Vanishing soil

[manhill]

The latest scare, now the wind is blowing away topsoil and releasing co2.
Where does it blow it away to? the neighbours field or into space?
My experience of 'soil erosion' is a little different cos if I leave something lying it's not long before it's buried itself.
Maybe I'm unintentionally stealing the poor arable man's soil.
Anyone explain?

 

[MattR]

Did you just see the report on BBC lunchtime news? An important subject but the report seemed to be mainly muddle-headed claptrap

 

[vantage]

The latest scare, now the wind is blowing away topsoil and releasing co2.
Where does it blow it away to? the neighbours field or into space?
My experience of 'soil erosion' is a little different cos if I leave something lying it's not long before it's buried itself.
Maybe I'm unintentionally stealing the poor arable man's soil.
Anyone explain?

It washes away into rivers and is wasted until it emerges again,think soil from the Himalayas formed Bangladesh,but not in 5 minutes.

 

[vantage]

Did you just see the report on BBC lunchtime news? An important subject but the report seemed to be mainly muddle-headed claptrap

It was good until the reporter got into the studio and said we should all be vegan.FFS how do they expect to preserve the soilsOM?

 

[manhill]

It washes away into rivers and is wasted until it emerges again,think soil from the Himalayas formed Bangladesh,but not in 5 minutes.

If it goes into the sea then it enriches marine life so not wasted Eh?

 

[vantage]

If it goes into the sea then it enriches marine life so not wasted Eh?

It's not much use to sealife as it will deoxygenate the water.

 

[manhill]

Watercourse

It's not much use to sealife as it will deoxygenate the water.

Right I'll have to rap the knuckles of whoever told me that cos I thought the waders liked that mud.

 

[Patrick JE]

How

It's not much use to sealife as it will deoxygenate the water.

How so? Silt washed into rivers, and ultimately estuary systems, is a rich and varied ecosystem, just ask Chris Packham

 

[vantage]

How

How so? Silt washed into rivers, and ultimately estuary systems, is a rich and varied ecosystem, just ask Chris Packham

Sorry I got confused with slurry. Just keep tilling your land without putting anything back and you're on a hiding to nothing.

 

[Two Tone]

It’s more BBC crap to fill in spaces on their Breakfast program.

It’s all Utter rubbish!
If a cow takes a dump in the farmyard, it gets spread back onto the fields at a sensible rate where it is needed most.
A milking Bale is a stupid idea. You need electricity to run and water to clean it.
You also need the tanker lorry to come across the field to pick the milk up.
You also poach the field where all the cows gather to be milked.

Are these presenters having a laugh or just plain thick?

As for wind erosion, yes there is such a thing, like the Fen Blow. But where does the soil go? In 99% of the cases it moves to another field. It isn’t lost.

What happens to the plant residues that get cultivated or inverted into the soil?
Do they rot, releasing CO2 and methane into the atmosphere like if they were left on the surface?
Or do they get recycled into the following crops?

As for water erosion of soils, maybe I am lucky with all the soils I have farmed. I have never ever seen it in 43 years of farming!

 

[Patrick JE]

Co

Sorry I got confused with slurry. Just keep tilling your land without putting anything back and you're on a hiding to nothing.

Couldn't agree more,

 

[manhill]

Now here's my theory:
The dust is lifted into the air and it either falls on some other arable man's farm and he gets the benefit or it lands on grassland which prevents runoff. The amount that falls directly into a watercourse would be negligible given the relatively small area.
Yes/No??

 

[Bury the Trash]

The latest scare, now the wind is blowing away topsoil and releasing co2.
Where does it blow it away to? the neighbours field or into space?
My experience of 'soil erosion' is a little different cos if I leave something lying it's not long before it's buried itself.
Maybe I'm unintentionally stealing the poor arable man's soil.
Anyone explain?

gravity, rainfall and when stuff is growing around over it it gradually disappears.

when soil is blowing its taking away from that place the very best 'fines' of medium and goodness could land in the sea or any where but I bet not on top of a hill for very long.

Sahara dust came over the other day I noticed.wonder who got that .
………...over there they're gonna have to plant more dunes I guess......

 

[Will Blackburn]

Some of the soil round here is described as aeolian sand, it’s really fertile. Remember only the good bits blow away, so look after it.

 

[Clive]

soil erodes and ends up in the sea, ,mostly via drains but also some wind blow etc it takes polluting nutrition with it like N

its also "rust" ie. oxidizes when exposed so is being burnt effectively - Soil organic mater level are depleting rapidly

none of this is good or necessary

 

[primmiemoo]

It was good until the reporter got into the studio and said we should all be vegan.FFS how do they expect to preserve the soilsOM?

Think he explained himself a little more at the end of the studio interview, and said that in our part of the world, we should be supporting carbon sequestering food production systems instead of veganism. There was a good film shot earlier of arable ground where soil health had been improved by grazing by cattle prior to cultivation.
Unfortunately, he then spoiled it again by saying that's the next best option to veganism.

Had the video been of mile upon mile of planted soya in former native pasture in Brazil, say, rather than a puff of dust in East Anglia, the Beeb might have proven themselves to have been listening to the science.

 

[Andrew1983]

That’s the first time Iv seen the bbc do a remotely pro animal agriculture bit in a long time..... even if it was a lot of rubbish the way it was made to look like only an in field dairy parlour was the answer as far as farming livestock goes..... at least it’s a glimmer of hope that some actual joined up thinking is starting to happen and that it’s not possible to have a vegan Utopia they previously promoted so hard

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

As for wind erosion, yes there is such a thing, like the Fen Blow. But where does the soil go? In 99% of the cases it moves to another field. It isn’t lost.

Vast areas of South & North America and Asia (especially China) have topsoil formed from wind deposits, known as Loess. In the UK these are called "Brickearth"

The dustbowl era of 1930's Nebraska and Iowa was the wind erosion of soils that were created by wind in the first place, due to lack of vegetation and poor soil structure and texture. According to Wikipedia, up to 10kg of soil was lost per square metre per year, but as @Two Tone points out, someone's soil loss is usually someone else's soil gain.

 

[Still Farming]

Why don't the sand dunes and deserts not disappearing then also ???

 

[TheTallGuy]

Why don't the sand dunes and deserts not disappearing then also ???

The dunes are constantly shifting, which is one of the historic issues with desert navigation.