Crop producers in southern Alberta face some difficult decisions as the
seeding season approaches.
One of them is whether to put more of their land into summerfallow.
Summerfallowing, which can include tillage, greenfallow or chemical
fallow, is a way to manage risk when dry weather threatens to cause
crop failures.
Snowfall in the past month has offered some hope that there will be
enough moisture to at least get crops started this spring.
That is adding to the dilemma of whether to increase summerfallowed
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acres or stay with continuous cropping.
“I see a lot of confusion and a lot of waiting,” said Orville Yanke,
who farms 40 kilometres south of Medicine Hat. “It’s really hard to get
a handle on it because of that.”
Peter Gamache encourages producers considering summerfallow to think
seriously about the alternatives to tillage.
Gamache is manager of the RT Linkages program, which promotes
sustainable cropping in Alberta.
He said conventional summerfallow using cultivation can be disastrous
because it leaves soil vulnerable to wind and water erosion.
As well, tillage fallow systems can reduce organic matter levels in the
soil, which can lower soil’s fertility and its ability to absorb and
hold moisture.
He regards chemfallow as an alternative worth considering.
Chemfallow has more up-front costs for herbicides. However, the overall
cost of spraying to control weeds tends to be less, Gamache said,
partly because it requires fewer passes across the field and can mean
less wear and tear on equipment.
“Cultivation, often thought of as the cheapest way to summerfallow,
costs more than the fuel your tractor uses.”
He said greenfallow is another option, and can be done in Alberta with
crops such as peas, Indian Head lentils or chickling vetch, known as AC
Greenfix.
Crops can be terminated early in the season by silaging, haying or
spraying, which can help the soil gain organic matter and nitrogen,
while protecting it from erosion. The early harvest also leaves time
for the land to gain soil moisture.
However, if dry weather persists in southern Alberta this year,
greenfallow may not be an option for many growers.
Yanke saw fields in his area last year where weeds struggled to grow
because the soil was so dry.
He planted 3,800 acres last year and harvested nothing. Two consecutive
years of drought caused his crops to fail.
Yanke said he has used continuous cropping for 22 years and it has
served him well. Last year, he put part of his cropland in chem-fallow.
He’s not sure what he will do this year.
“If we have a reasonable amount of moisture in the soil, we will
probably seed every acre. It’s better to have something in the ground
than nothing at all.”
Gamache offers this comparison of the options:
- Tillage wastes water, reduces organic matter and destroys surface
mulch.
- Chem-fallow is a better option, but it too can waste water during
average precipitation years.
- Cover crops or greenfallowing help prevent erosion, provide a return
and maintain or build organic matter.
