A dual targeting criterion for soil conservation programs in Minnesota

A dual criterion was developed to identify marginally productive and erosion-vulnerable land in conjunction with the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) program. The criterion is based on a productivity index (PI) and an erosion resistivity index (RI). The PI index is determined from soil properties that determine the rooting environment, and the RI index is calculated from the vulnerability of a soil to productivity losses and the erosion potential at the site. The two indexes are combined in a two-way classification to identify four land classes. Separation of these classes is flexible, based on distributions of the indexes generated from statewide data. Location of targeted land is aided by county-specific information on critical topographical factors. A comparison of results obtained using the dual targeting criterion and criteria based on soil loss tolerance (T) values indicates that distinctly different land parcels are targeted by the two approaches.