effective means that protect the soil?

The heavy rains are on their way - the only thing we can do is give the bare dirt some much needed cover.

l Gary Siegwarth is a Natural Resources Biologist|Fisheries Bureau with the Iowa Department of Natural Comments: bspring@alpinecom.net