An economic analysis of USDA erosion control programs: A new perspective

Abstract

Soil conservation programs would be more effective if they focused more on controlling erosion on highly erodible land. Significant effort and funding for current programs are directed to cropland that erodes at less than 5 tons per acre per year. Yet, the benefits of erosion control measures exceed the costs involved only on land eroding at about 15 tons per acre per year and above. More benefits from controlling erosion on cropland are offsite, realized away from the cropland itself, indicating the significance of public benefits from soil conservation efforts