| OCR Text |
Show agents under the Extension Service; through tech- nical aid in developing farm plans in a joint Fed- eral and local effort through soil conservation dis- tricts; and through conservation payments under the Agriculture Conservation Program. Farm credit programs also are of some assistance. There is a county agricultural agent in nearly every county of agricultural importance in the basin. These are supported in each State by a corps of specialists in agricultural engineering, forestry, soils, crops, farm management, animal husbandry and related subject-matter fields, stationed at the agri- cultural college. These staffs are currently fully employed on programs prepared in cooperation with the farm people of the area. Consequently a considerable portion of their work is of a type which could be adjusted to a program of further develop- ment of the basin merely by increasing personnel, expanding certain important activities and con- centrating them in the areas where construction projects will affect the type of farming and in areas where soil and water conservation problems are most acute. The Soil Conservation Service is rendering tech- nical assistance at a present rate of expenditure of about 7 million dollars a year to the 416 soil con- servation districts organized within the basin. The activities of these districts are summarized in table 12. In areas of accelerated wind or water erosion, mechanical control measures are sometimes re- quired. These measures are generally temporary and serve to control erosion until gullies or other eroded areas can heal with natural revegetation. The recommended practices are applicable to grass- land and include water-spreading structures and contour furrows or pitting. Other practices, such as the establishment of waterways and outlets, road- side and stream-bank erosion control, and erosion- control structures are among the recommended practices applicable to either crop or grassland. The Agricultural Conservation Program provides for payment to farmers of as much as half the out- of-pocket cost of soil and water conservation meas- ures. In the Missouri Basin there is considerable variation in the number of farmers participating. Thus in North Dakota in 1948, 44,678 farms, or 64 percent of the total, participated, 65,742 farms or 40 percent in Nebraska, 5,424 farms or 44 percent in Wyoming and 14,138 farms or 39 percent in Montana participated. The average amount paid to the participants ranged from $44 in Nebraska to $155 in Wyoming. TABLE 12.-Progress and accomplishments in soil conservation districts and other program areas with Soil Conservation Service assistance to 1950 Item Unit Basin total A. Status of organization of districts: Districts organized...... Number___ 416 Farms and ranches in dis- tricts................. .....do.___ 424, 300 Area covered by districts. Acres...... 226, 330, 500 B. Conservation planning and treatment: Farm and ranch conser- vation plans.......... Number___ 85, 200 Farm and ranch conser- vation plans.......... Acres...... 46, 650,100 Completed conservation treatment............ .....do___. 27, 013, 000 Farm planning surveys... .....do..... 42, 086, 300 C. Conservation group enter- prises: 1. Group projects com- pleted .......... Number.... 660 Area benefited...... AkCres...... 931, 900 Average size........ .....do..... 1,400 2. Water conservation and utilization (Case-Wheeler): Projects............ Number.... 7 Area in projects..... Avcres...... 200, 000 D. Flood control operations:1 Subwatershed work plans. Number___ 38 Farms in subwatersheds.. .....do..... 755 Area covered by work plans................ Axres...... 76, 400 1 Applies only to Little Sioux River Watershed, Iowa. These conservation measures and practices un- doubtedly help in the general program of saving soil. They lack a certain effectiveness because they are applied piecemeal, and not as part of a unified program for the entire farm area. The measures are often applied without technical guidance or supervision. Consequently some may not be effectively applied. Many of them are not adequately maintained. However, they have suc- ceeded in many areas in furthering conservation, reducing erosion, and rebuilding depleted soil. Some runoff is also retarded and some water is locally conserved. The extent of this program in the basin is re- flected in the 1948 data for some of the measures installed. Reseeding of pasture and range lands 210 |
