The Cross Section, Volume 23, Number 11, November 1977 Page: 3
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Noebr197TECR S ETO ae.
Conservation Bench Terraces
vs. Graded Terraces
Conservation bench terraces are
more profitable to dryland farmers in
the Southern Great Plains than graded
terraces. 0. R. Jones, USDA Soil
Scientist from Bushland presented this
information at the American Society
of Agronomy Meeting in Los Angeles.
He reported on a study that has been
conducted at the USDA Research
Center at Bushland since 1959. Con-
servation bench terraces were designed
by Austin Zingg, a former Agricultural
Research Service soil scientist. His
terraces conserved water that ran off
from a field with graded terraces. In-
stead of leaving the field, runoff was
contained in a level bench next to the
terrace ridge. The watershed on the
upper part of the terrace interval was
twice as big as the level bench area
next to the lower terrace ridge. The
terrace interval was twice as great as
with graded terraces.
In his study, Jones cropped the
watershed area of the terrace in a
wheat - sorghum - fallow cropping se-
quence. Two crops were produced in
three years with an 11-month fallow
period between each crop. The bench-
leveled area below the watershed was
planted to annual crops of sorghum
from 1959 to 1970. From 1971 to
1976, both wheat and sorghum were
planted on the leveled area. Crop
production on the watershed and
bench-leveled area was compared to a
bench-terrace system where all rain
was captured, but no runoff received.
The soil conservation bench terraces
at Bushland were constructed on Pull-
man clay loam soil with a 1.5 percent
slope.
The level bench on the conservation
bench terrace received an average of
1.3 inches runoff annually from 1959Aqua-Matic Heat Pump System
(Installed in Lubbock, Texas Home)
AQUA-MATIC
HEAT PUMP EXPANSION
UNDERGROUND TANK REDUCED SUPPLY
HEAT SOURCE -TRUNKDUCT
AND SINK BRANCH
SUPPLY DUCT
- -l
RETURN AIR
PLATFORM DUNHAM-BUSH
CENTRIFUGAL PUMP
\gf
System schematic shows Aqua-Matic heat pump sys- supplies heat to the house during the heating season
tem connected to underground grid consisting of PVC pipe. acts as a heat sink (absorber of heat) during cooling.
Ground surrounding the grid, 3% ft. below the surface,
USE OF SOIL FOR ENERGY CONSE RVAT.by Ken Carver
Today, energy has become a house-
hold word and everyone is looking for
ways to reduce their cost. Therefore,
using heat from the ground presented
an interesting alternative to conven-
tional residential air conditioning and
heating systems.
In December 1975, Bruce Thornton
Air Conditioning and Heating Com-
pany installed the first Aqua-Matic
system utilizing the ground grid in his
own home. A Dunham-Bush Aqua-
Matic water-to-air heat pump was used
tying the heat pump into a "ground
grid" to be used as a heat source and
heat sink. The grid was buried about
3 feet below the surface and consistsof PVC (polyvinylchloride) pipe. A
"glycol" solution circulates through
the pipe. When the heat pump starts
to heat, the heat is absorbed from the
ground through the glycol solution and
brought into the house. During cool-
ing, heat is taken from the house and
transferred to the ground through the
same glycol solution.
The house had 2250 square feet of
space to be heated and cooled. It was
not classified as an "energy efficient"
home but rather a normal or well con-
structed home. A four ton unit was
used which maintained a daytime
temperature of 74F and a night-time
temperature of 68F. A separate elec-
tric meter is installed on this unit. His
average electric bill for 1976 wasS
x, and$17.50 per month.
Since 1975, this system has been
installed in 15 houses in Lubbock and
surrounding towns. One area builder
has used this system in ten of his
"energy efficient" homes.
The heat pump has a coefficient of
performance of "three"; which means
that for every unit of electrical energy
used to drive the heat pump system,
you get three units of energy in return.
A house heated and cooled by resis-
tance electric heating receives only one
unit of energy for every unit of elec-
tricity purchased. This three to one
ratio provides ample reason for the
lower energy bill by use of under-
ground heat and use of the ground as
a heat sink.to 1970; sorghum yield was 1,990
pounds per acre. Sorghum. on bench
terrace that received no runoff pro-
duced 1,590 pounds per acre. Sorghum
growing on the sloping or watershed
part of the conservation bench terrace
produced 1,890 pounds per acre with
an 11-month fallow period in the
wheat-sorghum-fallow cropping system.
In the second phase of the study,
runoff from the slope into the leveled
bench area of the conservation bench
terrace was 1.6 inches annually. Sor-
ghum yield in the bench was 1,940
pounds per acre. At the same time,
only 1,090 pounds per acre or 18.8
bushels of wheat were produced. On
an adjacent bench terrace that did not
receive runoff, wheat yielded 13.3
bushels per acre and sorghum pro-
duced 1,650 pounds per acre.
Jones said, "These studies show that
a water conservation terrace system on
a clay loam soil greatly increased
yields by utilizing runoff". Sorghum
yield on sloping areas was about 1,890
pounds per acre in a wheat-sorghum-
fallow sequence where two crops grow
in three years. Counting fallow time,
it took 1.5 years to produce sorghum.
This reduces annual yield to 1,260
pounds per acre. Comparing this to
1,990 pounds per acre from the bench
area that received runoff or 1,600
pounds per acre on the leveled area
that did not receive runoff leaves little
doubt that conserving runoff water will
pay, the scientist pointed out.
"Determining which was the besttype of terrace system was the hard
job," Jones continued. He cooperated
with Dr. John Shipley, Texas Agricul-
tural Experiment Station Economist,
to get this job done. The two scientists
concluded that conservation bench
terraces were more profitable than con-
ventional bench terraces. It costs
more to construct bench terraces since
all of the area is leveled. Construction
cost for bench terraces on a two per-
cent slope would be $118.00 per acre,
when earth moving costs 40 cents per
cubic yard. On the other hand, level-
ing only one-third of the land for con-
servation bench terraces would cost
only $55.00 per acre. Total yield is
highest from bench terraces but not
enough to pay for construction costs.
Terrace systems have been evaluated
at Bushland for 20 years. "We are
convinced that constructing conserva-
tion bench terraces on fine-textured
soil on the Southern High Plains will
conserve runoff water and be profitable
for dryland farmers," Jones concluded.
For additional information on the
use of bench terraces, contact Mr. 0.
R. Jones, Soil Scientist, USDA South-
western Great Plains Research Center,
Bushland, Texas 79012.WEATHER ... continued from page 2
area. As Dr. Donald Harragan of
Texas Tech University pointed out,
'before we can determine cloud seed-
ability, we must understand the natural
processes within cloud systems in this
area'.
Although the Texas HIPLEX pro-
gram has been in operation for several
years, relatively few conclusions can
be drawn from these experiments and
more time will be required to verify
statistical observations. There are
however, substantial gains in under-
standing of specific cloud modification
in the Texas High Plains area.
Social and Legal Aspects
Usually when the topic of weather
modification is approached, a great
deal of mixed and emotional reactions
come to light. As Howard Taubenfeld
of Southern Methodist University ex-
plained, most of these reactions rep-
resent conflicts of interest. It is easy
to understand that when rainfall aug-
mentation projects are discussed, there
will arise some conflict between, as an
example, the irrigation farmer and the
dryland farmer. Since these two con-flirting interest groups are usually
found coexistent in the same general
area, one can easily see the problems
which might arise.
Upon concluding the conference,
there was a general feeling for the need
to develop a greater understanding be-
tween the scientific community and the
public. It was expressed that through
better public relations work, along with
further experimentation, the problems
facing the weather modifier and the
populace as a whole can be worked
out. The scientific community is fully
aware that the advancement or possible
halt to their activities greatly depends
on public acceptance.
The thrust of most weather modifi-
cation efforts is directed toward en-
hancement of our nations' agricultural
productivity. As Dr. Pierre St. Amand
explained, 'we must have the coopera-
tion and assistance of the agricultural
populace and we scientists must realize
that our farmers are the only chance
the U. S. has to maintain a balance in
World trade and therefore retain our
status as a nation'.Page 3
November, 1977
T HE CR O SS S EC T IO N
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 23, Number 11, November 1977, periodical, November 1977; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1533032/m1/3/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.