Soil erosion is a serious problem in the Semiarid Plains.
Its effects on water storage and nutrient availability have been extensively studied. Restoration with fertilizer or manures, and its effects over the long term are less well understood. They were using added fertilizer to replace eroded topsoil in maintaining grain yields. Hairy vetch was seeded as green manure in the spring on half the plots in an alternate vetch-no vetch format across the simulated erosion gradient. After 4 weeks, roundup was applied to kill cover and conserve water.