CONTENTS 



Page 



SUMMARY v 



INTRODUCTION 1 



EXPERIMENTAL LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 2 



Climate 2 



Description of Experiments 2 



EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 3 



Snow Control 3 



Crop Yields 4 



ENGINEERING ASPECTS 6 



Slope, Bench Width, and Depth of Cut 6 



Width of Dike 7 



Turning and Odd-Shaped Areas 7 



Construction Costs 8 



ECONOMIC ASPECTS 9 



Alfalfa Production 9 



Harvested Area 9 



Yields 9 



Fixed Costs 10 



Operating Costs 10 



Net Returns 11 



Relationships of Available Water and Alfalfa Yields 11 



Other Crops 13 



Grass 13 



Wheat 13 



FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF LEVEL BENCHES 14 



Terracing, Contour Farming, and Stripcropping 14 



Possible Limiting Factors 15 



Climate 15 



Soil and Topography 15 



Alternate Uses for Land Resources 16 



Government Conservation Programs 16 



Other Factors 16 



Research Needs 17 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 17 



iii 



