Custodian: NRCS
Goal: The Work Team will review and revise the current federal CPS 380 Windbreak-Shelterbelt Establishment and Renovation and its associated technical documents that provide criteria for establishing, enhancing, or renovating windbreaks. The team will determine the general criteria and any additional criteria and considerations necessary to achieve the practice purpose in Wisconsin with the multiple applications of windbreaks (wind erosion, crop protection, crop transpiration and soil moisture management, homestead/livestock protection and reduced energy usage, snow barrier, snow dispersal, odor/air quality abatement, pesticide drift control). The objective of the Work Team will be to identify barriers that prevent greater use of the windbreak standard, and draft solutions to those barriers within the windbreak technical criteria and guidance.
The updated CPS 380 and associated technical guidance the team develops will have broad use and implications for soil conservation, surface and groundwater protection, agriculture economics and sustainability for Wisconsin.
Team work will follow the Full Process detailed in the SOC Technical Standards Process Handbook. Criteria for the standard will be based on existing science, be protective of the waters of the state, and conform to existing laws and regulations. The team will examine existing research, consider new technologies, and consider input from expert and public review.
Initial Review: September 7 to 30, 2022 – See comments and responses here.
Broad Review (Public): November 7 to 30, 2022 – No comments were received during the Broad Review.
Publication: The January 2023 update of the standard and companion documents were published in the WI NRCS Field Office Technical Guide.
Work Team Status: Team meetings began in January 2022 and were held approximately monthly until the draft standard was completed. Details on meetings, including agendas and notes, were posted on this website as the work developed.
Key Team Resources
- WI CPS 380 Windbreak-Shelterbelt Establishment dated October 2016.
- WI CPS 650 Windbreak-Shelterbelt Renovation dated January 2013.
- Note: Current WI CPSs are available in the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide. Select Wisconsin, then go to Section IV > Conservation Practices > select individual standards from the alphabetical list > Practice Standard or other support documents.
- Federal CPS 380 Windbreak-Shelterbelt Establishment and Renovation dated July 2021.
- Federal CPS 380 effects-network diagram dated July 2021.
- University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, Training Manual for Applied Agroforestry Practices, Chapter 6: Windbreaks, 2021 Edition.
- Smith, Matthew M. et al, Windbreaks in the United States: A systematic review of producer-reported benefits, challenges, management activities and drivers of adoption, Agricultural Systems, Volume 187, 2021.
Other Support Resources
- Burke MWV, Rundquist BC, Zheng H. Detection of Shelterbelt Density Change Using Historic APFO and NAIP Aerial Imagery. Remote Sensing. 11(3): 218, 2019.
- David, C.A. and Rhyner, V., An assessment of windbreaks in central Wisconsin, Agroforestry Systems. 44: 313–331, 1999.
- Demchik, M. and Krause, N., Growing Your Mulch On-Site: Using Site Produced Sorghum/Sudan as a Mulch for Hybrid Poplar, Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, 24(1) 2007.
- Dronen, Sheridan I., Layout and Design Criteria for Livestock Windbreaks, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 22/23: 231-240, 1988.
- Du, S, Petrie, J, and Shi, X, Use of Snow Fences to Reduce the Impacts of Snowdrifts on Highways, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2613, pp. 45–51, 2017.
- Finch, Sherman J., Field Windbreaks: Design Criteria, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 22/23, 215-228, 1988.
- Goerge, Dee, Can Windbreaks Increase Crop Yields?, Successful Farming, January 2010.
- Hernandez, G., Trabue, S., Sauer, T., Pfeiffer, R., and Tyndall, J., Odor mitigation with tree buffers: Swine production case study, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 149, 154– 163, 2012.
- NRCS, Iowa, Windbreak Shelterbelt Designer Tool (note: actual tool is an interactive spreadsheet), 2017.
- NRCS, Wisconsin Forestry Technical Note 4, November 2011.
- Parker, D.B., Malone, G.W., and Walter, W.D., Vegetative Environmental Buffers and Exhaust Fan Deflectors for Reducing Downwind Odor and VOCs from Tunnel-Ventilated Swine Barns, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Vol. 55(1): 227-240, 2012.
- Smith, M.S., Bentrup, G., Kellerman, T., MacFarland, K., Straight, R., Ameyaw, L., Windbreaks in the United States: A systematic review of producer-reported benefits, challenges, management activities and drivers of adoption, Agricultural Systems, Vol, 187, Feb. 2021.
- University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources, Trees for Future Minnesota Cities: Those Likely to Thrive in a Changing Climate, Species Native to Midwest Region.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Gathering and Growing Edible Fruits and Nuts, 2021.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Selecting trees and shrubs for windbreaks.
- University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, Training Manual for Applied Agroforestry Practices, Chapter 6 – Windbreaks, pp. 92-113, 2021.
- University of Nebraska Lincoln, CropWatch, Windbreak Design Clipboard.
- University of WI- Stevens Point (Hauer, R. Demchik, M., DuPlissis, J., Koser, A., Noth, A.) and Dairyland Power, Growing Trees and Vegetation Within Electrical Transmission Line Corridors.
