Missouri - Cotton, Wind Erosion Control

Claud Launius is a retired cotton farmer in the sandy soil area of "the Bootheel" of Missouri known as Malden Plain. "We were having a lot of trouble with blowing sand in the spring of the year; it was blowing and hurting our cotton pretty bad--killing some of it." Then, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist Phil Gurley told Launius about crosswind trap strips, and said he could get switchgrass seed through the Missouri Department of Conservation. Launius installed some on an 80-acre field in 1989. Although some cotton farmers have used wheat and rye to slow the wind, switchgrass grows to 6 or 8 feet and Launius says it keeps the wind up in the air. "In the spring, it's windy when the cotton plants are babies, and that's the worst time. If they get up to 6 or 8 inches tall they can defend themselves; but when they're short, with just two leaves, wind and sand can just cut them off. It's like a baby that gets sick--they don't grow like they ought to until they get well again. That's cotton, it's like any plant." When Launius retired he rented his land, and his tenant has kept up the wind strips.

Launius added four rows of switchgrass in strips with 24 rows of cotton. He figures he might have gone with 36 rows of cotton to 4 rows of switchgrass, "but I'd be afraid to tear any of it up." Besides, he's doing better with the 68 acres than he did with the original 80 acres. "Our yields have increased a half-bale per acre or more because the plants aren't getting hurt. They just sit there and grow; the weather doesn't bother them. We really like it." Launius is surprised that others aren't planting switchgrass wind traps, but thinks they just don't want to give up those 4 rows of cotton ground. He notes that there are other benefits beyond protecting the cotton plants and boosting production. "It's doing really well for quail and other animals, such as rabbits. By hiding in the switchgrass, the quail run the hunters crazy. The grass is really thick and it keeps getting thicker and thicker." To maintain it, every other 4-row strip is burned every other year; that makes the switchgrass "stool out" more, and then it has millions of seeds on it--"and that's what quail and wildlife like."

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