Resource assessment and removal analysis for corn stover and wheat straw in the Eastern and Midwestern United States—rainfall and wind-induced soil erosion methodology

Abstract

The focus of this study was to develop a methodology to estimate “hectare-weighted”, county-level, corn stover and spring and winter wheat straw removable residue quantities in the USA for 1995–1997 in 37 states (north–south line from North Dakota to Texas and all states east) such that tolerable rainfall and wind soil loss limits were not exceeded. The methodology developed and employed in this study was based on the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and the wind erosion equation (WEQ), which were used to predict individual county-level corn or wheat yields required at harvest to insure that the amount of soil loss would not exceed the tolerable soil loss limit. These yields were then compared to actual county-level corn or wheat yields to determine the quantity of removable residue. Results of this study indicate an annual average of over 42 and 8 million metric tons of corn stover and straw (spring and winter wheat), respectively (46.2 and 8.8 million tons) were potentially available for removal between 1995 and 1997 in these 37 states.