Wills Creek Watershed - Crossroads RC&D

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L A N D U S E I N T H E W I L L S C R E E K W A T E R S H E D AGRICULTURAL Agriculture in the Wills Creek Watershed not only Land is a very visible activity, it’s also big business.Wills Creek Watershed contains about 166,000 acres of agricultural land, which accounts for 39 percent of the land use. Hay and cattle make up the main agricultural products. Maintaining a healthy environment is critical to maintaining a healthy agricultural industry; that is why farmers were among the first conservationists in the area. Agriculture in the Wills Creek Watershed Although declining in recent years, the agricultural industry has been important in the history of the watershed, and still encompasses 39 percent of the land use. Since the time the forests were cleared for agricultural purposes in the early 1800s, much of the area remains in agricultural production today. After extensive strip mined areas were reclaimed, much of the land was planted to grass to prevent soil erosion.This is now being used as pasture or hay for beef cattle.The average size farm in the watershed is 184 acres. Hay and corn for grain are the predominant crops grown. The predominate livestock industry is beef cattle. Since the first settlers arrived in Wills Creek, their survival was dependent on what could be produced off the land. This dependency was based on the soil’s ability to produce enough food. In the early days small farms fed individual families. Today with the mechanization of modern farm SC:NRCS equipment, farms have grown and now feed many, many people. The average size of a farm has increased from 99 acres in 1924 to 184 acres in 1996. The agricultural industry has declined within the Wills Creek Watershed.There are fewer acres in pasture land (198,956 in 1924) and fewer crop acres planted (118,667 in 1924). 26 LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION ANIMAL NUMBER Beef cattle/calves 50,000 Dairy Cows 2,400 Hogs 8,000 Sheep/Lambs 2,600 Agriculture in Wills Creek Today Livestock is the major agricultural industry in the region with pasture land encompassing 91,686 acres, some of which has been strip mined and reclaimed. Hay and corn are the predominant crops grown in the watershed with cropland encompassing 74,222 acres. How Agriculture Can Impact Water Quality NRCS Manure Storage allows for proper handling of waste. Confined livestock operations can produce a large amount of animal waste. This waste must be dispersed in a proper way, over the appropriate number of acres, so that plants can absorb the nutrients in the material and excess nutrients do not enter into the stream. Proper handling, application, and disposal of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers are vital to the health of our watershed community. Water that runs off the land carries these excess materials and can pollute the rivers, lakes, and streams. NRCS NRCS SC Gully erosion washes away precious topsoil. Pond covered with algae Allowing livestock to graze in woodlands increases soil erosion. Grazing animals along riparian corridors destabilizes the streambank, which causes soil erosion and reduces the quality of the riparian corridor. In addition, animal waste can directly enter streams. This increases the nutrient levels in the water and alters the habitat by increasing algae and other plant life. This decreases the dissolved oxygen available for aquatic life. Growing crops on highly erodible land increases the potential for soil erosion. Erosion not only reduces the ability to raise crops in the future, but it produces sediment in suspension throughout the watershed ecosystem. Turbidity in the water influences plant and animal life by not allowing sunlight to penetrate and putting a coating of soil particles along the substrate. Within Wills Creek Watershed 74,222 acres are planted in cropland. Of these acres, 16,000 acres are located within soil units classified as highly erodible. The current erosion rate in the Wills Creek Watershed is 5.8 tons of soil loss per year.This translates into a total annual soil loss of 151,000 tons! Most of the soil lost is topsoil, the most productive and fertile part of the soil. W I L L S C R E E K . . . O U R B A C K Y A R D W A T E R S H E D 27 NRCS A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE NRCS Dust Bowl Timeline (1931-34) 1931: Drought strikes the Midwestern and Southern plains. Over plowed and overgrazed fields were starting to lose their precious topsoil to the wind. 1932: There are 14 dust storms reported at year’s end. 1933: · March: Franklin Roosevelt starts his first term. · March: Soil Conservation Service is created by President Roosevelt. · April 14: The worst black blizzard in U.S. History, is coined Black Sunday. · April 15: Dust Bowl is named the day after Black Sunday. · April 27: Hugh Hammond Bennett (Father of Soil and Water Conservation), sways the Congress into declaring Soil erosion a national menace. Outside the Congressional hearing is a dust storm. · May: Farmers lose a year’s worth of crops and face foreclosures. · September: With hunger and displaced families on the rise, the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation is formed, which distributes apples, meat, beans, flour and cotton. · There are 38 dust storms by year’s end, children in the Midwest scurry to school with moistened cloths clutched to their noses. 1934: · May: Drought reaches historical proportions,27 states are severely affected, and it consumes more than 75 percent of the country. · June: Many more farmers are facing failed crops, the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act is passed to restrict the ability of banks to dispossess farmers in times of distress. · In the “Yearbook of Agriculture” for 1934 it stated, “Approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land have essentially been destroyed for crop production...100 million acres now in crops lose all or most of the topsoil;125 million acres of land now in crops is rapidly losing topsoil…” · The first great dust storm kicks up in the Great Plains, and sends dust to the nation’s capital where the sun is blotted out, drives grit into the teeth of New Yorkers and scatters dust on the decks of ships 300 miles out to sea.
L A N D U S E I N T H E W I L L S C R E E K W A T E R S H E D AGRICULTURAL In order to minimize the impact that agriculture can have on the environment, farmers need to manage each aspect of production. In the Wills Creek Watershed region, the three main ways that agriculture can influence water quality are through crop production, livestock operations and the general operations around the farmstead like mixing and storage of fertilizers and chemicals. Each of these land uses has specific ways they need to be managed; these methods of management are called agricultural best management practices. Pastureland Well-Head Protection It is very important to keep the well covered at all times to prevent contamination and children from entering the well. Do not store hazardous materials near the well. Agrichemical Handling Facility These special areas provide protection and a safe storage place for chemicals and fertilizers. It also contains any spills when mixing chemicals. BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES A well managed pasture will be productive and profitable as well as environmentally beneficial.The purpose of best management practices in pastures is to balance the growth of pastures with the grazing of animals and to protect the environment from the effects from animals such as trampling the soil and contamination from the waste they produce. NRCS Best Management Practices The homestead is the center of the farm; it is where the house and barns are located and also where most of the action takes place. BMPs at the homestead are designed to prevent contamination from animal waste, chemicals or fertilizers. NRCS Homestead BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 28 Fencing Cows Out of a Stream reduces the direct deposit of animal wastes and sediment to a stream or other waterway. KS:NRCS VS:GSWCD Manure Nutrient Management Properly storing, handling and spreading manure can decrease contamination to fresh water sources. Properly spreading manure cuts chemical fertilizer costs and reduces nutrient losses. SB:TSWCD Cropland BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Grassed Waterways are placed in natural drainage ways or swales to reduce gully erosion. Grassed waterways are not farmed, but left in permanent grass and mowed. The primary purposes of Cropland BMPs are to reduce soil erosion that keeps precious topsoil out of the streams and on the farm fields, and to manage soil additives such as chemicals and fertilizers that can pollute water. Contour Strip Cropping Contour strip cropping involves planting small grain crops or hay in strips in between row crops along the contours of the hill. Crops like hay hold the soil in place and catch any soil that may erode from the row crops. Conservation Tillage keeps some of last year’s crop residue on the soil surface. By leaving more residue on the field, wind and water erosion are reduced greatly. Fertilizer and Nutrient Management Animal waste (manure) contains important plant nutrients including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. In order to prevent these nutrients from polluting waterways, and to utilize the nutrients, manure is spread on cropland. This reduces the need to add chemical fertilizers for crop production. HELP is Available. Government assistance is available for any landowner wishing to conserve soil and protect the environment. Local Natural Resource Conservation Service, Soil and Water Conservation District or OSU Extension Service all have valuable knowledge concerning how to manage land and what government agencies can do to help. W I L L S C R E E K . . . O U R B A C K Y A R D W A T E R S H E D MG:NRCS NRCS 29 NRCS NRCS A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE NRCS Dust Bowl Timeline (1935-42) 1935: · Storms are increasing in severity, wind erosion is becoming a public issue. · Six deaths a week are attributed to a strange malady dubbed “dust pneumonia.” 1936: · The Soil Conservation Service publishes a soil conservation district law, which, if passed by the states, allows farmers to set up their own districts to enforce soil conservation practices for five-year periods. This is one of the few grass-roots organizations founded under the New Deal that is still assisting landowners. 1937: · In Roosevelt’s second inaugural address, he states “I see one-third of the nation ill-housed, ill-clad, illnourished...the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” 1938: · The extensive work of re-plowing the land into furrows, planting trees in shelterbelts and other conservation methods results in a 65% reduction in the amount of soil blowing. However, the drought continues. Fall 1939: · Rain comes, finally bringing an end to the drought. During the next few years, with the coming of World War II, the country is pulled out of the Depression and the Plains once again become golden with wheat. 1940: · World conflicts bring our nation closer to war each passing month and intense pressures are developing on farmers to increase food production on the land they manage. 1941: · May 16: House Bill 646, which becomes the Ohio Soil Conservation District Enabling Act when it is signed by Governor John W. Bricker on June 5, 1941. 1942: · October 22: Guernsey Soil and Water Conservation District is organized and is the 8th district to form in the state of Ohio.
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Wills Creek Watershed - Crossroads RC&D

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