Editorial

Dramatic change realized in soil conservation effort

Saturday, October 29, 2005

When he read that the Roberts family had received the "Master of Conservation" Award for 2005, Densel O'Dea's thoughts carried him back to the 1960s. At the time, Densel was a technician for the Soil Conservation Service, and -- as such -- witnessed one of the most dramatic changes in conservation practices this region has ever known.

The change -- which brought this region national recognition -- was the start and spread of flat channel terraces. Although it was in Texas that the idea of flat channel terraces was actually born, it was in Southwest Nebraska that the practice gained widespread use because of its practical benefit to farming operations.

"Before the flat channels gained popularity," Densel said, "most of the farmers in this area were using V channels," which, as the name suggests, were deep slanted cuts into the soil. The problem with the V channels was that they created weed rows or bare spots in the field, O'Dea said.

That's why the flat channels were such a welcome development. The wider flat channel creates better distribution of water. As it turned out, the flat channels were ideal for this region for two reasons: (1) Most of the farmland, situated between the area's deep canyons, is gently sloping, which works well for the flat channel concept; and (2) This area is semi-arid, with an average of 14 to 17 inches of rainfall received annually in the Middle Republican District. That fits the flat channel concept, since too much rain would create standing pools of water.

Those two factors, plus federal and state cost sharing programs, sparked a terracing boom which is still going on. According to Ben Hardin, irrigation specialist with the Natural Resource and Conservation Service in McCook, more than 63 million feet of terraces have been installed in Red Willow County between 1943 and 2005. That adds up to more than 12,000 miles, a distance which exceeds a round trip from New York to Los Angeles and back again.

The peak year was 1965, when 650 miles (or 3.5 million feet) of terraces were installed on the county's farmland. "I was on the staff that year," said Don Jumps of Culbertson. "The flat channel movement got rolling in 1963, and reached its peak it 1965."

Now, Hardin estimates, 90 percent of the farmland in the Middle Republican District has terracing, with the overwhelming majority being of the flat channel variety.

Don Roberts, his father and grandfather -- along with other forward-thinking area farmers -- launched the conservation movement in the middle of the 20th Century with the help of O'Dea, Jumps and other conservation technicians. These many years later, the value of flat channel terracing and other conservation practices remain essential for Southwest Nebraska. "Many of the terraces have been around a long time," Hardin said. "It's time for them to be upgraded."

The time is right, as applications are now being accepted for the EQIP, which stands for Environmental Quality Incentive Program. The deadline is Nov. 30. For more information, farmers are encouraged to contact their local NRCS office.

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