While researching the article on the anniversary, I had the opportunity to look back through some of the earliest editions of the Prairie Steward. In edition 2, Pat Flaten submitted an article about dust storms based on a research paper prepared by the Sask. Research Council and the University of Sask. The researchers showed that during the period of 1977- 1985, the annual frequency of days with dust storms was 5.1 at Saskatoon, 5.2 at Regina, 4.7 at Yorkton and 3.2 at Swift Current. I remember thinking at the time perhaps someone had typed the wrong number of days beside the 2 cities, switching the number of dust storm days at Swift Current with those at Yorkton. Surely Yorkton, located in the heart of the parkland paradise, would have fewer days of dust storms than Swift Current! But when I read the paper, the numbers were right!
Well, that certainly changed some thinking. The old claim, "Soil conservation will work in the south west because it's so dry and windy but it won't work here in all this moisture," no longer rang true. So we in the parklands had to admit that our soils were just as prone to erosion by the wind as those in the south west. In doing so, did we forget that our soils were prone to erosion by water, too? This spring, as I traveled around the region, I was amazed at the amount of water erosion that occurred. I just had to stop near one field and take some photos. Photos 1 and 2 were taken in late April. Photo 1 shows the path of the water as it moved down the field to the ditch and the amount of soil it took with it. Photo 2 is taken across the road and shows the amount of soil either blown off the field over the winter or washed down through the culvert. The culvert is nearly plugged. As the ditch slopes toward a slough, the water deposited inches of soil all along the ditch to the margin of the slough.
Photos 3 and 4 were taken a month later. In Photo 3 the seeded crop is showing in the back ground. The only greenery showing in the fore ground are some weeds as the eroded soil was too wet and too deep to seed. And across the road, only a few of the hardiest weeds are beginning to colonize the washout along the ditch.
Soil erosion either by wind or water is always a threat to our soils whether we farm in the arid southwest or the parklands. Maintaining standing stubble, grassing water ways and establishing shelter belts are some of the many practises that ensure the conservation of our soil throughout the year.