The Rural Voice, 1988-10, Page 34fall has some deleterious effects:
rapid organic matter degradation, wind
erosion, and water erosion with rapid
spring run-offs, to name just three.
In the days before fertilizer use and
a broad selection of grass and broad-
leaf weed killers, summerfallowing
was about the only defence in reduc-
ing weed populations and sprouting
wild oats in those off -years. An
advantage to fallow and organic
matter degradation is the release of
nitrogen from the soil's organic and
humus pool. You can consistently cut
your purchased nitrogen on summer-
fallowed acres.
The fallow and continuous stubble
debate is pretty well defined by those
born before 1940 and those born after.
In other words, "that's the way we
always did it and that's the way it
should be done." If you want to see
a real scrap develop, just watch some-
one from Upper Canada open his
mouth on the subject in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
However, we are dealing with
semi -arid prairie. If some land just
can't grow a crop every year to protect
itself from wind and water erosion,
them chem -fallow or a Noble blade
(type of soil permitting) makes the
most sense.
Another factor to consider: in the
big areas of 50/50 fallow and stubble,
most people haven't the money or
enough equipment to continuously
crop all their land. It's not such a big
deal to farm 250 to 500 acres. It's a
much bigger deal to afford the oper-
ating costs and get the job done on
4,000 acres instead of 2,000.
The so-called "Omega Block," the
weather pattern that entrenched itself
over the prairies and broke 104 -year-
old temperature records, had some
other awesome qualities. On June 10
in Saskatoon it rained mud. Les
Henry, extension specialist at the
University of Saskatoon, said that
driving around town one had to keep
the windshield washers on because the
stuff coming from the sky had more
prairie topsoil in it than water.
The dominant topic in agricultur-
al circles, whether it be in Clinton,
Ontario or Trochu, Alberta, is conser-
vation and the Save Our Soils theme.
I have no doubt that the Drought of
'88, like that of the 1930s, will change
farming practices on the prairies.0
32 THE RURAL VOICE
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