Getting Into Soil & Water 2019
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GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 1 GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER CELEBRATING 10 YEARS 2019 Edition A publication of the Soil & Water Conservation Club at Iowa State University™ A publication of the Soil & Water Conservation Club 2 GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 Table of Proudly Presenting GISW 2019 Jacob Wright, Shannon Breja and Justin Hunter Contents 2019 Editors Letter from our Editors ................. 2 In its tenth year, Getting into Soil and Water is Jacob Wright, Shannon Breja and Justin packed full of great articles that we are excited to “The goal of this Hunter share with you. The goal of this year’s publication Improving our Soil and Water is to showcase the diversity of opportunities year’s publication Resources with Biochar ................ 4 within soil and water. Our team of three co- Deborah Aller, PhD editors is made up of Jacob Wright, Shannon is to showcase Soil Survey at Your Fingertips....... 6 Breja, and Justin Hunter. We wanted to share with Skye Wills, PhD you a little bit about ourselves and what soil and the diversity of Redefning Water Automation and water conservation means to us. Conservation Practices in Hawaii ...... 8 Dan Clegg Jacob Wright: opportunities within I am a junior in Getting Started with No-Till and Cover Crop System ...................... 10 agronomy and soil and water.” Steve Berger environmental Cultivating a Legacy: Water for the studies and joined Justin Hunter: I am Next Generation .......................... 12 the Soil and Water a junior in agronomy Trygve Lien Conservation Club and joined the Soil and Working with Nature Following in the spring of Water Conservation Wildfre in California .................... 14 2017. Growing up Club in the fall of Rich Casale on a dairy farm in 2017. My interest in Nutrients and Us: What We Know Virginia, I always conservation started and Why We Should Care ............ 16 saw numerous articles and heard discussion my freshman year Yau-Huo (Jimmy) Shr, PhD and about nutrient contamination in the Chesapeake Chuan Tang, PhD of college. Learning Bay. This peaked my interest for soil and water about the effects Seeing Things from a conservation, and being a part of this club and of soil erosion and Farmer’s Perspective ................... 18 publication has allowed me to learn more about Chris Morris water contamination current research and issues in this feld of study. motivated me to always try to be part of the The Daily Erosion Project (DEP): I have learned a lot from co-editing through Near Real-time Estimates solution rather than part of the problem. This of Iowa Soil .................................. 20 reading different research studies and seeing the club has allowed me to connect with people Daryl Herzmann diverse perspectives and ideas that came together who share the same motivation as myself and Lessons from a Year to showcase the variety of opportunities in soil to gain additional knowledge on agricultural in Leadership ................................ 22 and water conservation. conservation practices. Being a co-editor on this Clare Lindahl Shannon Breja: year’s publication has brought great opportunities Cultivating a Legacy: Water I am a sophomore in networking with authors and learning more for the Next Generation .............. 23 in Agronomy, and I about the current conservation practices that are Laura Stowater became a member of working today. I hope this publication gets the Pharmaceuticals in the Soil and Water readers thinking about conservation and how Iowa’s Waters .............................. 24 Conservation Club these practices can improve both agriculture and Greg LeFevre in the fall of 2017. the environment. Crossing Political Jurisdictions for Although I grew This publication would not be possible without Watershed Management .............. 26 up surrounded by the great help of our committee members. We Melissa Miller agriculture, I did not would like to thank them for their dedication to Watershed Work Over The Decades: realize the urgency making this publication unique and informative. Partnerships Are the Key! ............. 28 We would also like to thank our advisors, Dr. Rick Anna Golightly of conservation until coming to college. With the environmental Cruse and Dr. Bradley Miller, for their knowledge Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Iowa impacts of agriculture becoming increasingly and support throughout the publication process Watershed Awards ........................ 31 over the last ten years. They have been essential to Sarah Feehan prevalent, the club has allowed me to learn about current conservation issues. The club has also this publication, and we are so thankful for them. The suggested format for citing an allowed me to be co-editor of this publication to Finally, we need to send a huge thanks to article from this publication is: Author. share some of these relevant issues and provide you, our readers. Your support has given us 2019. Title of Article. Page(s) of Article. In Wright, J.; Breja, S.; and Hunter, J. different perspectives about them. My hope for the opportunity to create the tenth edition of (eds.) Getting Into Soil and Water 2019. all of you is that Getting into Soil and Water will Getting into Soil and Water, and we are excited to Iowa Water Center. Ames, IA. increase your knowledge of conservation and continue these publications for years to come. strengthen your interests in it. A publication of the Soil & Water Conservation Club GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 GETTING INTOFROM SOIL THE &EDITORS WATER 2019 3 A publication of the Soil & Water Conservation Club 4 GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 Figure 2. Biochars produced from pine wood (left) and switchgrass Improving our Soil and Water Resources with Biochar Deborah Aller, PhD Agricultural Stewardship Specialist Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County An ancient practice has become a new called “Terra Preta de Indio” or Amazonian kilns can serve both purposes in some tool for agriculture and the environment. Dark Earths. These soils are characterized parts of the world). Also, the pyrolysis Biochar, a charcoal-like substance, has by a dark color and high (long-lasting) process makes biochar chemically much gained increasing attention over the last fertility, resulting in greater crop yields and more stable than charcoal and other soil decade by farmers, businesses, scientists, nutrient and water retention compared to amendments such as compost and manure. and gardeners for numerous reasons. But surrounding sandy, low fertility, and highly This stability means biochar is highly what is it? How is it made? What are the weathered tropical soils typical of the resistant to degradation and persists in potential benefts of it? and Can I use it on region (Lehmann et al., 2003). soils for hundreds and thousands of years my farm? (Lehmann et al., 2009); making it more effcient than other forms of organic matter, Biochar is pyrogenic, carbon-rich Making Biochar and it does not need to be applied annually, material deliberately applied to soil Today, biochar is made via pyrolysis, the but maybe every 3-4 years. to enhance soil quality, increase crop thermochemical decomposition of organic productivity, recycle nutrients, and material by heating under no or very low The properties of biochar are also unique sequester atmospheric carbon (Glaser et oxygen conditions. Any organic material compared to other organic materials. It is al., 2002; Lehmann et al., 2006; Laird, including woodchips, corn stover residue, highly porous, with a high surface area and 2008). Interest in producing and applying switchgrass, tree trimmings, rice husks, low bulk density, reducing compaction and biochar today is based on a thousand-year- leaves, and manure can be used to make acting like a sponge to retain water and old practice by indigenous Amazonians biochar. Biochar looks like charcoal but nutrients. in Brazil. The intentional application of differs because it is intended for use as a A recent meta-analysis identifed some of campfre and cooking residues in soils from soil amendment, not for use as a fuel for the numerous studies that support biochars 500-7000 years ago produced what are heating or cooking (although small-scale ability to improve soil physical and A publication of the Soil & Water Conservation Club GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 GETTING INTO SOIL & WATER 2019 5 hydraulic properties (Blanco-Canqui, 2017). Additionally, Soil water retention biochar properties change over time as it slowly weathers in soils. For example, biochar surfaces tend to be hydrophobic Microbial activity (water-hating) immediately after production, but become Infiltration hydrophilic (water-loving) quickly after exposure to wet and dry periods (Kinney et al., 2012; Aller et al., 2017), Porosity which is important for enhancing soil moisture and Soil fertility/structure reducing nutrient leaching to the environment. Some of the many potential benefts of biochar are listed in Figure 1. Aeration Crop growth Proper Application Cation exchange capacity The greatest benefts from biochar to crop productivity and the environment are observed after just one application in degraded soils with low fertility and sandy soils with poor structure. Biochar is most often applied to agricultural felds via broadcast application or manual spreading followed by incorporation through surface tillage or raking (IBI, 2010). It should not be applied on windy days because it’s a very light material that is easily blown away if not Nutrient leaching/run-off immediately incorporated. Compaction Importantly, limitations of biochar do exist including: Disease severity site specifcity, product variability, availability, and cost. Biochars are diverse and not created equal, with each Soil toxicity biomass feedstock producing a different biochar type Odors (Figure 2). Its potential to have a positive impact on farms and various production systems depends on soil type, Greenhouse gas emissions environmental conditions, application rate, and time. Fertilizer use (including input costs) Therefore, biochar applications must be made strategically Bulk density and with a specifc goal in mind (i.e. what is the problem I am trying to solve?).