Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Early Investment In Soil Conservation Research Continues To Provide Dividends, John E. Gilley, D. C. Flanagan

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Current soil conservation programs are built upon an established research legacy. Hugh H. Bennett, chief of the USDA Soil Conservation Service from 1935 to 1951, was instrumental in the establishment of a network of 35 soil conservation experiment stations (SCES). Research projects were initiated at the SCES in the 1930s to investigate the principal factors causing erosion and to identify the most effective and practical methods of controlling soil loss from agricultural areas. Information obtained from the SCES, and selected other locations, was assembled at the National Runoff and Soil Loss Data Center (NRSLDC) established on the campus of Purdue …

Phosphorus Risk Assessment Index Evaluation Using Runoff Measurements, Bahman Eghball, John E. Gilley

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

An index to evaluate the phosphorus (P) pollution potential of agricultural fields was proposed by Lemunyon and Gilbert in 1993. Data from three rainfall simulation studies were used to evaluate the relative importance of the variables in the P index. These studies included plots containing sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and corn (Zea mays L.) residues on which chemical fertilizer and composted or noncomposted beef cattle feedlot manure were applied under no-till and disked conditions. The factors of erosion, runoff, soil P level P application source, and method, and rate of P addition …

Runoff And Soil Loss As Affected By The Application Of Manure, John E. Gilley, L. Mark Risse

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Manure has been used effectively to improve crop production and soil properties because it contains nutrients and organic matter. While it is generally accepted that the improved soil properties associated with manure application lead to changes in runoff and soil erosion, few studies have quantified these impacts. Water quality models used to assess watershed management and estimate total maximum daily load must accurately predict loading rates from fields where manure has been applied. This study was conducted to assemble and summarize information quantifying the effects of manure application on runoff and soil loss resulting from natural precipitation events, and to …

Narrow Grass Hedge Effects On Phosphorus And Nitrogen In Runoff Following Manure And Fertilizer Application, B. Eghball, John E. Gilley, L. A. Kramer, T. B. Moorman

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Runoff losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from field applied manure can contribute to surface water pollution. Grass hedges may reduce runoff losses of nutrients and sediment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of narrow switchgrass (,i>Panicum virgatum L.) hedges (~0.75 m wide) on the transport of P and N from a field receiving beef cattle feedlot manure under tilled and n-till conditions. This study was conducted on a steep (12% average slope) Monona silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls) soil near Treynor, Iowa. The experiment was a split-plot with no-till and …

Runoff And Erosion Following Field Application Of Beef Cattle Manure And Compost, John E. Gilley, Bahman Eghball

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Manure or compost from beef cattle feedlots can be excellent sources of nutrients and organic matter when added to soils. This study was conducted to determine the effect of a single application of manure and compost on runoff and erosion under no-till and tillage conditions. Tillage consisted of a single disking operation up and down the slope on a Sharpsburg soil which was cropped to grain sorghum or wheat the previous season. Manure and compost were applied at rates required to meet corn fertility requirements. Additional experimental treatments included the application of inorganic fertilizer and an untreated check. The addition …

Sediment Movement Within A Strip Intercropping System, John E. Gilley, L. A. Kramer, R. M. Cruse, A. Hull

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

This study was conducted to identify sediment movement within a strip intercropping system in southwestern Iowa during the third year of a three-year crop rotation. Soil loss, resulting from the application of simulated rainfall to a Monona silt loam soil, was measured from individual corn (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr), and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) strips, and from multiple strips which included all three crops. Because of the crop rotation and residue management procedures, used at the study site, a substantial amount of surface cover and vegetative mass was present on each of …

Runoff, Erosion, And Soil Quality Characteristics Of A Former Conservation Reserve Program Site In Southwestern Oklahoma, John E. Gilley, John W. Doran, Thanh H. Dao

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

This study was conducted to measure runoff, erosion, and soil quality characteristics of a site in southwestern Oklahoma the first year following conversion from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Treatments included undisturbed CRP, Old World bluestem (Bothriochlora ischaemum L.), no-till wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and conservation-till wheat. Significant differences in surface cover were found between each of the experimental treatments, with values ranging from 100% on the undisturbed CRP site to 42% for the conservation-till treatment. No significant difference in runoff was found among the various experimental treatments. The Old World bluestem and winter wheat treatments had only …

Tillage Effects On Soil Erosion Potential And Soil Quality Of A Former Conservation Reserve Program Site, John E. Gilley, J. W. Doran

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

This study was conducted to determine the effects of tillage on soil erosion potential and soil quality characteristics of a former Conservation Research Program (CRP) site. Following tillage, the study area in northern Mississippi was maintained in a fallow condition for nine months. Soil loss from simulated rainfall events was minimal on recently tilled plots and an adjoining, undisturbed CRP area. In contrast, soil loss from the former CRP site which had been tilled nine months previously was similar to values obtained before the CRP program when the area had been cropped for several years. Tillage and over-winter fallowing caused …

Subsoiling, Contouring, And Tillage Effects On Erosion And Runoff, Paul J. Jasa, Elbert C. Dickey

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

A study to evaluate the effectiveness of subsoiling on reducing soil erosion and water runoff from continuous com production was conducted. A rotating boom rainfall simulator was used on replicated treatments having either preplant in-row subsoiling or postplant between-row subsoiling used in both tilled and untilled surface conditions. Tilled and untilled treatments without subsoiling were used as checks. These six treatments were used up-and-downhill and on the contour.

Subsoiling reduced the rate of water runoff but did not significantly reduce the soil erosion rate after equilibrium had been reached between water application and runoff rates. Surface condition and farming direction …

Enhancing Soil Conservation Practice Adoption With Targeted Educational Programs, Elbert C. Dickey, David P. Shelton, Paul J. Jasa

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Two independent, but closely related, grant funded educational programs were developed and implemented to reduce soil erosion in selected areas of eastern Nebraska. Traditional extension programming methods as well as other more non-traditional approaches were used extensively to enhance soil conservation practice adoption. In one program, encompassing 220 000 ha (540,000 acre) of cropland, annual soil erosion was reduced by 2.3 million t (2.5 million ton) and annual fuel savings of 1.5 million L (390,000 gal) were achieved through a reduction in the number of tillage operations. In the second project, more than 93 000 m (305,000 ft) of terraces …