A Review of Mulches to Control Wind Erosion
ABSTRACT THE need to increase food production and improve the quality of our environment has prompted a search for materials to control wind and water erosion. This paper is a review of research and development as-sociated with application, methods, and amounts of mulch types—crop residues, chemical soil stabilizers, and feedlot wastes (manure)—required to control wind erosion. An effective wind erosion control treatment is one that can resist a 38.0 m/s wind as measured at 15.2 m. Any crop residue, either grown in place or hauled in and spread, can control wind erosion. Hauled-in residues must be spread and anchored to the soil surface by a packer or an anchoring agent, i.e., cutback asphalt or asphalt emulsion. Depending on residue type, minimum amounts needed to control wind erosion are 4.5 to 11 t/ha. Chemical soil stabilizers, i.e., asphalt, polyvinyl alcohol, styrene-butadiene latex emulsions, and resins-in-water emulsions control wind erosion effectively if properly diluted and applied to cover the total soil surface at volumes of at least 3785 L/ha. Wet feedlot manure applied to a highly-erodible sand con-trolled erosion with 31.8 t/ha surface-applied or 52.3 t/ha tilled-in with a tandem disk.