reuben
Trail Wise!
Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
Posts: 11,164 
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Post by reuben on Aug 8, 2016 6:33:28 GMT -8
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swmtnbackpacker
Trail Wise!
Back but probably posting soon under my real name ... Rico Sauve
Posts: 4,886
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Aug 8, 2016 6:57:28 GMT -8
The underlying Ogallala reservoir may dry further (a problem brewing when I was an undergrad in the area almost, yikes, 30 yrs ago) and cause the loss of more farmland. Governments of all stripes increasingly monitor those water levels. Converting more to native prairies seems to be a solution.
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Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
Posts: 3,809
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 8, 2016 7:57:02 GMT -8
Sounds like a good sustainable treatment for ag runoff, which is a nightmare.
It would also help to kill off the ethanol hoax. Ethanol is a lousy idea.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 8:13:07 GMT -8
Aldo Leopold wrote extensively about the problem with destruction of native plant species in the area — across the Mississippi from Iowa in Wisconsin. If taking concrete steps to restore the prairie is somewhat new, the ideas behind that are at least 70 years old. Some of this article sounded like a review of A Sand County Almanac. Thanks for the link.
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Post by tallgrass on Aug 9, 2016 19:19:40 GMT -8
Aldo Leopold wrote extensively about the problem with destruction of native plant species in the area — across the Mississippi from Iowa in Wisconsin. If taking concrete steps to restore the prairie is somewhat new, the ideas behind that are at least 70 years old. Some of this article sounded like a review of A Sand County Almanac. Thanks for the link. "The first step to intelligent tinkering is to keep all the parts" - Aldo Leopold I've been tangentially involved in this project and others like it. I'm hoping the press & $$ behind STRIPS will finally get a critical mass of land users to see the light. To protect soil & water quality, we can replace between 2-5% of production (in strategically placed areas) and it'll reduce 95% of soil loss. We're seeing in places of Iowa where farmers have already lost 15-20% of their yields due to soil loss. We're getting to the point where something must be done. Essentially 75% of Iowa is impervious to water infiltration due to compaction, etc. That leads to runoff. We are in the midst of another "Dust Bowl" but it's being washed away instead of blown away. Mud Bowl perhaps. |
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Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
Posts: 3,809
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 10, 2016 10:54:18 GMT -8
All the detritus from Iowa hog farms cannot be used to replenish the soil?
Seriously, that's an alarming stat. This country has such amazing crop land in its middle section. Hate to see it squandered.
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Post by tallgrass on Aug 11, 2016 20:54:23 GMT -8
That's the kicker. With concentrated feeding, creates concentrated poop. We've turned farmer's gold into a toxic sludge. The huge manure pits with every hog building are a festering, fermenting, chemistry experiment. There are over 200 toxic compounds in those tanks. There can be so much nitrogen volatilize from hog farms, it can rain with measurable amounts of nitrogen. It rains fertilizer.
We have somewhere around 6 million hogs in the state of Iowa. There's 3 million people. Pound for pound hogs produce 10x the amount of waste as humans. So, let's just say a 200lb hog = 200lb man. We produce the equivalent amount of crap as that of 60 million people. It's like we import all the sewage from all the people of California & Texas.
And then spread it across our landscape.
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leafwalker
Trail Wise!
peace on earth and good will toward all - om shanti
Posts: 526
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Post by leafwalker on Aug 12, 2016 10:42:51 GMT -8
Selling setting aside land for prairies is a hard sell. I wish the MO Conservation Dept would practice this. I live and hike in a large tract of their land about 20 miles as the monarch could fly from Iowa. Prime prairie potential. Used to be much better. But, the Dept the last few years chooses to mow along the roads from tree line to tree line (about 200 feet) in early July instead of letting it flower and they turn their open fields over in early July (prime summer flower season) to plant turnips for deer or to just let it sit there. In other open fields they plant grasses tearing up what were flowering fields a few years. I just don't agree with them on this. I've written letters and met with them ( I am sure I am on a list), but to no avail. Then there is their spring prescribed burning practices. This past spring they burned an area that was full of milk weed the previous year. I told them that before the burn, but .. And, they burn the forest floor in much of the wooded areas saying it is a natural process. I've live here for 38 years and nature hasn't created had a fire in the woods during those years. Then there is the forest thinning. OK some, but they do it on the sides of hills that leads to erosion. I could go on. Sorry, got on a rant.
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