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Farmers using zero till reported yields of two tons per hectare while some farmers using conventional practices lost their entire crop
Kazakhstan’s 2012 drought and high temperatures cut the country’s wheat harvests by more than half from 2011 output, but wheat under zero-tillage practices gave up to three times more grain than conventionally cultivated crops. Two million hectares are currently under zero tillage, making Kazakhstan one of the top 10 countries for conservation agriculture and helpingUniversity of Manitoba plant science researcher says farmers need to think more about what happens below a field’s surface and how they can improve soil health
It’s time for farmers to stop treating soil like dirt. “The role of a farmer is to manage a complex ecosystem to produce food, feed, fibre and fuel,” University of Manitoba plant science researcher Yvonne Lawley said at the recent Ecological and Organic Farming conference. “Millions of ‘moving parts’ need to work together, both aboveHolistic management instructor calls for adoption of farming methods that restore soil health and make farmers prosperous
Don’t talk to Blain Hjertaas about “sustainability.” The farmer and holistic management instructor from Redvers, Sask., can’t stand that word. “I hate the word ‘sustainable,’” Hjertaas told the recent Western Canada Holistic Management conference. “If we’re in the toilet bowl, and we keep sustaining it, we aren’t ever getting out.” Hjertaas’s presentation juxtaposed the declineIt may seem like heresy, but shallow plowing once every seven years could help rather than hurt soil quality
It’s still possible to catch a glimpse of a moldboard plow now and then on the Prairies. Usually, they can be seen rusting away peacefully in the bushes near an abandoned farm yard, or taking one last ride on the back of a scrap metal truck. That’s where the older plows belong, said Pat Lynch,
