Were not going to talk about the handy and tasty vegitable spray. We want you to introduce you to PAM, a.k.a polyacrylamides. While increasing soil quality and organic matter to combat soil erosion is the ultimate goal, PAM is a product that can help today. There have been many acres of marginal ground broken in the last year, some soil is highly erodeable, some is of poor quality. SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 will help improve the soil structure over time, PAM can help reduce erosion and increase infiltration the moment it’s applied. 

PAM is an environmentally friendly, water-soluble substance that  binds soil into particles that are too large to be carried away by typical runoff. PAM binds particles of silt and clay together, making them more resistant to erosion.

In the U.S., PAM’s are used extensively in potable water treatment, for dewatering of sewerage sludges, washing and pealing of fruits and vegetables, clarification of sugar juice and liquor, in adhesives and paper in contact with food, as thickeners and suspending agents in animal feeds, in cosmetics. No significant negative impacts have been documented for aquatic, or crop species when PAM is applied at recommended concentrations and rates.

PAM has proven to

• Reduce sediment runoff soil loss 80% - 98%
• Increases water infiltration up to 60%
• Lowers concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus & pesticides in runoff water
• Reduces hardening and crusting of soils
• Aids in plant growth on high-grade slopes
• No bioaccumulation in crops
• Cost effective and time saving

Conservation practices that require additional field operations usually occur during busy periods in the farming schedule are also avoided. Furthermore, conservation practices that reduce sediment loss such as; sediment ponds, vegetative filter strips or buried-pipe waste water systems, still lose most of the clay-sized solids, the soil component most critical to sustained soil fertility. These solids also are most linked to pesticide, and nutrient loss in run-off waters.

Halting erosion prevents exposure of soil not treated with herbicides, thus reducing potential late-season weed problems. Applied pesticide and fertilizer inputs are better retained on the field. Uniform water infiltration from upper to lower field ends, has shown to improve potato yield and grade, and reduces the risk of nitrate leaching.

Many farmers, who have viewed traditional conservation practices as cumbersome, intrusive, or ineffectual, and expensive, adopt PAM as an attractive inexpensive alternative. The typical $15 to $35/acre per crop is partially or entirely returned by savings in erosion-related field operations, improved infiltration, water conservation, or crop responses.

We hope this short introduction to PAM gives you some ideas to help your marginal, and highly productive irrigated ground be more productive. This article was condensed from polymersinc.com. Read the entire article here.