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Show Capture Water To Improve Forage And Increase Beef Production Water can work "for you or against you," says Douglas H. Bertoch, chairman of the Duchesne Du-chesne County PMA committee. "When the spring runoff or a heavy rain results in floods that carry away tons and tons of topsoil, water is working against y o u," the chairman points out. "If you can capture the moisture and hold it on the range, it will do a lot to im-I im-I prove the forage and produce I more beef, lamb or wool." Mr. Bertoch says there are two main ways of holding water on the range: (1) Vegetative cover; (2) Dams. With a good vegetative cover, the surface of the land is protected pro-tected against "splash erosion." The plants sow down the movement move-ment of water, allowing more of the moisture to soak into the soil. The roots of the plants hold the soil and at the same time provide channels into the land instead of off the land. The "captured" water held in the soil provides moisture for growing grow-ing plants resulting in more feed for livestock. Stockwatcr dams make it possible to distribute the grazing graz-ing more evenly over the range. There is not the necessity for trailing and trampling around limited watering places. These dams not only check runoff directly but they contribute to a better protective cover of grass and shrubs by reducing the overgrazing on parts of the |