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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-04-04, Page 17THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 1990. PAGE 17. Ecological farmer reveals success at HCFA meeting BY USA BOONSTOPPEL Farmers were offered two meth­ ods of soil conservation at the Huron County Federation of Agriculture meeting on March 28 in Clinton as Robert Traut, of the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority stressed minimum tillage and Gerald Poechman presented his experiences in organic farming. “Tillage makes the soil a prime candidate for erosion.’’ said Mr. Traut who emphasized the impor­ tance of minimum tillage farming as a way to preserve the soil. “Soil Gerald Poechman Ecological Farmer erosion not only affects the envir­ onment by downgrading water quality but it hurts the farmer as well.” Mr. Traut said one of the chief problems on tilled fields is keeping water where it lands. “I often see water erosion wash away soil to the depth the tillage has gone.” With less tillgae, the soil is more compacted and there are fewer loosened soil particles to wash away. Wind erosion can also be preven­ ted by minimum tillage. As more and more farmers have fields of hundreds of acres, unloosened soil and wind breaks are vital for soil conservation. “A lot of conserva­ tion measures that are put on the farm are like insurance policies. By removing these policies, it’s like burning your car or life insurance.” He showed a slide of one farmer who had just removed a row of trees from between two fields that had been acting as a wind barrier. Just a couple of weeks later, a wind storm blew off all his sandy topsoil along with the new seeding and the herbicide that had just been applied. “Before the wind storm, that farmer had sworn he didn't have a stone in the field but the slide clearly shows how many rocks were in the field when the soil disappeared,” said Mr. Traut. To prevent the need for tillage, Mr. Traut suggested crop rotation which creates a better soil structure and allows the farmer to use less herbicides which are costly and can affect water supplies when soil is eroded into rivers and streams. “Crops like red clover and winter wheat are a beautiful combination that create a soil structure where water can easily get into the soil. A great benefit that arises from non-tilled fields is weed control said Mr. Traut. “When we plow weed seeds underground, we pro­ mote their dormancy. But if they are left on the surface of the field, the active nature of the soil will help kill the seeds.” He also revealed that plowing under twitch grass isn’t a good idea as the weeds need to be on top of the soil to be killed when the farmer sprays Round-Up on the fields. The same goes for milkweed. Tillage cuts the milkweed stems off and makes then start to grow again. The problem with this is the weed will be smaller and easily missed by a wicker. Mr. Traut said he found fewer weed problems on farms that use a no-tillage system. “Tillage just tends to increase weed germination and growth and the longer fields are not tilled, you can see fewer and fewer annual weed problems.” He has also discovered that no-till fields have less problems with root worms. Since the eggs of the worm have to sit out all winter, they are exposed to the bitter elements and will be killed easier than if they are * ‘tucked in for the winter,” said Mr. Traut. The argument farmers have for tilling their fields is that plowing under the old crop will help fertilize the soil for next year’s crop. But Mr. Traut said this is not always the case. “Sometimes when you plow a crop down, there is no air in the soil for the micro-organisms to break the material down and quite often the next year, you will plow the crop right back up again.” The key point he mentioned was, “the treatment is always more expensive than the prevention.” Gerald Poechman had a few similar ideas about soil conserva­ tion from his perspective as an organic farmer and being a mem­ ber of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario. The asso- Weeds balance soil problems says ecological farmer ciation’s farming methods include soil tillage, greenmanures, cover­ crops, crop rotations, composting and windbreaks. Mr. Poechman, who had been farming ecologically for several years since he bought his own farm, believes emphasizing the non-economic aspect of farming allows farmers to better conserve the land. In thinking this way, the first thing to do is cut down fertilizer use, he said. “After I graduated from Centralia College, I worked on my dad’s farm for five years and we were using all the fertilizers we could but we READY FOR SPRING Savings •LAWN MOWERS and STRING TRIMMERS - New plug. - Check ignition and adjust carburetor. - Clean air cleaner and found we couldn’t get better yields.” He said only 10 per cent of yields can be credited to fertilizer usage. To keep the soil up, he plants greenmanures for plow-down and cover crops to catch the sun and light to create nutrients for the soil. “You need to have living material on the fields at all times,” he said. Then with minimum tillage and composting of manure, the soil can come back to life. “Micro-organ­ isms living and dying the soil will give the soil organic matter,” he said adding that the organic matter in his soil has increased one and a half percent in the last couple of years. Mr. Poechman also trys for long rotation periods in his fields and likes to keep grass in the fields as long as possible. Once the soil is ready, he trys to plant families of crops in order of how they feed. Low feeders like barley and rye are planted and then heavy feeders like corn. But, Mr. Poechman doesn’t like what a corn crop does to the soil. “The soil structure starts to deteriorate very quickly with corn and it doesn’t help the soil loosen up,” he said. He has found that some fields do have intense weed problems but “sometimes you have to let weeds change oil. - Sharpen blade. - Wash/ Clean complete unit. - Parts Extra balance problems in the soil.” He said that nature knows best and when you leave the soil alone, it will heal itself.” Though his yields are down, Mr. Poechman is very enthusiastic about ecological farming because it has helped him put him back on track financially. When he first bought his own farm and was using fertilizers and herbicides, he was losing so much money on the farm, he realized he was soon going to lose the operation to Farm Credit Corporation. Now. without the tremendous costs of sprays, he estimates in two years that he will be out of debt. As well, he has found his soil erosion problems have improved greatly with the minimum tillage and crop rotation he does on his farm. Mr. Traut said that ecological farming is just another way of conservation tillage. He said what really appeals to him about ecologi­ cal farming is that nothing is wasted as they don’t need to buy many seeds as they use their own, they fertilize with composted man­ ure and don’t use specialized machinery for their farming prac­ tices. “Resources are far more precious to them and they should be more precious to us,” he said. Soil erosion from tillage not restricted to fields BY BRENT KENNEDY SENIOR SOIL CONSERVATION ADVISOR FOR HURON COUNTY Traditional tillage and cropping practices employed by today’s far­ mers cause erosion problems which are not always restricted to farm fields. The effects of soil erosion can be divided into two basic areas, those occurring on-site and those which move off-site. On-site effects refer mainly to those occurring at the farm field level. Field knolls or long sloping fields tend to erode over time. Yield reductions result, even though additional inputs may be added in an attempt to maintain yields. Areas which are showing signs of erosion may seem relative­ ly small at first, but tend to grow rapidly as the thin layer of topsoil is washed away. This is a direct cost to the land owner, after the sediment leaves the field he starts to share the expense of erosion. Sediment laden water running off conventionally cropped fields carries the soil away to cause off-site problems. As the runoff water slows the suspended soil particles settle out, slowly filling in our costly drainage systems. Clean out of this alone is a major expense yet not as significant as the costs attached to removing the nutrients or chemicals which can move with the surface runoff water. Of key concern is phosphorous which is used on farm fields to promote crop growth. This nutrient quickly at­ taches itself to soil particles and if eroded moves downstream eventu­ ally ending up on our water course where it stimulates algae blooms resulting in water quality pro­ blems. As a result, even if you don’t crop the land, you are affected! Express your concern if you see a neighbour has an erosion problem. Should you pay the cost of cleaning out the municipal drain which is silted in by upstream erosion problems? Many simple alterna­ tives exist to reduce the potential to load sediment or phosphorous into our water courses, thereby main­ taining the productivity of our agricultural resources. •LAWN RIDERS - New plug and change oil - Check ignition and adjust carburetor. - Clean air cleaner. - Sharpen biades. - Check bearings, drive belts, chains. - Check oil and tires. - Check battery/cables. - Wash/clean complete unit. - Parts extra. •GARDEN TRACTORS - Check ignition and new plug. - Change oil, clean filter. - Adjust carburetor. - Sharpen blades - Check drive belts/chains/ bearings. Check tiansmission oil. Change transmission filter. Check battery/ connections Wash/clean complete unit Parts extra •CHAIN SAWS - Check ignition/new plug. - Clean air filter. - Adjust carburetor. (CHAIN SHARPENING ■ •5.00) - Check blade and bearings in clutch. - Clean unit - Parts extra 29.99 •SNOWMOBILES (Summer Storage) - Inspect track and adjust. - Check for wear and alignment of drive - Clean/grease unit. pulley. - Check idlers, sliders, springs, limiter - Lubricate engine and drain carburetor, strap. - Disconnect battery and charge - Check bolts and skis for wear. - Check fan belt. - Check chain case oil. - Parts Extra SEAFORTH • 527-0120 47.99