Soil and Water Conservation Practices to Mitigate Drought and Climate Change.

Climate change is leading to increased spatial and temporal variation in temperature and precipitation. Occurrences of drought similar to 2012 may become more frequent in future climate and this will impact local agriculture production.  Soil and water conservation practices present an opportunity to mitigate drought and climate change along with providing value to agriculture through a reduction in the variation among years. Impacts of drought occur through a combination of limited soil water to meet atmospheric demand and increased atmospheric demand for water vapor because of higher temperatures and increased vapor pressure deficits. Soil conservation practices with increased residue cover and reduced tillage increase the amount of water available to the crop in the short term because these practices reduce the soil water evaporation component of evapotranspiration. Over the long-term these practices increase soil organic matter and stability of soil aggregates which increases the capacity of the soil to store precipitation. These changes increase the infiltration of precipitation into the soil and with increased organic matter there is more water storage in the soil profile. These effects were observed in 2012 because soil management practices which positively affected the water balance produced higher yields. Variation of crop production within a field is related to the availability of soil water and soil management practices which positively affect water positively affect production. Mitigation of climate change relative to crop production must focus on the combination of the soil water balance and water use rates coupled with the capacity of the soil to capture and retain precipitation.