How much is soil erosion costing you?

By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY

Remember that blizzard that hit many parts of Iowa right before Christmas 2022? Those sustained, howling winds are gone, but evidence of the damage remains in the form of snirt (a mix of snow and dirt), from ditches to yards.

“Erosion happens a lot faster when intense weather events occur,” said Angie RieckHinz, an Iowa State University Extension field agronomist in north-central Iowa. “Soil degradation is happening in Iowa, and we need to slow this process down.”

There is a cost to soil erosion — and it can be high.

Ever wonder how much money is in the ditch in the form of snirt?

So did Jodi DeJong-Hughes,

Angie Rieck-Hinz

a regional educator with the University of Minnesota Extension who specializes in tillage systems, soil compaction and improving soil health.

Nearly a decade ago, DeJongHughes sampled snirt in the ditch along state Highway 40 in western Minnesota. Laboratory analysis and math revealed that on a per-acre basis, fields were losing $82 to $96 worth of nutrients (including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).

Given today’s fertilizer prices, those dollar amounts would be substantially higher, Rieck-Hinz said.

Those numbers don’t tell