|
St. Gregor, SK, Canada | I practice sustainable ag, or at least what I brand as such ;)
To me it means preserving the soil, while growing a full crop every year.
This gets done by:
1. Three year rotations, among all three crop groups: cereal-legume-oilseed.
2. Nutrient accounting: Yearly soil tests, replace what gets removed, and build the soil to "good" levels.
3. OM balancing: Chopping, and depositing straw so as to increase tilth and organic matter.
4. Minimum tillage: prevent soil erosion, increase water uptake, while providing a good seedbed. What we use for tillage depends on the land. Some stuff is no-tilled, some gets chiseled in fall, some gets harrowed. No spring tillage whatsoever.
5. Conservative use of chemicals: Spray for what is there, not for what might be there. Scout regularly, and fix the problem early.
That's my selling point when picking up more land, and the 5 points I stick to. It's allowed us to almost double yields every year for the past 4 years on our light land...
-Christian | |
|
Sustainable Agriculture definition please...
