Page 40 - RealDirtENG2020

Growing crops without working the land = win-win
Today, farmers widely use crop growing methods like conservation tillage (working the soil as little as possible), strip-till (only working a narrow strip where seeds will be planted) or no-till (not working the soil at all).
With strip-till and no-till, leftover material like roots and stalks from the harvested crop are left in the eld, and the next crop is planted directly into that ground-covering material.
These types of tillage give the soil more structure and nutrients, prevent soil erosion, improve water conservation and ood management, and promote populations of bene cial insects and microorganisms.
Bonus: no-till isn’t just good for the soil; it’s also less work for farmers, and because they’re using less fuel to prepare a eld for planting, there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions too. By following these farming methods, farmers are actually taking greenhouse gases out of the environment, and putting them into the soil through a process called carbon sequestration. This process results in some areas of the Prairies now being net zero greenhouse gas emitters.
New crops that are tolerant to speci c herbicides can have environmental bene ts as well, because farmers growing these crops can use a spray to kill weeds, instead of having to churn up the soil to get rid of them.
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FACT
Plant science innovations are reducing diesel fuel use by millions of litres every year just from farmers having to drive less over their elds86.
Mixing it up a little in the eld
As part of sustainable farming, most farmers grow one type of crop in a eld one year, a different one the next, and yet a different one again in the following year, instead of just growing the same crop in the same eld year after year. That process is called crop rotation.
Every crop is affected by speci c pests and diseases, and rotating crops reduces those risks. It also lets crops with different types of root structures pull nutrients and moisture from different soil depths, so the soil stays healthy and productive.
Farmers across Canada use different crop rotations, depending on where they farm. In Prince Edward Island, a typical rotation cycles potatoes, grain (such as wheat or barley) and forages (grasses
to feed cattle). On the Prairies, by comparison, it’s common to grow grain (oats, wheat, or barley), then oilseeds (canola, ax,
or sun owers) followed by legumes ( eld peas, beans, lentils, or chickpeas).
Kelsey McDonald
Strip-tillage in a canola eld
Working with nature to keep crops safe
Many farmers use a system called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to suppress and manage diseases, insects, and weeds in an effective, economical, and environmentally sound manner. They closely watch elds and orchards to identify pests, and know when they need to take action to protect the crop. Farmers then make strategic use of a variety of biological, physical, cultural, mechanical, behavioural and chemical treatment tools, to reduce pest populations to acceptable levels. Equally important is evaluating the effectiveness of the treatments.
By using IPM, farmers use all the best available pest management strategies, including practices of good land management, using natural enemies, planting certi ed seed, and keeping pests at bay with physical barriers, such as screens or netting.
One popular IPM tool, particularly in greenhouse production, is biological control, which can also be described as using “good bugs to ght bad bugs”.
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The Real Dirt on Farming