Information Services: Current information work of the Soil Conservation Service is directed toward encouraging farmers and ranchers to apply appropriate conservation practices to protect and preserve our natural resource base of soil and water. Information is issued through press releases, photographs, slide presentations, publications, speeches, magazine articles, and radio and television public service announcements.

This appropriation is further divided into subappropriation items as follows:

CONSERVATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Current Activities: Technical services and other assistance furnished by the Soil Conservation Service under this appropriation item include the following activities:

The

Planning Assistance: Conservation planning assistance is provided by trained specialists in resource conservation and management. Needed resource information on soils, vegetation, and other physical conditions are inventoried and interpreted for alternative uses and conservation and resource management systems. These data are used in assisting land users to make decisions on the uses that will be made of the land and the type and general sequence for applying conservation and resource management practices to protect the resource base. general objective is a conservation plan that is economically feasible with conservation and management systems that protect or improve the natural resource base. This service requires professional skills from a variety of specialized resource management disciplines whose services reflect an interdisciplinary approach to recognizing and planning treatment of conservation problems adapted to the intended land use. Some of the benefits of planning assistance accruing to both rural and urban residents are reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation, cleaner water, the reduction of health hazards, improvement of fish and wildlife habitat, flood prevention, and the preservation of our resource base for the production of food and fiber.

Application Assistance:

The Soil Conservation Service furnishes technical assistance to land users to help them apply planned conservation measures. This includes design, layout, and onsite technical assistance.

Some specific problems to which efforts are now being directed are:

Critical Erosion: There are 248 million acres of agricultural land with excessive sheet and rill erosion. There are 57 million acres of agricultural land contributing 690 million tons of excess soil loss annually due to wind erosion. Agricultural land with excessive erosion is the principal target for soil conservation efforts, currently carried out by the Soil Conservation Service.

Water Conservation: Nationwide, irrigation accounts for approximately 80 percent of the total water consumed. Intensive use and competition for water is especially acute in those States where agriculture is almost totally dependent on irrigation water. One key to insuring adequate water for the future for all uses is to conserve existing supplies. An important element in the total water conservation effort is improving the efficiency of irrigation water use. Efficiency ranges from 46 to 65 percent in ten States and is less than 45 percent in six States. On farm irrigation efficiencies of 75 to 80 percent are feasible with currently available technology and management techniques. The Soil Conservation Service has in recent years began to accelerate its technical assistance in the area of water conservation.

Maintaining adequate mulch on the soil surface on this Palouse farm in Washington State is one important facet of conservation planning as is being discussed here between the farm operator and the Soil Conservation Service District Conservationist. Conservation planning is an open-ended process through which the landowner or operator makes decisions as to the use and preservation of two of his and our most valuable resources--soil and water.

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Planned grazing systems return more than they cost. Proper range management not only protects the soil by preventing overgrazing but also helps insure the continued productivity of pasture and rangeland. In addition, well-managed rangeland is better able to withstand the effects of drought and thus enables a rancher to better maintain his livestock during extended dry spells without resorting to costly emergency

measures.

Conservation tillage is gaining popularity throughout the country. This relatively new practice saves fuel, reduces erosion, and cuts field work. The Lyon County, Kentucky, field pictured is shown immediately after a four inch rain. Little erosion damage is evident.

This is a cropland field in Henry County, Alabama, where erosion and resulting sedimentation occurred due to farming up and down the slope with no conservation measures applied. In 1977, sheet and rill erosion on cropland alone totaled almost 2 billion tons. Half of this total was excess erosion that which occurred at rates above those that soils can tolerate without affecting their long-term productive potential.

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