Terrace Maintenance

by Craig T. Scheuerman, Civil Engineering
Technician Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Hays, Kansas

The emergence of no-till as a cropping system has down played the need for maintenance of existing structural practices.

If you have terraced land and are using no-till, those terraces still need to be maintained. A terrace system in poor condition can cause more erosion than no terraces at all. Terraces that are broken will funnel all the runoff to the low spots where it can cause large gullies.

The solution? Maintain or rebuild those terraces.

One common maintenance practice is to use a plow to increase terrace height and restore capacity. This method is the least costly and can give good results if done on a regular basis. You will also need to fill any spots where the terrace has overtopped and broken.

If your terraces are in very bad shape, other methods must be used. For terraces in very poor condition, rebuilding by your local conservation contractor is probably the best solution. Some conservation districts have cost share available to help with the expense of rebuilding your terrace system.

If terrace spacing or alignment is a problem, an entirely new system may be the answer. Spacing can be adjusted by installing new terraces with wider channels.

In certain situations, a new system can improve alignment and farmability. For additional information about terrace maintenance and options or natural resources conservation, go to your local U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Service Center and talk to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or conservation district staff.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

This article is also available in Microsoft Word format.

Terrace Maintenance (DOC; 48 KB)

< Back to Conservation Editions - Fiscal Year 2007 Index

Last Modified: 08/13/2008