Till the sediments of the past
As an 81-year-old retired farmer, I’ve been waiting for the compacted soil problem to be addressed as it was in the front-page article of the May 26th Producer.
I remember noticing the track left by the back wheel of my father’s four-bottom plow on occasion was the same ahead of the rear wheel as it was behind because the plow was on the very same place as it was the previous time this field was plowed. This track was made on black dirt on a hard pan as hard as cement. This was back in the 1950s.
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Near this time I saw the first Graham Plow deep tillage cultivator and I believed as many farmers that this was the answer. I farmed until the year 2001 and every fall I chisel plowed double and deep. The winter moisture from snow melt soaked into the high land and the low spots could dissipate the moisture better. In spring we harrowed to conserve moisture and as far as the harrows reached one day the next day a tractor could drive. A field cultivator made a good seed bed. In the fall I ditched with a three-point hitch plow and often on a wet year I backed into a slough and had the water follow me out when I plowed.
Today, after zero till renters, my fields have bull rushes and even willows growing where I often seeded every year. Last year there was even a first time ever muskrat house where I remember combining every fall.
I have overheard renters say “it’s rented land, so I don’t pick stones”. Another I’ve heard is “renters don’t ditch”. Who’s the loser here? These certain losers are the general public because less food produced raises the price of groceries. I bought a three-point breaking plow and went out to ditch the land I rent out because I couldn’t stand seeing the mismanagement. The ground was so packed from the zero till farming I couldn’t get the plow into the ground. The carbon tax isn’t helping either. Farm equipment burns fuel. There is no alternative, so this tax is a money grab.
Ronald A Henschell
Edmonton, Alta.
