Across the Northern Great Plains and Canadian Prairies the pattern is similar. Zero-till is strongest in the drier areas where wind erosion has been a concern for generations. Direct seeding often leads to elimination of summer fallow and rotation diversification.
“Residue management is at the base of conservation tillage farming,” says Man-Dak’s executive secretary, Alan Ness, in Underwood, North Dakota. “For generations, farmers have wanted to stabilize the soil. Under conservation tillage systems, we’re seeing light sandy fields become more productive. Some fields have doubled yield or more.”
In higher moisture areas, zero-till has been adopted for its “second generation” benefits – higher net returns through fuel savings, the ability to seed more acres, moisture conservation, soil tilth and increased organic matter – that lead to higher returns as well as environmental benefits.
Where cold, wet soils prevail, farmers wrestle with maintaining conservation tillage values. “Hardly anybody plows these days,” says Dave Franzen, Extension Soil Specialist at North Dakota State University in Fargo. “Even on the really flat ground of the Red River Valley, where seeding into cold, wet soils with heavy residue is a challenge, some people are trying strip tillage, working only a few inches to seed row crops.”
Many farmers, convinced of the benefits, have pushed through min-till into zero-till. Blair McClinton, executive manager of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association in Indian Head, says, “In western Saskatchewan, I’d guess about 70 percent of farmland is under zero-tillage. It’s probably about 10 percent lower in eastern areas where cold, wet soils are more of an issue. There are pockets where zero-till has become very well established, and others where as little as 45 percent of the land is direct seeded. At the Manitoba border, the use of zero-till really drops off. It’s rarely used in the Red River Valley.”
Direct-seeded land is better at absorbing higher-than-normal rainfall. Zero-till practices improve soil structure and maintain macropores so water infiltration is improved with reduced run-off.
The number of acres devoted to conservation tillage continues to rise. Alberta Reduced Tillage LINKAGES 2009 report estimates that 625,000 acres are put into zero-till annually in the province. Irrigated areas have lagged behind, but even there, tillage is less intensive and direct seeding is increasing.
In the U.S., 2004 figures from several sources estimate that 24 percent of crops in Montana and the Dakotas, and 11 percent of crops in the Pacific Northwest, are direct seeded. Zero-till adoption varies widely, especially in the Pacific Northwest, with one survey showing 70 percent direct seeding in some counties, but only 12 percent in others. These differences possibly reflect the wide range of climates in the region.
“While many big farms zero-till, smaller farms still face capital-cost barriers accentuated by the scarcity of used small and mid-size equipment,” says McClinton. “Air-drills under 30 or 35 feet sell at a premium, but there’s not much market for 40- to 50-foot used air drills – a common size 5 or 10 years ago. Farmers now have fewer replacement options when older equipment wears out. They may move to direct seeding when they buy an air drill or contract a custom operator to seed.”
The systems-approach mindset
In Camrose, Alberta, Rick Taillieu with Reduced Tillage LINKAGES, has spent 13 years working as a reduced-tillage agronomist. “When you are seeding into lodged or heavy residue, adopting a systems approach can be a real challenge for growers,” he says. “Some growers attempt to use tillage to solve the problem, but it can take several passes, and it’s not a long-term solution. Most operators aren’t interested in going back to tillage because they’re already stretched to the max to get over the acres.”
Taillieu points out that quick fixes are always available. “But to be successful today, a farmer has to develop systems to prevent problems. That may be a different rotation, seeding a crop at a different time or different harvest practices,” he says.
Accurate seed placement under pressure to cover more acres can jeopardize good agronomic choices. “Too many fields are seeded faster than conditions allow,” says Taillieu. “As speed increases, seeding depth accuracy suffers. The problem snowballs as you turn up the fan for higher ground speed and the seed bounces around and may be damaged. It takes mental effort to accept that going faster isn’t the answer and slow down. An extra day seeding is not the end of the world. The long-term solution to spring pressure is to spread seeding dates with fall seeding or late-season crops or perennial crops.”
Ness says the conservation tillage movement continues to generate excitement, and the art and science of system improvements continues to draw the interest of farmers on both sides of the border. “We’ve come a long way,” says Ness, “but we still have plenty of production challenges. Moisture management, nutrient management and soil-quality benefits are some current areas of focus.”
Could Conservation Tillage Systems Have Prevented the 1930s Dustbowl?
During the Dust Bowl, three million people left their farms on the Great Plains.
No one can say for sure, but it seems reasonable that had conservation tillage systems been the norm in the decades preceding the 1930s, one of the world’s worst environmental disasters could have been prevented, or at least moderated.
Across the United States, 1934, 1936 and 1939 were extremely hot and dry years. In drought years since the 1930s, direct-seeded crops have fared much better than traditionally seeded crops. In the first year of the devastating 2000-2002 drought in Saskatchewan, crop insurance payouts of $500 million were expected, based on models from traditional cropping systems. Actual payouts were around $300 million. The entire difference is credited to the effects of direct seeding and soil conservation.
“With little snow the following winter, direct seeding didn’t help much the second year,” says Blair McClinton, referring to the 2000-2002 drought in Saskatchewan. “We didn’t have any dust storms during that drought although we had plenty of hot, windy weather to cause dusty days.”
The Dust Bowl is described as a coincidence of drought and severe wind erosion. The drought – the longest and deepest in over a century of systematic meteorological observation – began in 1933 and continued through 1940. In 1941 the rains came, but for eight years crops failed.
The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska has published some features of drought in their report, “Improving Drought Management in the West.” *
Features of drought in the United States: (1) its variable but recurrent nature and (2) the magnitude and duration of the droughts of the 1930s and 1950s in comparison to other episodes during the time series. Drought frequently affects more than 10 percent of the Nation, and it is not uncommon for more than 30 percent of the Nation to be affected. The most benign climatic periods occurred around the mid 1940s, between the late 1960s and mid 1970s, and from 1978 to 1985. In contrast, the 1930s drought continued for nearly a decade.*
In the event of drought, soil laden and enriched with decomposing residue has a lot better chance of staying put.
*The full report is available online. Google, “Improving Drought Management in the West.” The role of mitigation and preparedness, Donald Wilhite, Director, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska.
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Across the Northern Great Plains and Canadian Prairies the pattern is similar. Zero-till is strongest in the drier areas where wind erosion has been a concern for generations. Direct seeding often leads to elimination of summer fallow and rotation diversification.
“Residue management is at the base of conservation tillage farming,” says Man-Dak’s executive secretary, Alan Ness, in Underwood, North Dakota. “For generations, farmers have wanted to stabilize the soil. Under conservation tillage systems, we’re seeing light sandy fields become more productive. Some fields have doubled yield or more.”
In higher moisture areas, zero-till has been adopted for its “second generation” benefits – higher net returns through fuel savings, the ability to seed more acres, moisture conservation, soil tilth and increased organic matter – that lead to higher returns as well as environmental benefits.
Where cold, wet soils prevail, farmers wrestle with maintaining conservation tillage values. “Hardly anybody plows these days,” says Dave Franzen, Extension Soil Specialist at North Dakota State University in Fargo. “Even on the really flat ground of the Red River Valley, where seeding into cold, wet soils with heavy residue is a challenge, some people are trying strip tillage, working only a few inches to seed row crops.”
Many farmers, convinced of the benefits, have pushed through min-till into zero-till. Blair McClinton, executive manager of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association in Indian Head, says, “In western Saskatchewan, I’d guess about 70 percent of farmland is under zero-tillage. It’s probably about 10 percent lower in eastern areas where cold, wet soils are more of an issue. There are pockets where zero-till has become very well established, and others where as little as 45 percent of the land is direct seeded. At the Manitoba border, the use of zero-till really drops off. It’s rarely used in the Red River Valley.”
Direct-seeded land is better at absorbing higher-than-normal rainfall. Zero-till practices improve soil structure and maintain macropores so water infiltration is improved with reduced run-off.
The number of acres devoted to conservation tillage continues to rise. Alberta Reduced Tillage LINKAGES 2009 report estimates that 625,000 acres are put into zero-till annually in the province. Irrigated areas have lagged behind, but even there, tillage is less intensive and direct seeding is increasing.
In the U.S., 2004 figures from several sources estimate that 24 percent of crops in Montana and the Dakotas, and 11 percent of crops in the Pacific Northwest, are direct seeded. Zero-till adoption varies widely, especially in the Pacific Northwest, with one survey showing 70 percent direct seeding in some counties, but only 12 percent in others. These differences possibly reflect the wide range of climates in the region.
“While many big farms zero-till, smaller farms still face capital-cost barriers accentuated by the scarcity of used small and mid-size equipment,” says McClinton. “Air-drills under 30 or 35 feet sell at a premium, but there’s not much market for 40- to 50-foot used air drills – a common size 5 or 10 years ago. Farmers now have fewer replacement options when older equipment wears out. They may move to direct seeding when they buy an air drill or contract a custom operator to seed.”
The systems-approach mindset
In Camrose, Alberta, Rick Taillieu with Reduced Tillage LINKAGES, has spent 13 years working as a reduced-tillage agronomist. “When you are seeding into lodged or heavy residue, adopting a systems approach can be a real challenge for growers,” he says. “Some growers attempt to use tillage to solve the problem, but it can take several passes, and it’s not a long-term solution. Most operators aren’t interested in going back to tillage because they’re already stretched to the max to get over the acres.”
Taillieu points out that quick fixes are always available. “But to be successful today, a farmer has to develop systems to prevent problems. That may be a different rotation, seeding a crop at a different time or different harvest practices,” he says.
Accurate seed placement under pressure to cover more acres can jeopardize good agronomic choices. “Too many fields are seeded faster than conditions allow,” says Taillieu. “As speed increases, seeding depth accuracy suffers. The problem snowballs as you turn up the fan for higher ground speed and the seed bounces around and may be damaged. It takes mental effort to accept that going faster isn’t the answer and slow down. An extra day seeding is not the end of the world. The long-term solution to spring pressure is to spread seeding dates with fall seeding or late-season crops or perennial crops.”
Ness says the conservation tillage movement continues to generate excitement, and the art and science of system improvements continues to draw the interest of farmers on both sides of the border. “We’ve come a long way,” says Ness, “but we still have plenty of production challenges. Moisture management, nutrient management and soil-quality benefits are some current areas of focus.”
Could Conservation Tillage Systems Have Prevented the 1930s Dustbowl?
During the Dust Bowl, three million people left their farms on the Great Plains.
No one can say for sure, but it seems reasonable that had conservation tillage systems been the norm in the decades preceding the 1930s, one of the world’s worst environmental disasters could have been prevented, or at least moderated.
Across the United States, 1934, 1936 and 1939 were extremely hot and dry years. In drought years since the 1930s, direct-seeded crops have fared much better than traditionally seeded crops. In the first year of the devastating 2000-2002 drought in Saskatchewan, crop insurance payouts of $500 million were expected, based on models from traditional cropping systems. Actual payouts were around $300 million. The entire difference is credited to the effects of direct seeding and soil conservation.
“With little snow the following winter, direct seeding didn’t help much the second year,” says Blair McClinton, referring to the 2000-2002 drought in Saskatchewan. “We didn’t have any dust storms during that drought although we had plenty of hot, windy weather to cause dusty days.”
The Dust Bowl is described as a coincidence of drought and severe wind erosion. The drought – the longest and deepest in over a century of systematic meteorological observation – began in 1933 and continued through 1940. In 1941 the rains came, but for eight years crops failed.
The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska has published some features of drought in their report, “Improving Drought Management in the West.” *
Features of drought in the United States: (1) its variable but recurrent nature and (2) the magnitude and duration of the droughts of the 1930s and 1950s in comparison to other episodes during the time series. Drought frequently affects more than 10 percent of the Nation, and it is not uncommon for more than 30 percent of the Nation to be affected. The most benign climatic periods occurred around the mid 1940s, between the late 1960s and mid 1970s, and from 1978 to 1985. In contrast, the 1930s drought continued for nearly a decade.*
In the event of drought, soil laden and enriched with decomposing residue has a lot better chance of staying put.
*The full report is available online. Google, “Improving Drought Management in the West.” The role of mitigation and preparedness, Donald Wilhite, Director, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska.
Write a comment
- Required fields are marked with *.