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• Corn stubble left on the field helps retain valuable soil moisture.

 National Soil Conservation Week April 18 to 24 celebrates new soil profile

 Indian Head, Sask., April 14, 2010: Farm soils are moving up the radar of public interest. Long the forgotten child of the environmental movement, there is growing evidence that soils are becoming of greater interest to the general public and the farmers and ranchers who manage them, says the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC).

“People generally are much more interested in where their food comes from today and much more environmentally aware,” says Glen Shaw, executive director of SCCC, as the organization celebrates National Soil Conservation Week, April 18 to 24, 2010. “On the farming side, producers are very conscious of the value that soil quality and farming systems represents to their business today and the value of their farm in the future.”

 Likely the biggest driver of this trend nationally is low tillage farming systems, says Shaw. Minimum tillage or no-tillage systems use minimal soil disturbance. Unlike soil management systems of previous generations which tilled the soil extensively each year, these direct seeding systems plant through the crop residue of the previous year.

That farming approach leaves a healing mulch of organic material that protects the soil surface, holds moisture and helps prevent wind and water erosion. The soil cover results in more insects and other soil life which in turn attracts other species up the food chain, resulting in greater biodiversity.

 Across Canada farmers are building on this renewed interest in sustainability to develop marketing relationships that add value to their farms and their industry. There has also been a corresponding increase in new technologies, research and management systems that meet these production and marketing goals.

 “National Soil Conservation Week allows us to celebrate this success and keep soils in the public eye,” says Shaw. “It also allows us to focus on the need for continual improvement. There is still farmland that is not being managed effectively. Some is over-tilled, has too many nutrients applied to it and there is still much to be learned about continually improving soil quality in the evolution of cropping systems.”

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