How much surface residue is needed to protect soil from wind erosion?
This is very dependent on the crop in question. With cereals, about 30% of the soil surface area should be covered with residue. This translates into about 1.12 t/ha of crop residue. In drought years, low yields and associated low straw/residue production may not generate sufficient residue cover for erosion protection. Some crops produce very little residue (e.g. canola, potatoes, sugar beets, beans), leaving soil unprotected unless a fall cover crop is established. Which is better for erosion protection, large clods or surface residue? Surface residue conservation is the best line of defence against wind erosion. Protection offered by large clods is very short-lived due to climatic factors which cause soil aggregate disintegration. However, in an emergency situation, where land is blowing due to lack of surface residue, an emergency tillage operation is often performed to bring large clods to the surface for temporary erosion control. If my zero till land ever lost its surface trash
