Erosion was a Problem this Spring

We had several storms this spring in the 3 inch plus range.  Very few farmers came through the spring without any erosion, but some were worse than others.  I have been wanting to write this blog since I took the pictures, but wanted to have time to do it justice.  The photo below shows an ephemeral gully on a hillside planted to corn.  The gully will be erased by tillage, but a grassed waterway or Water and Sediment Control Basins would help control this type of erosion. It also might save a broken axle.

The waterway below has an Ephemeral Gully parallel with it.  this problem can be avoided by planting and tilling as close as possible to perpendicular to the Grassed Waterway. 

Erosion is being held in check below by the crop residue from last year.   

This photo below is from the same field as above There was not as much residue on the slope and more  was needed to control erosion.  No-till would be in order on these kinds of slopes.

Below is a grassed waterway under construction

Even though the field has lots of eroding area, the dry dam below is keeping most of the sediment on the farm.

In the field below a water and sediment control basin was effective in controlling ephemeral gullies and trapping sediment. 

The draw below has a Grassed Waterway in it, but not far enough up the hill.  

 The Ephemeral gully below is in the center of a newly constructed grassed waterway.  A way to fix the problem is to backfill with sod or use rock checks.