A Soil Conservation Timeline

A History of Insanity – A Time for Change

Jim Collins Jr., 2018

Conservation Quotes

▪ Sanskrit text: “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.”

1500 BC

Conservation Quotes

▪ According to some sources, Patrick Henry proclaimed shortly after the American Revolution, "since the achievement of our independence, he is the greatest patriot who stops the most gullies.“

circa 1770’s

Conservation Quotes

▪ “The writer, after 24 years spent in studying the soils of the United States, is of the opinion that soil erosion is the biggest problem confronting the farmers of the Nation over a tremendous part of its agricultural lands.

1928 Hugh Hammond Bennett

Conservation Quotes

▪ “We are increasing the rate of loss and we are reducing soils to their bare mineral components. We are creating soils that aren’t fit for anything except for holding a plant up.”

2015Duncan Cameron

Programs, Information and Funding

1933

1940

1937

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

20181930’s• 1937 – “Standard State Soil

Conservation Districts Law" sent to the states' governors

• 1937 – Brown Creek Soil Conservation District

1950’s• Small Watershed Program - soil

and water are interrelated• Great Plains Conservation

Program – conservation plan for an entire farm or ranch.

• 1956 - Soil Bank was made up of two specific programs: the acreage and conservation reserve.

1970’s• Soil and Water Resources

Conservation Act• The study and inventory of

resource problems as a basis for directing conservation programs.

• The central question was as old as the conservation movement. How do we deal with conservation nationwide?

1990’s• Comply with requirements of

Food Security Act• Reduction in the acreage to be

enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program

• EQIP• $200 million livestock

1940’s• World War II• Farmers were just getting back on

their feet after the Depression• Period of turf wars, where the Soil

Conservation Service, land-grant colleges, Farm Bureau, extension, the Department of the Interior, and others attempted to shape their roles in conservation programs.

1960’s• Conservation payments through

the ACP were being used to improve soil quality and yields.

• The Emergency Feed Grain Act attempted to take additional acres out of production by paying farmers to replace production acreage with conservation areas.

1980’s• Food Security Act of 1985.• Sodbuster• Swampbuster• Conservation Compliance• Conservation Reserve Program

(CRP)• EPA – Nonpoint Source Program

2000’s• Grassland Reserve Program• Conservation Security Program• Increases in financial and

technical Assistance

2010’s• NWQI• RCPP• Partnerships• Over $3.5 billion available for

conservation

Publications

1936

19381928

Publications

1960

1973

2017

1948

Conservation Funding▪ 1933–$5 Million available for soil conservation work

▪ 2014– Approximately $3.6 Billion in Financial Assistance

▪ 1936 – 2010– Financial Assistance - $77.3 BILLION– Technical Assistance - $32.7 BILLION– Total Assistance - $110 BILLION

Conservation Funding – North Dakota

▪ USDA - NRCS– $90 Million financial assistance (dollars to producers)

▪ Outdoor Heritage Fund– $10 - $40 Million per biennium

▪ Section 319 EPA/NDDoH– $2.9 Million

▪ Other– USFWS, FSA, ND G&F, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, etc.– +80 Million

A Few Thousand Words

1930s

United States View

Kansas 2014

Oklahoma 2013

Texas 2012

New Mexico 2017

November1976

October 2016

1936

North Dakota

Not Just Dust Storms

1975 – 2018

1975

2018

Measurable Results

Tale of the Tape▪ 1800-1900 - Iowa - topsoil measured 14 to 16 inches deep – By 2000, only 6 to 8 inches remained, and erosion continues.

▪ In 1964 - Walsh County - 34 inches of soil above the C horizon (unadulterated, little changed parent material). – In 2014, there was 15 inches of soil

above the C horizon– A loss in 50 years of 15+ inches of soil.

Tale of the Tape

▪ In many areas of North Dakota we have lost over 50% of our topsoil…..

▪ There are approximately 39.45 GROWING SEASONS of topsoil left…..

The Future of Conservation

The Driving Question…

Are you a Miner or a Steward?

Are you a miner of or steward the soil?

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Miner – snow protects the soil, it’s someone/thing else’s fault Steward – I need to build the soil health, I am responsible for the resource, I am responsible for the future.

The Path Forward

▪ We need a new approach – new thinking!

– Who will lead?▪ Soil Conservation Districts?

– Who will follow?▪ Volunteer conservation?▪ Few willing producers

▪ We need Stewards.

The Consequences

▪ACTION = Successful Voluntary Conservation

▪ Inaction = INVITES REGULATION

Conservation is more than trees