Corn crop residues are often left on harvested fields to protect
soil quality, but they could become an important raw material in
cellulosic ethanol production. U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) research indicates that soil quality would not decline if
post-harvest corn cob residues were removed from fields. This
work, led by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist
Brian Wienhold, supports the USDA priority of developing new
sources of bioenergy. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific
research agency. Wienhold, with the ARS Agroecosystem Management
Research Unit in Lincoln, Neb., led studies that compared runoff
rates and sediment loss from no-till corn fields where
postharvest crop residues were either removed or retained. The
scientists also removed cobs from half of the test plots that
were protected by the residues. After the test plots were
established, the scientists generated two simulated rainfall
events. The first occurred when the fields were dry, and the
next occurred 24 hours lat