Perennial forages is a true zero till system that many farmers have practiced over the years but not realized it. Forages enhance organic matter accumulation, reduce wind and water erosion, enhance wildlife and contribute to soil building processes. After initial seeding land converted to forage production tillage operations are no longer needed allowing roots to develop creating organic matter in the soil.
However in the past after initial seeding forage stands would become unproductive in a few short years. In order to regain productivity fields would be rebroken then reseeded back to forage only to repeat the cycle again in a few short years. During the year of breaking intensive tillage was used to kill out the forage. Unfortunately this left the field open to wind and water erosion and also broke down the organic matter created during the previous years. Forage fields are zero till but they are also a continuous cropping system. All farmers are aware that adequate fertility levels must be maintained in a continuous cropping system. So too do forage stands require proper fertilization to maintain their productivity. When a grass forage stand becomes unproductive it is generally due to a lack of fertility not to the age of the stand. Studies in Alberta have shown that smooth bromegrass hay fields remain productive for over thirty years with adequate fertilization.
With the recent registration of glyphosate to kill out the hay stand, followed by seeding with a low disturbance seeding implement, tillage can be eliminated from forage stands when they need to be rejuvenated. This greatly reduces any chance for serious wind and water erosion to occur on predominately marginal lands.
In the late nineteen seventies there was approximately 25 million acres in native grassland in Saskatchewan, by the early nineteen nineties only 16 million acres remained. The nine million acres that were cultivated could be defined as marginal for the reasons of salinity, topography, stones, sand, or sloughs.
With changing grain prices and higher production costs these nine million acres could be converted to true zero till acres in Saskatchewan if seeded to forages.