This being the Tenth Anniversary issue of the Prairie Steward, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back into the history of prairie agriculture and see how soil conservation has been viewed through the years.
A copy of Carters Farmers' Pocket Book for 1911, (a British version of our Guide to Farm Practice) dealt quite extensively with crop rotation and soil fertility issues. It seems to me that farmers in England were quite well advised on farm practice. Here are a few lines from a chapter of the book entitled "Calendar of Farming Operations in England". For February it states that "if conditions are favorable, the earliest sowings of spring wheat may be proceeded with, Carters Earliest of All Wheat, after clover will prove profitable if a good season is maintained." They obviously understood the value of legumes in a rotation.
Recommendations for the month of May dealt with weed control: "Charlock (wild mustard) may be destroyed by spraying when three inches high. Choose a calm and dull day and use 40 gallons of a 4 percent solution of copper sulfate per acres." Crops were top dressed in June and July with what they referred to as "Artificial Manures". "Where it is desired to have a good crop of Mangolds, a dressing of nitrogenous artificials will be advisable." They also recommended fertilizing alfalfa fields between cuts "a lite dressing of nitrate of soda applied to the aftermath of lucerne (alfalfa) will bring on the succeeding growth more quickly."
In August, green manure crops were planted "On the stubbles, Carters early and late red trifolium (clover) is sown, merely harrowing in the seed, and preserving the seed bed firm and shallow. Mustard also, in like manner, for green manuring can be put in."
For December, farmers were reminded of the importance of getting the land well "mucked". Remember that muck is the mother of money so utilize all yard scrapings and ditch bottoms for manuring the land."
There was also a page titled "Hints on Artificial Manures." It was suggested that "According to the best authorities, the finest results are obtained from a combination of the various elements of plant food contained in artificial manures, and not by applying them in a simple form. The farmer must understand that every crop requires some of the elements in a greater or lesser degree than others to produce the best results, and his soil may be lacking in one or more of the necessary items.". This was followed by a stern word of advice of the "experts" of the day. "Agriculturists would do well to study this part of the routine of successful farming much more than they generally do. It pays well for the extra attention and time devoted to the matter." Even in 1911, new methods and new technologies were met with resistance.
Another book titled "Elementary Agriculture for Alberta Schools" published in 1915 teaches some interesting lessons on farm management techniques. On soil water it says "Where the supply of moisture is scant or insufficient, steps have to be taken to make the best use of moisture that falls. The system of soil management followed under such conditions is called dry farming. The outstanding features of which are: deep cultivation to allow the rain to settle into the soil instead of running off the surface; and shallow surface cultivation to break the capillary movement of water led to the surface by evaporation."
It goes on to talk about the purpose and virtues of tillage: "the first purpose of tillage is to bring the soil into a fine state of division. The finer the soil is the more open and mellow it is. The general effect of breaking up the prairie has been to lessen the runoff and to convert the moisture that falls to the production of a heavier vegetation. The appearance of the prairie in some places is unfavorable to crop production, but the meagre crop of natural grass is not due to poor soil or its absolute dryness of climate, but to compactness and dryness of the soil in the absence of cultivation." This is followed by a description of good fallowing practices; "Deep and fine cultivation of the soil is necessary to be followed by repeated surface mulching to prevent evaporation. The fallow must be clean and well cultivated and bare."
Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. However, this is the advise that farmers were given and to be successful they did their best to heed it. It was a good system as long as conditions were good, but an article I found in the July 6, 1931 edition of the Nor-West Farmer indicates that there were problems. The article profiles a successful Kindersley district farmer. Following is a description of his summer fallow methods: "After spring seeding, the stubble from the previous crop, if heavy, is burned. If its not too heavy, the straw and chaff rows left by the combine are burned. The land is disced once each way, after burning, then one stroke with the duck foot cultivator, and after that the rod weeder is used. The last thing in the fall he endeavors to do is give the summer fallow a stroke with a cultivator to leave it ridged. He has discovered that the land that he had left ridged in the fall did not blow so badly as the land that was left smooth, and he has had as much as 500 acres blown out in one season, so he should know." This poor soul probably had no idea what he was in for with the onslaught of the dirty thirties! However, he was doing his best with the technology and the information that was available to him at the time.
It wasn't until the sixties that a different approach to farming was seriously investigated. This is when alternatives to intensive tillage began to be explored. An article in the October 1969 issue of the Country Guide proclaims that "Cultivation May Become Obsolete." It goes on to say "Zero tillage, sometimes called chemical cultivation, is a "tomorrow" concept which may revolutionize prairie agriculture. It could reduce soil erosion, result in less weeds germinating, and enable farmers in some areas to grow winter wheat." Pretty bold claims for 1969, however these claims have since been proven to be true. The article goes further saying that "zero tillage has several obvious advantages, among these providing a permanent protective stubble cover which serves to protect the crop and conserve moisture". Even research of the day found that crops grown under zero tillage out-yielded those grown under minimum tillage or normal tillage. The article also cited a Moose Jaw area farmer who was obviously sold on the merits of zero till, "If the price of chemical treatment comes away down, and you can spray 1000 acres a day, I don't figure many of us will be farming the old way very long!"
The closing paragraph of the article, however, was less enthusiastic, "At the present, neither government or industry is recommending zero tillage. It is merely being examined as a new farming technique". It brings to mind the polite scolding that British agriculturists of 1911 were given for not promoting the virtues of "artificial manure." Perhaps the experts of 1969 were also being a little short sighted.
Now, almost thirty years later and zero till is no longer a "tomorrow concept" but is very much a "today concept". The virtues of zero tillage are much better understood, the management systems are being well developed, researchers are providing us with answers to our questions and the equipment industry is building state of the art machinery. The SSCA has played an important role in the move towards sustainable farming practices. Everyone who has been involved in this effort whether as staff, directors or active members should be very proud of the accomplishments of the last ten years. I know that I am. See you down the road.