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Show The land treatment programs on public lands can, within available funds, proceed as rapidly as ad- ministrative policies dictate. On privately owned lands, however, programs must be geared to the economy and ability of the operators. In many parts of the basin, conservation farming can be devised which will improve both farm income and condition of the farm land. In addition to selec- tive conservation treatment this requires adjusting size of farms to economic units. In the northwest section of the basin, however, it has been difficult to devise conservation programs that will provide incomes comparable to those obtained when the entire farm is devoted to the production of cash income crops. Here, the main conservation problem requires that rotations be established which will provide that 30 to 40 percent of the cropland be devoted to soil conserving crops. There are no markets or widespread use for the grasses and legumes produced in such rotations at the present time. Patriotic efforts and possibility of high returns to meet World War II production demands for agri- cultural commodities disrupted normal soil conserv- ing rotations on many farms. Following the war, demands for agricultural commodities have en- couraged the continued production of depleting crops in excess of the desirable soil conserving and soil depleting ratio. During this postwar period, many young veterans have purchased farms in the basin. Since most purchases are financed through GI loans, these veterans have planned the produc- tion on their farms in such a manner that they could produce the maximum of cash income crops in order to pay the mortgage and reduce interest payments. Small farms predominate in the southern and eastern sections of the basin where soil erosion and depletion are more pronounced. In some areas depletion is so severe that adequate treatment of the land requires retiring certain areas to forest pro- duction. Other lands should be seeded to pasture or other types of permanent cover which will check erosion and prevent further depletion of the soils. Before adequate land use adjustments can be obtained on this type of land, farmers must be pro- vided with other economic opportunities. If not, they must of necessity continue to crop these lands in an effort to make a living. In the Ohio Basin, the application of conservation practices and land treatment measures cannot exceed the rate with which the private owners can and will make the necessary land use adjustments required. Several agencies of the Department of Agricul- ture are engaged in programs related to water and allied resources of the basin: the Production and Marketing Administration through its conservation, price support, and commodity program; the Soil Conservation Service through technical assistance offered in soil conservation districts; the Forest Service through technical assistance, conservation, protection, and improvement of forest lands and cooperative assistance on private forests. The Forest Service also cooperates with all the basin States in providing forest fire control to the exten- sive areas of forest lands. It also administers the national forest lands which were acquired specifi- cally for watershed protection. Lands are currently being acquired for this purpose. The Extension Service, through its relation with colleges, distributes information and educational data to farm people. The Forest Service and the Soil Conservation Service have an intensive research program in the Ohio River Basin in which major emphasis is placed upon methods of land treatment to achieve better watershed management. The Forest Service re- search is conducted at a series of branch stations in all of the basin States except New York. The most significant phase of this work is that under way in the Allegheny and Kanawha Rivers and in southeastern Ohio. The North Appalachian Sta- tion of the Soil Conservation Service at Coshocton, Ohio, is the most complete unit of its kind working on the hydrology of farm lands. The Agricultural Research Administration, also in the Department, carries on studies to devise better methods of land treatment, crop improve- ment, and related agricultural problems. The Farm Credit Administration and the Farmers' Home Administration provide various forms of credit to aid farmers in land use adjustment, re- habilitation, and other credit needs. The Rural Electrification Administration is authorized to finance and supervise the development of coopera- tive systems to distribute electrical power in rural areas. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics col- lects and assembles basic economic data essential in program planning. While the functions of these agencies are national in scope, these services are available and used in the Ohio River Basin. A series of watershed surveys for about two-thirds of the basin is currently under way throughout the basin. These surveys of tributary watersheds under flood control legislation are determining the condi- tion of the land and the kind and type of remedial program that will bring about good watershed con- ditions. The action programs of the Production 685 |
