Soil quality, erosion among top environmental concerns

Hay rolls soak up the sunshine in a mown Callaway County field Wednesday, June 21, 2017. (Fulton Sun photo)
Hay rolls soak up the sunshine in a mown Callaway County field Wednesday, June 21, 2017. (Fulton Sun photo)

Priority concerns regarding Mother Nature, haven't changed much in the past year, a local group decided Wednesday.

A group - that is well versed in soil, water, air, plants and animals - gathered around a conference table at Fulton's USDA Service Center. They met with Terry Hill, USDA district conservationist for Callaway, Boone and Audrain counties.

Every year, he checks in with local working group members to discuss information which is then applied to two federal programs - Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. 

Both programs help farmers and other landowners solve problems including soil and wind erosion, soil degradation, water management and air quality. Financial compensation also is involved, plus creation of well-drafted plans and implementation of those plans.

Around the table with Hill were Bob Reeves, Missouri Department of Conservation resource forester, and Noland Bartley, board member for Callaway County Soil and Water Conservation District. Also with the conservation district were Matt Blansett, district manager, and Lucas McCray, district technician.

"We're collecting information to see what are the concerns in the county," Hill said.

The information he gathered will go to higher ups planning those two cost-share programs for next year.

No-till farming method helps

Blansett said with improved farming practices, including a move away from tilling operations, there is less sheet and rill erosion. The main concern now, he said, is gully erosion.

Sheet erosion is the removal of soil in thin layers by raindrop impact and shallow surface flow. Rills are shallow drainage lines common on bare agricultural - often over-grazed - land. Both are fairly easy to smooth over, fill and plant, hiding the erosion from view. But the next time rain falls, the soil will wash away.

Gullies occur when water flows across a surface, creating a channel.

"Just as a land owner, the biggest problem I see around here is classic gully (erosion)," Blansett said.

Water always goes to the lowest spot, and chemically sprayed fields can have a negative affect on surrounding areas.

"This is a concern, especially if it (a rain event) happens right after you spray," Blansett added.

Shopping center parking lots also create a rainbow flow of chemicals after rain storms, McCray added. Detrius from leaking oil pans and radiators has to go somewhere - like municipal storm water systems.

The water descends to the low areas and eventually into gullies, streams and rivers. In Fulton, stormwater runoff often ends up in Stinson Creek.

"Stinson Creek is bad - very, very bad," McCray said, adding city officials have said there also are pollution issues from upstream farming operations.

Animals and trees

Overgrazed pastures present their own problems. Soil becomes less porous as it becomes more compacted, hindering the absorption of rain water and creating runoff, and eventually gullies.

Grass grazed to the nub doesn't need as much rain water as 6-inch blades of grass do, and without those long blades, there's nothing to hinder the quick run off of rain water.

Cows tend to congregate in shady spots, so manure concentration there is high, bringing another set of problems.

Reeves said Callaway County has plenty of forest land, and much of that needs thinning and/or burning to be healthy.

"A lot of the woodlands are degraded due to humans (reducing controlled burns)," he said.

In the case of a landowner interested in improving their woodland habitat, officials at the state Department of Conservation can write a timber stand improvement plan which can be submitted to people like Hill at the USDA for financial assistance in these programs.

"That (woodlands) program is under-utilized the most," Hill said, adding almost every forestry management plan submitted is approved, and every year there is, in fact, excess money. "If a fire is prescribed, they have money in there for those. But most farmers are not thinking about practices in woodlands."

There also is money available to landowners who wishing to fence out livestock from forested areas.

It's hard to work on stream-bank erosion as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of all navigable water.

Ten elements (in the 18-county Northern Ozark Highlands designation) were ranked in order of importance in 2016, with No. 1 being soil quality degradation and No. 2 being soil erosion. Third came water quality degradation, followed by Livestock production limitation (No. 4) and insufficient water (No. 5). Degraded plant conditions were sixth, followed by inadequate habitat for fish and wildlife (No. 7). The final three were excess water (eight), air quality impacts (nine) and inefficient energy use (10).

In the past year, not much has changed from that list, members of the working group decided.

"I don't see anything I would like to change," Blansett said. "I think one and two are tied together by nature."

The group decided to submit an identical ranking to the USDA officials, who will revamp the two programs accordingly for 2018, Hill said.