Freeze-thaw cycles, mixed with dry situations and excessive wind, put soil in components of southern Alberta liable to erosion.
“We establish this as in all probability one of many greatest issues going through Southern Alberta agriculture — or agriculture normally within the Canadian prairies —,” stated Farming Smarter Analysis Scientist Gurbir Dhillon.
Dhillion views topsoil as an irreplaceable pure useful resource. He stated it takes lots of to 1000’s of years for grime to kind.
“If we lose that, we lose soil fertility, it brings down our yield potential, so it makes the lands much less useful,” stated Dhillon.
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Farming specialists say moisture within the Lethbridge space offers some reduction from wind erosion
Farming Smarter is within the first of a five-year analysis challenge known as Saving Soils, which appears to be like particularly at fall-seeded cowl crops below dryland and irrigation techniques, which assist hold the soil lined and seize further nitrogen within the fields.
“Particularly the irrigation techniques that comply with excessive disturbance crops like potatoes, sugar beets, as a result of these crops are likely to disturb the soil extra, therefore the necessity for a follow-up crop that may anchor the soils,” Dhillon stated.
Different methods to stop erosion are conservation tillage or the planting of winter crops equivalent to winter wheat.
“Not solely will it generate some revenue, however it additionally offers most of the capabilities that cowl crops present,” Dhillon stated.
Carla Preachuk, agricultural fieldman for Willow Creek’s managing director, warns we are actually getting into a time of 12 months when erosion can worsen, and it is not only a drawback for farmers.
“One large drawback is definitely being a neighbor, no one needs their home to be full of any individual else’s grime,” Preachuk stated. “I do know that the NRCB recordsdata many complaints about this stuff yearly.”
The province has a soil conservation regulation that claims landowners should appropriate the reason for soil erosion or face fines.
“We simply do not need to see that lack of topsoil for farmers throughout the prairies,” stated Mike Gretzinger, analysis coordinator for Farming Smarter.
He hopes analysis being carried out now will assist with situations that change yearly to maintain extra of this valuable earth within the floor.
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