permaculture

[d.settles@cellbio.duke.edu (Dan Settles, Dept. of Cell Biology DUMC)]

Sorry if you receive this twice.  I'm attempting to post this message from a 
different account after having an e-mail problem.
-----------------
I'd like to see if anyone would like to discuss erosion control.  I
bought a farm recently that has been used to grow tobacco, wheat, oats
and soybeans.  Some of the fields have a moderate slope and due to the
nature of tobacco farming there is a problem with soil erosion.  I was very
concerned about this so I called my county soil conservation office and
asked about what could be done.  The state (NC) and federal government
both have cost sharing money available to help stop soil erosion of
farmland, but I'm not sure I like the methods that they have
recommended.  Their preferred method of controlling erosion seems to be
to build waterways to slow down the water and move it away from the
fields.  The waterways are basically flat shallow channels seeded in
perennial grasses that are designed to slow down the water as it runs out
of the tilled fields.  The eroding soil is then captured (partially) in
these waterways and the excess water is channeled away from the fields
and off into the woods.  Typically, the waterways fill up with soil in
8-10 years and they come back in with heavy equipment, dig out the
channels, put the soil back on the fields, and reseed the waterways.
While this is better than doing nothing, it seems like a waste of effort,
money, water, soil, etc.

My long term goal is to drastically decrease the amount of annual crops
planted, but for now I am trying to deal with the erosion problem.  My
knowledge and experience is rather limited, but I believe the
permaculture approach to this would be quite different than what the
government says I should do.  My understanding is that a permaculture
design would attempt to capture the water and hold it in the soil rather
than diverting it from the fields.  Does anyone have experience with
using permaculture methods on farmland in a way that would satisfy the
soil conservation agents?  I have considered not using their suggestions
at all, but it just occurred to me that I might have an opportunity here
to get some permaculture design and waterway work done and get some of my
tax money back to help pay for it.  I˜d certainly appreciate any thoughts
or experience about this.

Dan Settles
Oxford, NC