Soil and Water Conservation Advances in the United States

Drs. Ted Zobeck and William Schillinger are to be commended for the superb job they did in recruiting truly outstanding authors who are at the forefront of research in soil and water conservation. Their expertise brings great credibility to this work. -Gary A. Peterson, 2008 SSSA President Questions about the environmental footprint of farming make this book required reading. Approximately 580 million hectares of the continental United States (62% of the total land area) are used for agriculture-for food, fiber, feed, biofuels, and pasture. This land also provides critical ecosystem functions such as nutrient and water cycling, decomposition and detoxification of wastes, and a sink for carbon and greenhouse gases. Authors of each region of the continental United States describe the history of soil and water conservation in the last century, the current situation, and suggest the outlook for the future, in an easy to follow format. Major issues, research, recommendations, and government programs are covered.Present research challenges are reviewed, and contributors visualize how agricultural production practices will change in future years to address the newest challenges in soil and water conservation. The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America are prominent international scientific societies headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The Societies specialize in peer-reviewed, high-quality science titles for a wide variety of audiences. Some of the many areas we publish in include: * Soils Methods and Management * Crop Development and Improvement * Agrosystem Management and the Global Food Crisis * Environmental Conservation and Climatology