Contour Farming - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Contour Farming

The above photo was recently posted to the facebook page of the Shelby County Soil and Water Conservation District. Shown is Ferd Fleckenstein doing some contour plowing on his farm north of Ft. Loramie in 1951. It caught my eye because in the background behind the tractor is our family farm as well as my grandparent's barn on the far left. I was about 3 years old at the time. Contour farming was a new approach being encouraged to minimize the run-off of top soil during heavy rainstorms. Both the Loramie Creek and the Miami-Erie Canal ran through Ferd’s farm, which also is the site of Peter Loramie’s original trading post and General Anthony Wayne’s Ft. Loramie during the late 1700’s.

Because Ferd's entire farm generally slopped towards the water, plowing in a curve following the contour of the land, then planting in the same manner, tended to slow down the flow of rainwater towards the creek and canal, preventing soil erosion and allowing the water to infiltrate the soil.

In those days, the creek had to be dredged about every decade in order to clear out the silt that has washed into the creek from unrestricted rainwater runoff. Contour farming as well as laying drainage tile helped filter the rainwater before it ran into the creek and avoid the wash-outs during heavy rainfall.

As shown in the photo below of my sister Lucy with our family farm in the background, a wide grass covered buffer strip was formed along the creek bank to slow and further filter the flow of water into the creek. These actions also helped stabilize the bank and keep the creek in a healthy state that allowed fish and wildlife to thrive in and around the water. I can recall enjoying fishing, swimming and ice skating at the creek as a kid as documented in this previous blogpost.

Those steps were effective at restraining the silt build-up in the creek; however, in the 1970’s, soybean farming became prevalent, so farmers stopped rotating between 4 crops (corn, wheat, oats, then hay) and converted to alternating between the two cash crops of corn and beans. The four crop rotation tended to replenish the soil of nutrients, which meant the two crop rotation required much more fertilizer exacerbating the associated run-off issues described earlier because the water was contaminated with the fertilizer.

Then concurrently, large cattle and hog farms emerged, resulting in significantly more manure being spread on the land for fertilizer that also washed into the waterways contributing to the pollution. The creek unfortunately hasn’t been the same with the fish pollution essentially wiped out. Plus, the fertilizers caused significant algae blooms downstream in the summers, creating significant health and safety issues as well as problems with recreation, fishing and wildlife in and around the waterways.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of organizations like the Shelby Soil and Water Conservation District, a watershed project has been created called the Loramie Valley Alliance, a collaboration among public and private stakeholders working together for the benefit of Loramie Creek and its tributaries. Back in 1994, the Ohio Environmental Protection agency rated the watershed fair or poor for water quality and now after years of steady efforts on behalf of the Alliance and adjacent property owners, portions of the creek downstream of Lake Loramie are rated good or exceptional. Work remains, but the progress is measurable and significant.

Jason Bruns, District Administrator

Ryan Evers, Technician

Justin Wagner, NRCS Resource Conservationist

Daniel Francis, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist

Sophie Nieport, Education Coordinator

Josh Ward, Technician 

The officers and staff of the SSWCD pictured above are to be commended for their work to improve the waterways in Shelby County. Check out their website at this link; and especially note this interesting educational video about rainwater.

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