On-site and Off-site Effects of Wind Erosion on European Light Soils

In intensively cultivated areas with light soils in Europe, wind erosion can have important on-site and off-site effects. In the framework of the EU research project Wind Erosion and European Light Soils (WEELS), an assessment has been made of these effects and of the order of magnitude of the damage and costs caused by these effects. An analysis is made of the land use and cropping in four selected sites, and farmers have provided information about the damage of wind erosion. This damage consists mainly of crop losses and additional inputs in the case of resowing. Detailed information from one of these sites shows that depending on the crop the average annual on-site costs in high-risk areas amount to about 60 per hectare. However, for sugar beet and oilseed rape the costs can be once in five years as much as 500 per hectare. Farmers are generally well aware of the erosion risk and do apply a variety of control measures. With these measures the average annual costs of wind erosion can be reduced significantly.