Nottawasaga Valley
Conservation Authority
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Utopia, Ontario, August 13, 2015
Don’t treat me like dirt!
UN International Year of the Soils highlights need for soil conservation efforts
By Shannon Stephens, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority
“Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.”
Even after many years, the words of my soil science professor at the University of Guelph resonate.
At the time, it seemed an odd thing to say in temperate Ontario. However, from the beginning of the
20th century until the 1960s, parts of Ontario, notably Norfolk County and the Oak Ridges Moraine,
faced desertification and terrible soil erosion. During the droughts of the 1930s, erosion was so bad,
snowplows had to be used to clear drifting soils from the roads.
With the sustainability of agriculture threatened, dramatic efforts were made to curb soil erosion.
Trees were planted in the worst of the blow-outs, windbreaks established, and farmers adopted
agricultural practices that reduced erosion. Many soil conservation organizations, like the Ontario
Soil and Crop Improvement Association, founded in 1939, have their roots in this period.
The United Nations declared 2015 the International Year of Soils, to highlight the critical need to
protect soils for farming, food security, and the environment.
Unfortunately, soil loss continues to be a problem today.
“It is estimated that crop production in Canada has been reduced by between 5 and 10 per cent
from the loss of soil,” said David Lobb, Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, in a
release by the Soil Conservation Council of Canada. “This represents a loss of about $2 billion per
year to Canadian agriculture and the Canadian economy. For a typical farm, this translates into an
annual loss of about $35,000.”
In the Nottawasaga River watershed, an estimated 37,000 tonnes of sediment is lost every year,
mainly from cropland. It’s troubling… you can drive around the valley and see the erosion rills and
the pale sub-soil on hilltops. This valuable top soil and attached-nutrients represents lost farm
productivity and pollutes the water.
The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s Healthy Waters Program and the Environmental
Farm Plan offers grants for many erosion control structures. But many of the best ways to save
topsoil are practices, not structures.
If you’re interested in figuring out how much soil you lose yearly, do a Universal Soil Loss Equation
calculation (one of the more useful things I learnt at school!). It also lets you see how much soil you
Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority
8195 8th Line, Utopia, ON L0M 1T0
T: 705-424-1479 F: 705-424-2115
[email protected] ● nvca.on.ca
A member of Conservation Ontario
can save with different practices. You should aim for ‘tolerable’ soil loss less than 6.7 tonnes/ha/yr
(3 tons/acre/yr). OMAFRA’s free Universal Soil Loss Equation calculator can walk you through the
calculation (www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/rusle2/index.htm ).
Some factors, like rainfall and soil type, you’re basically stuck with. However, adding organic matter
improves soil structure and helps reduce erosion. Other considerations to conserve soil include:
Field Length and Orientation: The longer the downhill field length, the more water erosion gains
momentum. Farming has changed over the years; larger equipment means larger fields are
common. Many windbreaks have been removed. Fields over 150 m long, with slopes over 2%, are
erosion prone and many need strip cropping or field terraces. For large rills, broad terraces can be
installed along the waters path breaking the waters flow. Sediment control basins or grassed
waterways can also be used.
Conservation Tillage: Compared to fall plowing, no-till reduces erosion by 75%. Since there is high
erosion during snow melt, waiting until spring to plow reduces erosion by 10%.
Residue and Cover Crops: Conservation tillage is effective if 30-70% of the soil is covered with
residue after planting. Certain crops don’t produce a lot of residue, making crop rotation and cover
crops important. Needless to say, bare ground is most erodible. Multi-species cover crops not only
protect the soil from the erosive spring melt, but improve soil health by enhancing the beneficial
bacteria and fungi that bring nutrients to your plants.
Plow on the Contour: Plowing along the contour of a hill will reduce erosion by 50%; think of it as
making many micro-terraces that give water a chance to pool and infiltrate. For high slope, eroding
fields, strip-cropping on the contour can save you 75%.
Crop Type: Some crops contribute inherently more stability. The same sized field in a corn-soybean
rotation will have about 25 times the soil loss as a good hay field, or one-a-half times that of
cereals.
If you need help saving your soil there are some great resources available:
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“Controlling Soil Erosion on the Farm” is a free BMP guide available from OMAFRA (1-800668-9938)
Contact a Certified Soil Erosion Control Contractor. A list is available on the OMAFRA website
(www.omafra.gov.on.ca).
You can access grants for eligible projects through:
o NVCA’s Healthy Waters Program (705-424-1479 ext 239 or www.nvca.on.ca)
o Environmental Farm Plan offered through the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement
Association (www.ontariosoilcrop.org)
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About the NVCA: The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority a public agency dedicated to the
preservation of a healthy environment through specialized programs to protect, conserve and
enhance our water, wetlands, forests and lands. www.nvca.on.ca
Media contact: Heather Kepran, Communications Coordinator, 705-424-1479 x254,
[email protected]