Many crops are being written off in the drought areas this year.
The time has come for many farmers to begin planning for next year’s
crop. Conserving moisture and reducing the risk of soil erosion should
be their first priority.
Rick Taillieu, reduced tillage agronomist with Alberta Reduced Tillage
Linkages in Olds, said producers might not be aware of the enormous
difference in soil’s ability to absorb moisture depending on whether it
has been tilled.
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“Undisturbed land has dramatically greater water infiltration rates and
is therefore better able to absorb rainfall that may come in late
summer or this fall,” Taillieu said.
“Rainfall simulation experiments have shown that undisturbed land can
often absorb one inch of water in as little as a minute, while a single
cultivation pass can mean the same inch takes seven or more minutes to
absorb. This reduced infiltration rate often results in runoff and
therefore less moisture being stored for future crops.”
While it is true that cultivation will kill remaining crop and weeds
and stop them from removing water and nutrients from the soil, it also
opens the door to wind and water erosion.
“Every tillage pass contributes to losses in soil moisture because the
soil is exposed to the elements, including direct sunlight and higher
wind speed at the soil surface.”
Farmers who want to recharge the moisture in their soil profile can do
so with effective and economical herbicide applications.
Chemfallowing will control unwanted crops and weeds and at the same
time protect the soil from the elements.
If conditions stay dry, few weeds are likely to germinate following a
chemical application. Tillage, on the other hand, often stimulates weed
growth by moving otherwise dormant weed seeds closer the surface and
providing good seed-to-soil contact.
