| | An innovative group of farmers formed the Rainy Creek Soil Conservation Club 10 years ago. With zero-till as their focus, the Club holds monthly meetings and special events to bring new information and technology to their members. "We have a good membership consisting of 15 core members who regularly participate in our meetings," says Harvey Brink, a farmer from Bentley and Chair of the Club. "As a group, we organize a winter meeting every year with guest speakers that is open to the public, plus we hold field tours and other workshops."The Club has also produced a video and accompanying curriculum on CD-ROM that they distribute to schools.
The Club wanted to learn more about the soil biology of their soils, and to get a better understanding of what improvements and benefits they could see by moving to zero-till. "We organized a field day for the Club members to work with the AESA Soil Quality Program to evaluate a soil quality test kit," says explains Shayne Steffen, Agriculture Resource Technician for the Lacombe County and Ponoka County. Karen Cannon, Tom Goddard, Annette Svederus and Jody Winder helped the group work through the various soil tests included with the soil quality test kit to evaluate their use in the field.
"We also arranged for Dr. Jill Clapperton to facilitate a pilot soil biology workshop for the Club members last June," says Steffen. Olds College provided the classroom and lab facilities for the workshop, and we spent the day learning a lot about soil biology. "The various agricultural management practices farmers use for crop production have a big impact on soil biology," says Dr. Jill Clapperton, Rhizosphere Ecologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge. "By developing proper management systems, we can manage and use the soil biological activity to our advantage in agriculture." The workshop was designed to help farmers gain a better appreciation for soil biology through hands on activities, including using microscopes, extractors and other lab technology.
Collembol soil organism
"Soil looks like dirt except it is more interesting," says Clapperton. One handful of soil contains millions of live organisms, including plant roots, viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, mites, nematodes, worms, ants, maggots and other insects, insect larvae and other animals. "Together with climate, these organisms are responsible for the decay and cycling of both macro- and micro-nutrients." Their activities can affect the structure, tilth and productivity of the soil. They also affect the cycling and availability of nutrients to crops, disease cycles, weed management and soil tilth and erosion potential.
Clapperton brought soil samples from different management systems, including no-till soils, minimum till and conventional soils, as well as soils from different crop rotations. Various stations were set up in the lab, and participants got the opportunity to look at soils through microscopes, observe different earthworms, conduct extractions for nematodes and other hands on activities. "This was really their opportunity to see what a scientist sees through a microscope, something most people never get a chance to do," says Clapperton. "We also spent a lot of time discussing practical things such as rotations, how to design them and the various benefits. It was a lot of fun and a lot like being back at College for a day."
Soil biology workshop classroom sessions
"One of the things with soil biology is to work on indirect means of looking at it such as thinking about the quality of organic matter," says Clapperton. This can be tested for in a lab, and other tests such as plant tissue testing and grain testing help to see how well crops are taking up nutrients. "One thing we know is nutrients that are mediated through biological processes are taken up by plants far more easily and effectively and for a longer time than nutrients are from fertilizers."
Clapperton notes that this workshop at Olds College was really a pilot project with a group of well-organized, keen farmers to find out what they liked about the workshop, what improvements could be made and what other information they are interested in learning about. "We talked about the possibility of turning this workshop into a series of three units possibly held over three months during the winter." The workshops have to be hands on and really interactive.
"The workshop went very well, and we learned a lot of in-depth information," says Brink. "To really comprehend all of the information, it will take some time and possibly another workshop." Clapperton first facilitated a similar workshop as part of a course on soil biology for agronomists from the Regional Consortium of Agricultural Experimentation (CREA) in Argentina. One of those CREA Agronomists, Mario Cappi is a guest speaker at the upcoming FarmTech 2003 in Edmonton at the end of January. Clapperton is hoping to train other extension staff to be able to facilitate and lead similar workshops in the future.
For more information, contact:
Shayne Steffen
Dr. Jill Clapperton
Alberta Conservation Connection - Issue 18, Fall 2002 |
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