As Mason County makes comprehensive plans for the future, we must consider data from the trends that brought us to this point. USDA reports that Mason County had 19,636 fewer acres of pasture in 2017 than in 1978.

While farmers call it pasture or hay is also called sod. Sod’s roots are important because they secure precious topsoil and keep it from washing down the river. Ground exposed to continuous no-till row crops is subject to much higher levels of soil erosion.