Jb. Raffaelle et al., EFFECT OF NARROW GRASS STRIPS ON CONSERVATION RESERVE LAND CONVERTED TO CROPLAND, Transactions of the ASAE, 40(6), 1997, pp. 1581-1587
This rainulator study provided information about soil loss rates occur
ring following the conversion of grassland plots to crop production. S
imulated rainfall (64 mm/h) was applied for two hours to bare fallow,
conventional-till, and no-till plots (with and without grass strips lo
cated across the bottom of plots) during the summers of 1993, 1994, an
d 1995. The plots were cultivated in 1971, which was the last cultivat
ion preceding this study's beginning. The plots had been in continuous
grass since 1973 except in 1985 when no-till soybeans were grown on t
hem and in 1986 when no-till grain sorghum was grown. This three-year
study showed that grass strips were effective in trapping sediment abo
ve the strips. The conventional-till plots with grass strips averaged
42, 66, and 72% less soil loss in 1993, 1994, and 1995, respectively,
than that from conventional-till plots without grass strips. The no-ti
ll plots with the grass strips averaged 20, 64, and 57% less soil loss
in 1993, 1994, and 1995, respectively, than from the no-till plots wi
thout grass strips. The bare fallow plots with grass strips averaged 6
5, 84, and 88% less soil loss in 1993, 1994, and 1995, respectively, t
han the bare fallow plots without the grass strips. The conventional-t
ill plots without grass strips had 31, 83, and 70% less soil loss in 1
993, 1994, and 2995, respectively, than bare fallow plots without gras
s strips. The no-till plots without grass strips had 95, 97, and 99% l
ess soil loss, respectively, than bare fallow plots without grass stri
ps.