Tillage and Erosion Survey Project
BWSR was allocated funding from the Clean Water Fund (M.L. 2016, chapter 172, article 2, section 11) for a program to systematically collect data and produce county, watershed, and statewide estimates of soil erosion caused by water and wind along with tracking adoption of conservation measures to address erosion.
The purpose of this project is to:
- Develop a long-term program to systematically collect tillage (crop residue after planting) data and soil erosion estimates to analyze trends in agricultural soil and water management,
- Track tillage trends, cover crop adoption, and land cover in the 67 county area with greater than 30% of land dedicated to row crop production, and
- Quantify and track trends in average annual and daily soil loss due to wind and water erosion.
Assessing Soil Residue Cover, Cover Crops and Erosion using Remote Sensing and Modeling Final (pdf)