If fall plowing were responsible for blowing away our topsoil, it wouldn't still be happening at an alarming rate. This is one of those areas where Monsanto and all the other agribusiness companies want us to believe that technology (particularly pesticides that they sell) will help, but actually conventional (pesticide) agriculture itself is destroying our topsoil, along with other modern industrial-type farming practices that American farmers need to stop. This is very serious worldwide. We cannot provide for the world's food needs without topsoil.
From a long report on erosion, historically and cross-culturally:
The United States is investing serious amounts of capital in research for sustainable farming practices to prevent the failure of our agricultural base. Agricultural economists are aware that severely eroded soils are less productive--if too much soil is lost, the next planting and harvest are delayed. Soils are less productive if crop planting has to be delayed--instead of harvesting five times in one season, farmers might only reap three. Severely eroded soils have deficiencies in nutrient fixing bacteria, changing balances of nutrients, alterations in structure, and decreased resistance to pests. Continuously planting row crops, corn for example, can cause severe soil loss. Sustainable agriculture can prevent or lessen soil erosion and ensure higher productivity. In 1984, Worldwatch paper #60 published research showing that crop rotation causes less erosion than single crop planting: rotating crops of corn, wheat, and clover yielded an average annual soil loss of 2.7 tons of sediment eroded per acre; continuous wheat caused an average annual loss of 10.1 tons of soil per acre; and single crop-row planting of continuous corn caused the loss of 19.7 tons/acre. Farms that plant only one type of crop will experience more erosion than ones that plant several different crops, and will consequently produce less food.
They key to farming is to grow enough food for all of your people. This was easier when towns were comprised solely of small farms. Everyone lived at a farm and could grow their own food. When people stop farming and food production becomes an industry, agribusiness, money takes president over soil. Native Americans have known about sustainable agriculture for years. Rather, American Indians had respect for the land, and referred to the Earth as the collective mother of all life. One of their cultural beliefs about farming is centered around the three sisters: corn, squash, and beans. The corn provides a stalk for beans to climb. Beans produce nitrogen that fertilizes the corn. And squash protects the soil and corn roots from the sun, traps moisture, and prevents erosion. All three plants provide edible food, while preserving soil. Native American farmers also practiced "swidden" agriculture. At least one field would be allowed to lie fallow for a season, allowing grasses to grow and stabilize soil while recharging the soil with nutrients, while other prepared fields lay fallow. This method of soil conservation was very successful. So successful that Native American agricultural practices withstood four-hundred years of practice, with no notable soil erosion whereas modern American agricultural practices are only about forty years old, and there is severe soil degradation and loss already.
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