Value of Soil Erosion to the Land Owner. Duffy, M.
Value of Soil Erosion to the Land Owner [pdf]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
Levels of soil erosion have decreased in the United States (U.S.) and Iowa, but soil erosion still remains a serious problem, especially for some soils. In 1982 there was an estimated 7.4 tons per acre of soil erosion on Iowa cropland. By 2007 erosion in Iowa had decreased to 5.1 tons per acre. For the entire U.S. erosion rates dropped from 4.0 tons to 2.7 tons per cropland acre over the same time period. (USDA/NRCS, 2) Erosion represents costs to the farmers. These costs include lost fertilizer and soil carbon. Erosion also produces costs to society. These costs include clogged roadway ditches, increased turbidity in the water damaging fish and increasing the need for filtration, and the displaced soil in the water will increase siltation of water control structures. These societal costs are borne by taxpayers or society in general. They are 'external' to the decisions made by the farmer. There is a third category of costs not usually considered in a discussion of soil erosion. These are the costs to the land owners caused by a decrease in their asset value. Land owners may be the farmer but increasingly they are not. In 2007 over half the farm land in Iowa was rented. In the U.S., 38\,% of the farm land was rented. This paper estimates the costs of erosion to the land owner. The focus is on Iowa soils.

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