The simplest systems can be laid out directly in the field. A case study of a farm in northeast Missouri illustrates the various types of systems one might adopt. The early constant grade terrace, first constructed during the 1930s and early 1940s, was and continues today as an excellent erosion control device. It is relatively easy to design and lay out in the field. It can be constructed using farm equipment.
Grass turn rows or brush along the banks of a ditch or fence row often provide outlets.
Many farmers today ignore farming on the contour if they choose this type of terrace, since large equipment is difficult to use on these sharply turning channels. But the terrace ridges are damaged unless the land is farmed on the contour. Sharp turns and point rows caused more concern. The broad-base terrace was developed after World War II along with the practice of cutting a little more or less in the channel to reduce the sharpness of curves in the terrace. Terrace channels have straightened.