A study of crop income fluctuations for farm plans developed to meet specified soil erosion loss levels on four West Tennessee farms

Four West Tennessee upland row crop farms were selected as representative of those in the area. Soil losses were estimated for the farmers' current soil management system using the Universal Soil Loss Predicting Equation. The returns to land and management generated by the farmers' current soil management system were estimated using yield data and crop budgets published in University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletins. A set of fifteen cropping systems and four soil management practices were used to develop soil management plans to hold soil losses at approximately 5 ton/acre/year, 10 ton/acre/year and greater than or equal to 20 ton/acre/year. One set of plans included the use of minimum tillage, the other did not. The results showed it was possible on three of the farms to hold estimated soil losses at approximately 5 ton/acre/year and increase estimated returns to land and management over the returns estimated for the farmer's current soil management system. On the remaining farm, estimated returns to land and management for the farmer's present soil management system were only slightly higher than those estimated for the 5 ton/acre/year plan with minimum tillage.