[Diana in Wisconsin]

It's so hilly where I live (SW corner of WI) that our farmers do nothing but 'contour planting' now. Corn, wheat, alfalfa, etc. in various strips that help stop erosion.

Because it wasn't ALWAYS done this way, the soil that has washed down into our pasture land over the eons is some of the most gorgeous dirt you'd ever HOPE to have. You can eat it with a spoon, if you're so inclined. ;)

Due to a very cold spring, then a heat wave, and now back to rain and the upcoming normal temps, though planting of some things is a little late, we will catch up around here. The crops in my part of the state are all for cattle/dairy/horse feed, though. If worse comes to worse, I can learn to love field corn with extra butter and salt. ;)

[crz]

Field corn is OK if you get it early.

But, if you can grow field corn, you can grow sweat corn.

I know the area around Baraboo, Spring Green, Wildcat Mtns area, etc real well. Logged around there and Reedsburg way back in the 70s.

[Pollard]

There’s a reason bottom land is so valuable.

I love the way contour planting and landscaping looks.

This property has a 3 foot deep gulch plus quite a few smaller ones that run parallel to the gravel county road that goes up/down a hill. Once upon a time, there was no official road, just an agreed upon path that a handful of neighbors used starting with horses and wagons. When one path got bad, they’d move over a bit and start another. Many tons of soil lost.

Any place where I’ve converted from forest to pasture has lost some top soil in the process. Once the leaves, humus and duff are removed and it rains, you lose some. I’ve gotten better at the timing and getting grass growing on the bare soil asap. Still might lose 1/2-1 inch but the earlier spots were 2-3 inches as told by the stumps and rocks that appeared to grow 2-3 inches taller. Where I put the perimeter fence up and drove the tractor up and down a path on the hills, I lost 4-5 inches and it’s hard to drive on now because those spots are rocky. I’ll be adding some fine gravel and then unrolling round bales on those spots multiple times. Might dump some dirt before the hay. Will also roll out the bigger/taller rocks first.

They say Nebraska has lost many feet of top soil and I believe it.

Ray Archuletta of the NRCS, the only good part of the USDA, has a presentation with two dust bowl, wind blowing soil type of slides but one pic is from the 1930s and the other one is recent. The one from the 1930s shows brown dust while the newer one shows pale or tan dust. Same thing still happening but the soil lost is of a lower quality.