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Local SWCD is grateful for a little rain…simulation

• col-karen-gotter
• August 18, 2019
• 1102

One of the events we look forward to every year is the Family Farm Field Day, which this year took place a few weeks ago on the farm of Roy L.S. Yoder, outside of Farmerstown.

Even though it feels like it always lands on the hottest weeks of the summer, there are a number of things that make the event worth spending the weekend on the clock. The crowds are friendly, the smell of the chicken barbeque has you salivating the minute you step foot on the grounds and the sounds of happy children fill the air.

It’s a great opportunity to reconnect with people we might not see but once a year and make some new contacts as well.

This year we had an addition to our display that made the heat more tolerable by presenting a rainfall demonstration on various types of fields or pastures. Making it rain inside the tent made for an eye-catching performance, and any on-lookers who got splashed a little were grateful for the cool-down.

We are now the co-owners of a brand-new full-size rainfall simulator recently purchased collaboratively by all the SWCDs in Eastern Ohio. It’s been making the rounds at some of the neighboring county fairs and local field days, and we will feature it again at the annual fifth-grade farm tour in September.

Though district staff have seen them demonstrated multiple times, there is something about the simple act of watching a miniaturized rainstorm that fascinates onlookers. If a picture can paint 1,000 words, this setup is probably good for 10,000.

These simulators do not rely on complicated technology to run, nor are they demonstrating anything too complex for the everyday observer to understand and connect with.

We’ve attempted to show runoff scenarios in the past with small tabletop versions showing the same idea with the same overall results: The more impervious the surface, the more surface runoff and less infiltration. Lack of surface residue resulted in the muddiest water.

These are simple lessons that don’t really surprise anyone. But with our oscillating rain head and large sample sizes, we can make more robust observations that echo what we’d see in real life.

What do these fields look like after a half-inch of rain compared with 3 inches? Can we observe the effects of a cover crop after it’s been terminated? What does the water that is passing through the soil profile look like? If you’re curious, come watch the display in person. Call us to see if it’s scheduled or check out the video we took this year posted on our Facebook page.

The most dramatic results, which generated the most discussion, were from our pasture samples. Holmes County is estimated to be about 39 percent pasture and hay, which makes it tied with woodland as the most dominant land uses in the county. However, in the same time period, pasture ground has increased from 18 percent, and woodland acres have declined from 51 percent.

Within that data are large variations as to the quality of the cover. We showed two samples cut from very different sample areas: a grass-based dairy that rotates frequently and rests pastures for weeks to months at a time versus a horse pasture where the animals were on it consistently throughout the year.

There was about 1 inch of cover on the horse pasture, which made it look like a nicely trimmed lawn, whereas the cow pasture had thick, floppy grasses. Without giving away too much of the story, the rotated dairy pasture never had a drop of runoff, even after nearly 3 inches of rain.

The horse pasture was shedding water the minute the rain started, and despite the plant-covered soil, the runoff was thick and brown. Due to the compaction on that area, very little rain infiltrated, and that water was thick and muddy once it did soak through.

If you think about your pastures or yards at home, what would yours be most similar to? If 39 percent of the rain we get falls on a pasture, we can do a lot for the state of our creeks and rivers if we made sure there is lots of grass cover and the soil is healthy enough to absorb that rain, not to mention it is better for the plant health and therefore the health of the animals on that pasture.

One of our observers was a middle-school boy who told me he had done an experiment like this before with me at the fifth-grade farm tour two years ago. It was touching to realize our little lesson had stuck with him.

Whether it’s students we interact with or the grown-ups we advise, all conservation districts hope even simple demos can lead to making small steps toward improved water management at home, on the farm and as leaders in the community.

If you would like information, resources or a farm visit to discuss how to improve your pastures at home, call our office at 330-674-2811 ext. 3.