Agriculture’s Impact on Water Quality

Understanding

Consequences

Practices to Limit Sediment on Cropland

• Waterways

• Saturated Buffers

• Controlled Drainage• Terraces

• No-Till

• Cover Crops

Cover Crops Are …

• Plants grown before, after, or

with the cash crop

How Cover Crops Limit Soil Loss

• Follow 6 Soil Health Principles

• Armor on Soil Surface - Limit harmful rain drop impact

• Limit Disturbance - Stop Tillage to retain soil porosity/ aggregates

• Increase Diversity - Plant architecture/ root structure/ photosynthesis

• Living Root Increase water use/ evapotranspiration

• Integrate Animals Prescriptive grazing/ vegetation control

• Context

www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/universal-soil-loss-equation

Cover Crops Reduce Erosion

Practice Erosion (tons/ac/yr)

No cover crop 4.6

Disked rye cover crop 2.0

No-till rye cover crop 1.8

• Crop was continuous corn silage• Tillage: Spring chisel plow, field cultivation prior to planting• Source: Ward-Good, 2014

• One ton of soil with optimum nutrients (10 ppm N, 20 ppm P, and 130 ppm K) contains• 2.0 lb. N• 9.0 lb. P2O5• 31 lb. K2O

So What Are Farmers Doing?

Crystal Clear Any Questions?

Thank you!

Lasch Livestock & Land Solutions

Adam Lasch

262-749-8412

laschsolutions @gmail.com

www. laschlivestock.com