Volume 17: Issue 5 July 2015
BOTTOM LINE Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
Soil loss = transport mechanism + source AMBER RADATZ UW Discovery Farms
Part one of two
Proper use of antibiotics — see Page 5
Protect your soil — see Page 7
Dairy Market trends — see Page 9
Right now across Wisconsin there is a nice crop canopy of knee-high corn. This growth signals the end to the most vulnerable time for soil loss. In fact, University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms® Prog ra m d a ta shows that more than 80 percent of soil loss occurs in the months of April, May and June. Amber Radatz Although we may not be able to eliminate runoff, we can greatly reduce the amount of soil carried off our fields if we understand the two pieces of the soil loss equation: transport and source. For soil to move off of farm fields it takes runoff to transport soil and a certain level of vulnerability. If there’s a source and nothing to carry it, that soil may be vulnerable but it’s not going anywhere. The same is true for
Keep fields and pastures well-managed with adequate ground cover to avoid the risk of losing the most precious resource on your farm — the soil.
transport. When transport conditions and timing combine with exposed and vulnerable soil there’s a good chance loss is going to occur. April to June primary transport times Only a small amount of precipitation actually runs off fields. UW Discovery Farms has monitored runoff from Wisconsin farm fields for the past
12 years. On monitored fields, up to half of all annual surface water runoff and almost all soil loss occurred from April to June. Runoff dislodges soil from vulnerable areas and carries it off the landscape. Minimizing soil loss means working with factors that are within your control and adapting to factors outside your control. You can’t change the weather, but you can control your tillage and use of conservation practices. See SOIL, on page 2
Professional Dairy Producers™ I 1-800-947-7379 I www.pdpw.org