Crop Farming and Sustainability The good and the bad
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Crops-Corn, Soybeans, Wheat The 3 main crops grown in Southern
Canada and the U.S are
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Why only 3 crops? Once harvested and properly dried, crops
store and transport easily High demand as they are found within
most foods we eat High yields due to seed engineering meaning
farmers make more money
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Traditional Crop Tillage Method Plowing was traditional way of
preparing land (called seed beds) for crops Kills weeds by exposing
roots to the sun and dries the soil by aerating 1 horse can plow 1
acre per day Modern plowing
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Negatives Plowing creates soil erosion and dead pan hard
infertile soil Exposed soils are easily moved by wind and rain
Worldwide 25 billion metric tons of annual soil loss Results in the
sediment loading of rivers and lakes Increase in fertilizers to
maintain profitability
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Water Erosion Create Rills and Gullies = lose soil
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Possible Solutions
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Managing Topography Contour Plowing Planting perpendicular to
water runoff
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Strip Farming
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The planting of different kinds of crops in alternating strips
along land contours When one crops is harvested the other is still
present to protect the soil Used in hilly terrain and polyculture
farming multiple crop in the same
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Cover Crops - Planted within harvested crop to provide ground
cover This prevents erosion by roots binding soil together and
dissipating energy during rainfall Keeps moisture in the
ground
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No till drilling
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No Till Drilling This type of planting pushes the seed into
soil through previous crop residue Minimal soil disturbance and
lower rates of erosion The introduction of Roundup Ready seeds has
increased no-till drilling
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No Till Air Drill
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Round Up Ready Corn A few months later Before Round Up After
Round Up
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Ridge Tillage Leaves up to 75 percent of plant debris on the
surface between the rows, preventing erosion The seed is placed in
the same row as the previous years plant/root system
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Reduces the number of times a farmer will disturbs the soil
Reducing costs for fuel because tillage equipment is only
disturbing a specific area, not cultivating the whole field