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<br />Attach men[ 10-3 <br />Cropland Information <br />The haul road corridor portion of the Toast Mine permit area includes 18.6 acres of active <br />cropland. This cropland acreage is managed as dry cropland for [he production of winter <br />wheat (Triticum aestivum). The cropland acreage found within the permit area is <br />representative of dry cropland areas in Routt County that are used for the production of <br />small grains. Historically, dry cropland areas were more extensive in the region. Within <br />the last 10 years many cropland acres have been taken out of production and seeded to <br />permanent vegetation under the USDA-Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service <br />(ASLS) Conservation Reserve Program. <br />Cropland in the permit area is similar to that found in the region. Cropland predominates <br />on sloping uplands which were in sagebrush native vegetation prior to cropping and extends <br />into the flatter adjacent lowland areas. Cropland soils are predominantly Binco silty <br />clay loam on the upland areas and Zoltay Variant clay loam in lowland areas (see Tab 9, <br />• Soils). Annual precipitation is not always dependable for sustaining annual crop <br />production. Soil moisture is enhanced by summer fallowing fields every other growing <br />season. Summer fallowing eliminates vegetation through tillage, resulting in lowered <br />evapotranspiration and increased soil moisture. Tillage normally begins with one <br />operation in the fall after grain harvest. Tillage is periodically conducted through the <br />next growing season as annual weeds become reestablished. A final tillage operation is <br />conducted prior [o seeding of the annual grain in the Late summer/early fall. With this <br />system, annual grain production occurs only every other year for dry cropland fields. <br />Cropland production data was not collected from fields during baseline studies. Instead, <br />[he operator of the cropland fields occurring within the permit area ras contacted for <br />production yield information. The USDA -A SCS office in Steamboat Springs was also <br />contacted for Routt County average production figures for winter wheat on dry cropland. <br />Winter wheat yields from cropland occurring on and adjacent to the permit area average 25 <br />bushels per acre (Rob Barnes, personal communication, June 1994). The Routt County <br />average winter wheat production is currently 25.1 bushels per acre (USD A-ASCS Routt County <br />. Office, August 1994). Cropland production values for fields occurring in the Yoast permit <br />area are representative of the wheat producing region in Routt County. <br />