Erosion Control Education in the Upper Cannon Watershed

Abstract

The Upper Cannon River Watershed Assessment Project concentrated activity on improving the area’s water quality. Because the Upper Cannon River watershed’s problems are related to phosphorus and sedimentation, Extension launched a three-pronged effort to reduce erosion and to measure the effort’s results. During the project’s first year, Extension focused on promoting strip-till technology to reduce erosion. In order to reveal to farmers cost and risk similarities between strip-till and conventional tillage, a series of demonstration plots were established around the watershed on five cooperating producers’ farms. The project’s second year set up a strip-till demonstration field day during which research results were presented, SWCD assistance opportunities highlighted, and actual tillage equipment operated. Educators conducted two years’ Tillage Transect Surveys in Rice, Steele, and Le Sueur Counties to determine the level of conservation tillage practiced in the watershed. This current data, combined with previous years’ survey results, will assist in directing future educational programming.