Healthy Soils

Issue

Environmental stewardship is needed to maintain and enhance the productive capacity of our soils and agricultural landscapes for future generations, as well as our own.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PFRA Activities

Healthy and productive soil is vitally important to the long-term prosperity of the agricultural industry. Agricultural activities impact both soil health and also the surrounding landscape.

Some farming practices place stress on the land, other practices have positive impacts. PFRA helps rural clients to implement soil conservation practices which enhance the health and productivity of agricultural soils and reduce the environmental impacts of agricultural activities.

Soil conservation practices promoted include shelterbelts, direct seeding, extended rotations and the management of forage on marginal lands and in riparian areas. PFRA's approach to protecting Prairie soils integrates land management (e.g. on-farm planning, conservation practices, shelterbelts, pasture management, wildlife enhancement) and water resource management (e.g. water conservation, quality, treatment, groundwater protection). Tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, are used in analyzing, packaging and presenting information to clients to develop optimum soil/landscape farming systems.

The stewardship ethic is promoted in all PFRA projects and programs. The Greencover Program and Community Pasture Program help protect marginal soils from erosion by maintaining a permanent cover. The PFRA Shelterbelt Centre supports healthy landscapes through production and distribution of native plants for farm and field shelterbelts, riparian areas, wildlife habitat and agroforestry plantings. Plants help reduce soil erosion, as well as protect riparian areas.

While PFRA's activities have contributed greatly to saving and improving many acres of prairie soil, the battle still continues. As the agricultural industry continues to diversify its cropping mix and intensify cropping rotations, there will be new challenges in maintaining soil quality. For example, there is increased interest in pulse and oilseed crops. These crops produce less residue than cereals and may expose the soil to further erosion.

Applied research and demonstration is being used by PFRA, in cooperation with Research Branch and other agencies to learn more about innovative soil conservation practices and to build public awareness of sustainable practices.

Browse our web site and those of our prairie partners to find out how you can adopt sustainable production and processing practices that will contribute benefits to both wildlife and agriculture, as well as protect the productive capacity of the land for future generations.

Related AAFC documents

• Health of our soils
• CANSIS - Canadian Soil Information System