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Rick Cruse - Corn/soy systems
Soil erosion costs farmers money through lost productivity and nutrient loss, costing approximately $4.55 per acre annually. However, soil erosion also costs taxpayers and society through offsite impacts like water pollution, totaling around $25 per acre annually. Between 2005-2014, US taxpayers spent over $3 billion in Iowa alone to subsidize more sustainable farming practices at a rate of around $12.50 per acre annually. Unless erosion rates are high and a farmer owns land for a long time, soil conservation remains more expensive than soil erosion for individual farmers. Overall erosion costs to taxpayers and society exceed costs to individual farmers.
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Rick Cruse - Corn/soy systems
- 1. Co$t of $oilEro$ion Rick Cruse Scott Lee Tim Sklenar Iowa State University The True Cost of American Food 14-17th April 2016 Fort Mason Center – San Francisco
- 3. What does itcost?
- 4. What does itcost? And who pays? On site costs
- 5. What does itcost? And who pays? Off Site costs
- 6. What does itcost? We know who will pay. Global Food Security
- 7. 1Bakker, M. M.,Govers, G. and Rounsevell, M. D. A. 2004. The Crop Productivity-erosion Relationship: An Analysis Based on Experimental Work. Catena, 57: 55–76 What is the relationship between soil loss and crop yield? • …yield reductions of approximately 4% per 10 cm (4 inches) of soil loss should be considered realistic.1 • Where nutrient deficits are avoided by fertilization, response curves are generally convex, implying that reductions will become increasingly severe with further erosion. 1
- 8. y = 26.676ln(x)+ 69.797 R² = 0.5705 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 CornYield(bu/acre) A Horizon Depth (in) DRY Corn Yield vs A horizon depth Boone County. Tom Kaspar, USDA/ARS personal communication.
- 10. 4.8 T/A 1.6T/A 5.4 T/A5.4 T/A 8.0 T/A
- 11. State Wide Average 5.7T/A/YR One pound of soil for each pound of corn produced
- 12. y = 26.676ln(x)+ 69.797 R² = 0.5705 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 CornYield(bu/acre) A Horizon Depth (in) DRY Corn Yield vs A horizon depth
- 13. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify,Simplify • Average 2.2 bu/A yield loss/inch of topsoil • Using Iowa average corn yield 2006-2015 ▫ 170 bu/A 5% reduction per 4 inches (10 cm) • Assume $4.00/Bu corn • 5.7 tons soil loss/A cost producer next year $0.35/A
- 14. Nutrient Redistribution andLoss • Nutrient value in eroded topsoil ▫ 5.7 Tons/A Mostly redistributed in field Sediment Delivery Ratio = 0.35 (5.7 Tons/A) X = 2 Tons/A (2 Tons/A) X ($2.10/Ton1) = $4.20 1Iowa Learning Farms. 2013. Cost of soil erosion. http://www.extension.iastate.edu /ilf/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/ilf/Cost_of_Eroded_Soil.pdf
- 15. Cumulativecost($/A) Years 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 10 2030 40 50 60 Soil Erosion ($0.35 + Nutrient1) and Conservation Cost. Soil Erosion Rate 5.7 T/A/Yr 1Nutrient loss value $2.10/ton for exported soil
- 16. Cumulativecost($/A) Years 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 10 2030 40 50 60 Soil Erosion ($0.35 + Nutrient1) and Conservation Cost. Soil Erosion rate 5.7 T/A/Yr 1Nutrient loss value $2.10/ton for exported soil $30/A/Yr Soil Conservation
- 17. Cumulativecost($/A) Years 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 0 10 2030 40 50 60 Soil Erosion ($2.45 + Nutrients1) and Conservation Cost. Soil Erosion Rate 38.5 T/A/Yr $30/A/Yr for Soil Conservation 1Nutrient loss value = $28.30/A for exported topsoil
- 18. Off Site Costs??? •$12 - $38 / Acre US cropland1 1Tegtmeier, Erin M; Duffy, Michael, External Costs of Agricultural Production in the United States, International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability Vol. 2 no. 1 (2004): 1-20.
- 19. Between 2005 and2014, U.S. taxpayers spent $3 billion in Iowa through five USDA programs to pay landowners to farm in more environmentally friendly ways.1 • Approximately $125/A for 24 million row crop acres • Approximately $12.50/A/Yr 1Rundquist, Soren and Craig Cox. 2016. Fooling ourselves: voluntary programs fail to clean-up dirty water. Environmental Working Group. Washington DC.
- 20. Farm Costs ~$ 4.55/A/YR Off Site Damage ~ $25.00/A/YR Public Investment ~ $12.50/A/YR $40+/A/YR Summary
- 21. Global Food $ecurity????? “We’vehad the farm program since the mid-1930s, and we do have to overproduce to help feed the world. But we have to take care of this land. If we really have to feed 9 billion people by 2050, we’re really going to need this soil.”1 Seth Watkins – farmer Clarinda, IA. Kezar, Mitch. 2016. There’s no magic bullet to stop erosion. Commonsense practices help. Successful Farming. Available on line. http://www.agriculture.com/content/real-world-conservation
- 22. Conclusions • Industrial Ag- Soil conservation more expensive than soil erosion for the farmer ▫ Soil conservation is added expense Unless farmer owns the land for extended time and erosion rates are high • Erosion cost to public is greater than cost to the farmer
Editor's Notes
- #9 10 cm erosion starting at 15 inches or 37.5 cm results in 400 kg/ha with yield of 8,946 kg/ha at 15 inches (37.5 cm) top soil depth. Is 4.5 % reduction for 10 cm loss top soil depth. Eight bushels lost with 5 inches thinning at 15 -> 10 inch depth. 12.5 cm & 504 Kg/ha. Or 40 kg/cm or 4 kg/ha/mm. Max yield ~ 170 bu/A = 10.7 tonnes/ha 10 cm erosion -> 400 kg/ha or 3.7% of max.;
- #13 Could you identify where greatest water holding capacity exists and where water for crops would be limited?
- #18 At 50 years is $4536/A total loss or >$90/A average
- #20 Conservation Stewardship Program, Conservation Technical Assistance, Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Security Program, Environmental Quality Incentive Program