Enhancing the adoption of soil conservation practices with targeted educational programs

Authors

David P. Shelton, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Elbert C. Dickey, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
Paul J. Jasa, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
David A. Biere, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

1989

Citation

Proceedings Of The Eleventh International Congress On Agricultural Engineering, Dublin, 4-8 September 1989, pp. 3017-3026.

Comments

Copyright 1989 AA. Balkema Publishers. Used by permission.

Abstract

Two independent, but closely related, grant funded educational programs have been developed and implemented to reduce soil erosion in selected areas of eastern Nebraska, U.S.A. Traditional extension programming methods as well as other more nontraditional approaches have been extensively used. In one program, encompassing 220,000 ha of cropland, annual soil erosion has been reduced by 2.5 Mt and annual fuel savings of 1.5 ML have been achieved through a reduction in the number of tillage operations. During a one-year period in the second project, more than 81,000 m of terraces were constructed, which resulted in an annual soil erosion reduction of 170,000 t. These projects have demonstrated that targeted conservation educational programs can be very effective.