548 – Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment
Standard
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARD
Arizona
GRAZING LAND MECHANICAL TREATMENT
(acre)
CODE 548
548 – Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment
Standard
DEFINITION
Modifying physical soil and/or plant conditions with mechanical tools by treatments such as; pitting, contour furrowing, and ripping or sub-soiling.
PURPOSE
This practice should be applied as part of a conservation management system to support one or more of the following purposes:
· Fracture compacted soil layers and improve soil permeability.
· Reduce water runoff and increase infiltration.
· Break up sod bound conditions and thatch to increase plant vigor.
· Renovate and stimulate plant community for greater productivity and yield.
CONDITIONS WHERE PRACTICE APPLIES
This standard may be applied on pastureland, rangeland, grazed forest, and native pastures where the slopes are less than 15 percent.
CRITERIA
General Criteria Applicable For All The Purposes Stated Above.
Mechanical treatments such as contour furrowing, pitting, ripping or subsoiling shall be designed and applied in a manner to accomplish the desired objectives and address the natural resource concerns. These treatments shall be limited to soils and slopes where surface disturbances will not result in unacceptable levels of soil erosion and/or sedimentation.
Areas to be treated shall be relatively free of undesirable or noxious plants that are likely to increase because of surface disturbance.
If natural plant community is desired, desirable plant species shall be of sufficient quantity and have a distribution pattern that allows the plants to take advantage of the improved moisture and to spread into disturbed areas.
Adequate rest from grazing shall be applied to ensure desired plant responses from this treatment.
All treatments should be planned on the contour when conditions warrant.
Assure soil is not too wet prior to treatment.
Additional Criteria for Fracturing Compacted Soils
This practice will only be used for this purpose on medium to medium fine textured soils that are moderately deep or deeper.
Ripping shall be used to break or shatter layers that inhibit root growth and moisture penetration.
Ripping will be done on the contour. The depth of ripping shall be determined by the depth of the compaction layers present on the site. Soil moisture shall be less than 30% when ripping. Ripper shanks will be 5 to 10 feet apart. Spacing between ripped strips shall be 20 to 50 feet. A hole should be dug after one pass to determine if the ripping depth and soil moisture are adequate to achieve the desired fracturing.
Additional Criteria to Reduce Runoff and Increase Infiltration
This practice will only be used for this purpose on medium to medium fine textured soils that are moderately deep or deeper.
Where ripping is used, the additional criteria for fracturing compacted soils will be used.
Pitting may also be used. Pitting shall consist of making shallow pits, basins, or furrows to retain precipitation.
Pits may be made with a variety of equipment such as bulldozers, grader blades, specialized disk implements, furrowing implements, or chains with specialized attachments. In general, 50% of the site should receive moisture from the other 50% of the site
Pits may be installed across the slope. Pit depth shall be 6 to 10 inches.
Furrows shall be constructed on the contour, and be interrupted or dammed at intervals not exceeding 20 feet. Furrows shall be 8 to 10 inches deep. Furrow spacing shall be 3 to 5 feet.
Additional Criteria to Break Up Sod Bound Conditions
The practice will only be used for this purpose where there is at least 1 sod forming plant every square meter.
Chisels or field cultivators with points will be used (do not use sweeps). Chisel Spacing shall be 18 to 24 inches. Chiseling depth shall be of 3 to 5 inches.
CONSIDERATIONS
Conservation practice standards Range Planting (550) and Pasture and Hayland Planting (512) may be used in conjunction with Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment.
Increased surface roughness may make the treated area undesirable for some uses.
Investigate for compacted layers with a probe or other appropriate tool prior to treatment.
Investigate for tile drainage systems, pipelines and other buried structures prior to work.
Mechanical treatment may not be desirable on areas to be used for recreation due to enhanced surface roughness of the site.
Adverse conditions following treatment may require extension of the grazing rest/deferment beyond the minimum stated previously.
PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications for installation of Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment shall be prepared for each site or planning unit according to the Criteria, Specifications shall be recorded using State-developed specification sheets, job sheets, narrative statements in conservation plans, or other acceptable documents.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
This practice has a 1 year lifespan.
On grazed rangeland, grazed forest, and native pasture, growing season rest from grazing may be needed for up to 3 years to allow vegetation to become established on the site following treatment.
On irrigated pasture, certain treatment methods, such as chiseling to break up sod bound grass, or ripping to break on compaction layers may need to be repeated on a regular basis.
References
F. A. Branson, R. F. Miller and I. S. Mcqueen, Contour furrowing, pitting and ripping on rangelands of the Western United States. Journal of Range Management 19 (1966), pp. 182–190
UofA Bulletin A-58: Guide to Improvement of Arizona Rangeland, July 1969
Cooperative Extension Bulletin T81121: Range Seeding and Brush Management on Arizona Rangelands. 1973
Page 2 of 2 NRCS, AZ
August, 2010