Future Developments in Soil and Water Conservation and Management ‐‐ An Introduction

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) has been widely used to predict soil erosion by water. However, the USLE is an empirical equation that uses a large data base to represent climate, soil, topography, and land use factors. Foster and Lane view the empirical nature and large data base requirement as major limitations of the USLE. Soil compaction is a major agricultural problem that, according to McCoy, is increasing in severity in many cases because of increasing equipment sizes, more intensive soil tillage, and poor timing of field operations. The areas of research covered in the Division S-6 contributions are by no means all-inclusive with regard to future soil and water management and conservation research. Research will continue in many other areas to develop principles and practices for managing and conserving our soil and water resources.