The Rural Voice, 1978-11, Page 6the land was plowed in the fall, it was covered with snow, which
helps control erosion. He said continuous cropping is more of a
problem in areas where the land is left completely open in the
winter months.
Mr. Lynch said he thought spring rain runoff caused more of
the erosion problems in the two counties than continuous
cropping. He said engineers say that one-third of the rainfall
goes over the land, and two-thirds of the rainfall is drained
through the tile drains on the land. Mr. Lynch said as the water
troves over the top of the land, it takes the soil with it, and this
sediment ends up in a drainage ditch.
The crops specialist said farmers are plowing right to the edge
of the ditch, instead of leaving a grassed area from 20 to 30 feet
wide along the edge.
Mr. Lynch said this is often marginal land anyway and grassed
ditches and waterways could solve the major erosion problem in
these two counties.
Colin Reesor said one of the main erosion problems in Bruce
County occurs during the spring runoff on land that has been in
ccrn for some time. The organic matter in the soil is getting low.
there's nothing to hold the topsoil on the fields and it's lost to the
farmer.
Rotation
Mr. Reesor said farmers must get their land out of corn and go
back to growing hay. alfalfa or mixed grain crops like oats and
barley. In other words, after a farmer has had a corn crop on the
land for two or three consecutive years, he should consider
returning to the crop rotation practises of the past.
Dr. Tom Lane of the Land Resource Sciences department,
Ontario College of Agriculture, University of Guelph said one
reason farmers abandoned the crop rotation practises of the past
is that following World War II, a cheap supply of
nitrate, used in wartime production, was avai lable to farmers.
Instead of alfafa cropping to return nutrients to the soil (and to
slow down erosion at the same time), farmers poured nitrogen on
their land from a bag. Now Dr. Lane said nitrates have increased
in price, and the result will be more crop rotations in the future,
particularly rotations with forage crops.
Dr. Lane, who was in charge of OAC's Farm Planning Service
for some years, said the agency did plan extensive erosion
control devices for farmers pack in the 1940's, 50's and early
60's. Then the service was taken over by OMAF and Dr. Lane
said it "subsequently died." But now the scientist sees a
renewed interest in erosion, which has come with the realization
that it has intensified due to cash cropping.
OAC's Notes on Agriculture publication is devoting an entire
issue in the near future to the question of erosion in Ontario.
Solutions
In the meantime, while government agencies are gradually
starting renewed educational awareness programs on erosion
problems, some farmers are tackling the problem on an
individual basis.
One man who has done this is Sydney Smith, who owns a
farm with gently rolling land at R.R.3, Teeswater, in Bruce
County. Mr. Smith has instituted three measures to reduce the
loss of topsoil, particularly in the heavy spring and summer
rainstorms.
First, he's has terraced his farm with what are usually called
water diversion terraces, and which act like an eavestrough on
the field.
Mr. Smith said the terraces, built at various locations on his
sloping fields, are sodded areas about 20 feet in width which stop
the majority of water runoff.
Mr. Smith learned about the technique in a bulletin published
by a New York State university. Mr. Smith said the Americans
have already, experienced far more serious erosion on their land
than we have in Ontario, since they've been growing corn far
longer.
Mr. Smith said terracing isn't expensive, for example, this
summer a terrace approximately 100 rods in length cost $200 to
PG. 6 THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER 1978
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