There can be few things worse for a farmer than watching fields blow.
That cloud of dust is taking away some of your pride and robbing your
pocketbook because erosion steals future crop yields. So what can you
do in the spring to prevent your fields from blowing, or to control the
erosion if the worst happens?
Crop residue should be treated as carefully as dollars. Straw is the
main shield from wind erosion Ð keep it upright and anchored to the
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soil surface where it can slow down the wind. There is less straw to
protect the soil during a drought or after low-residue pulse crops.
Consider chem fallow, or at least lift the tine harrows from your
cultivator and slow down to conserve fuel and straw. Seed using low
disturbance direct seeding.
Check your fields during or after strong winds. It is time to act if
there is soil in the ditch. There are two things you can do: either
cover the eroding area with straw or manure, or till the soil to
roughen the surface.
Wind erosion starts from overworked field edges, crests of knolls, or
pockets of sandy soils, and spreads like an avalanche to the rest of
the field. If part of the field is blowing, 30 to 50 tonnes per acre of
manure spread evenly on the surface on just these areas may be enough
to save the rest of the field.
If the manure contains a large proportion of straw, application rates
could be reduced to 10 tonnes per acre. Straw can also be used. Spread
at least one tonne per acre on loams and clay loams, one to two tonnes
per acre on fine sandy loams, and up to four tones per acre on sandy
soils.
Straw should be hairpinned into the soil using a weighted disk drill
without packers, or by light disking with the disks set to roll
parallel to the direction of travel. As an alternative, knives and
narrow chisels may be used to lightly work the straw into the ground
and hold it in place. Work perpendicular to the wind and start at the
upwind side. Manure should not be worked after spreading.
Emergency deep tillage can be used to ridge the soil and make a rough
cloddy soil surface that slows the wind and traps wind-blown soil.
Protection is temporary and may need to be repeated.
Heavy-duty cultivators with chisel points can be used for emergency
erosion control on loams and clays.
Rippers and subsoilers are also effective, particularly if the subsoil
is firm. Remove or lift tine harrows from cultivators. Start at the
upwind side, till 10 to 13 centimetres deep and work at a speed and
depth that brings the most clods to the surface.
At least a third of the field should be tilled perpendicular to the
wind in strips no more than two implement widths apart. If the field
blows again in a few days, make another pass into untilled ground
between existing strips.
Wind erosion on sandy soils is difficult to control with tillage
because few clods are brought to the surface. Till the entire field at
a 10 to 13 cm depth to form ridges perpendicular to the wind. Chisels
can be used if the soil is frozen. Otherwise, lister shovels, designed
specifically to make field ridges, work best.
Ten cm ridges should be 30 cm apart and 20 cm ridges can be 90 cm
apart. Again, adjust tillage speed to get the maximum effect. If the
field continues to blow, repeat ridging between the old furrows.
Emergency tillage of fields where a cereal crop is growing may avoid
the need to reseed, and is usually cost effective.
Space chisels 90 to 120 cm apart and work at 10 to 15 cm deep. To
reduce crop damage, work only areas that are eroding. Monitor these
fields carefully and be prepared to do more emergency tillage if
required.
