this is the Agriculture Report.Soil conservation methods help farmersprotect their land from the damagecaused by farming and the forces of nature.One method of soil conservationis the use of windbreaks.Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants.Farmers plant these barriers around their fields.(SOUND)Windbreaks help prevent the loss of soil.They stop the wind from blowing soil away.They also keep the wind from damaging or destroying crops.Windbreaks can be highly valuable for protecting grain crops.For example, studies have been done on windbreaksin parts of West Africa.These studies found that grain harvestswere as much as twenty percent higher in fields protectedby windbreaks compared to fields without them.But here is something interesting about windbreaks.They seem to work best when they allow some wind to passthrough the barrier of trees or plants around a field.If not, then the movement of airclose to the ground will lift the soil.Then the soil will be blown away.For this reason, a windbreak works bestif it contains only sixty to eighty percent of the treesand plants that would be needed to make a solid line.An easy rule to remember is that windbreakscan protect areas up to ten timesthe height of the tallest trees in the windbreak.There should be at least two lines in each windbreak.One line should be large trees.The second line, right next to it, can be shorter trees and other plants with leaves.Locally grown trees and plantsare considered the best choices for windbreaks.Studies have shown that some kinds of trees can grow welleven if the quality of the land is not very good.One kind of tree is the white pine.Another is the loblolly pine.Windbreaks not only protect land and crops from the wind.Surplus trees can be cut down and used or sold for wood.(SOUND)Trees reduce the damaging effects of wind and rain.Their roots help protect soil from being washed away.And trees can provide another valuable service for agriculture.They can provide grazing animals with shade from the sun.And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Special English.You can learn English and stay informed with our website51voa.com.You can get more information about windbreaksand other forms of soil conservation at enterpriseworks.org.