Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis of conservation management practices for sediment reduction in an Iowa agricultural watershed

Soil erosion from agricultural lands can be reduced by adoption of conservation management practices. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness and cost-benefit of conservation management practices on sediment reduction under a corn—soybean rotation. The experimental site was 6.4 ha (15.8 ac) and located within the Four Mile Creek watershed in eastern Iowa. Management practices consisted of tillage with a mold-board plow with a row cropped system of corn and soybeans. Annual sediment yield from this site was estimated using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model for three tillage systems (chisel plow, disk tillage, and no-tillage) as well as three conservation structures (grassed waterways, filter [...]