Caring for the Land
Overview
Farmers are the caretakers of the land. They know that having healthy land is essential for having healthy crops each year. The farmers look after the land in many ways. One of these ways is zero tillage farming. Air seeders allow farmers to plant directly into the previous years’ soil which prevents soil erosion and helps keep nutrients in the soil.
Farmers are caretakers of the land!
Today’s air seeders provide zero tillage farming, which prevents soil erosion and helps keep nutrients in the soil.
Crop Rotation
Today, farmers take care of the soil by rotating crops on each farm field each year. Crop rotation allows the farmer to naturally add nutrients back into the soil by planting crops that are rich in nitrogen. Crop rotation also helps reduce disease and pests. Farmers put a lot of thought and planning into their crop rotation.
Farmers put a lot of thought into looking after their crops and land!
- Year 1: Farmer plants wheat
- Year 2: Farmer plants canola
- Year 3: Farmer plants lentils
Crop rotation is important to add nutrients back into the soil.
From above, Saskatchewan looks like a quilt because each field has a different crop grown on it each year.
Fertilizer
Farmers may also add fertilizers to the soil to help replenish the nutrients in the soil. Fertilizers are made up of nutrients plants need to grow and are not a chemical. An example of an important fertilizer used all over the world today is potash, which provides the soil and plants with potassium. Fun fact – Saskatchewan is the largest producer of potash in the world!
This is one of Saskatchewan’s potash mines.
In 2020, Saskatchewan produced $6 billion worth of potash!
A lot of potash is mined in Saskatchewan!
The potash is ground into fertilizer, which adds nutrients to the soil for plants to stay healthy!