This has been an extraordinary season for raising wheat, barley and oats in Cache County (Utah - click here). On most farms yields have been exceptional on both irrigated and drylands. In most cases, bushel weights have been respectable too. Growers were able to plant weeks earlier than normal, and the copious spring rains in May really got small grains off to a good start. About the only down-side some growers experienced was lodging. Heavy grain heads were more than stiff straws could hold up. As such some grain tipped over making it difficult to combine.
Not only did we enjoy heavy grain yields, but we now have an abundance of straw, more straw than we know what to do with. Some straw is used for bedding and some for feed, but we have more straw than we can sell and adequate storage is difficult to find....
...More than 30 years of research has shown that, although there may be some short-term benefits to burning crop residue, there is a slow and steady reduction in soil health that will eventually result in reduced productivity that cannot be overcome with increased additions of mineral fertilizers. Long-term soil, chemical and nutrient effects include a significant reduction in total Carbon and Nitrogen pools. An improved C:N ratio under residue retention increases and maintains higher microbial activity, ensuring more rapid organic matter decomposition and nutrient release to the soil. Burning decreases readily assimilated carbon sources for microbes, decreases soil ammonium levels and available soil phosphorus. That’s to say nothing of increased erodibility, lower organic matter levels and reduced water intake and retention.
A general review of the literature indicates that no measurable negative effects are associated with occasional and short-term burning, but that prolonged burning (>15 years) results in a significant loss of soil health and function. What may, at first, be attractive as short-term benefits, eventually become long-term cost increases in soil nutrient and crop production management. The costs associated with the loss of organic matter and nutrients from burning crop residue exceed its benefits....
Below is a clear demonstration of NO TILL farming. (click here) The residual from previous crops are left in place. It prevents erosion and loss of nutrients while preserving the moisture in the soil. This practice has been in use in the USA for at least the past 20 to 30 years. The crops sown into the ground in this method grow a normal course. The sunlight is available through the stubble. The plants do not have competition for sunlight as the stubble no longer grows. The crop yields are sometimes exceptional.
