Educative collaboration between the EIWD and Understanding Ag
Humans have been learning to cultivate and care for land since the beginning of the first agricultural revolution about 11,000 years ago, and have continued to develop more efficient methods and technology for arable husbandry. The second agricultural revolution brought us things like mechanization, large-scale irrigation, and the use of pesticides and herbicides.
Though these methods of farming put into practice on the Canadian prairies have significantly assisted in the foundation that agriculture brings to our communities, they need to be revised. There is major concern rising across the country for the biodiversity of the land and for the health and viability of the crops themselves under current practices.
On May 4, Blain Hjertaas and Michael Theile visited the South Interlake Rockwood Ag. Society as a part of a Regenerative Agriculture Workshop hosted by manager Armand Belanger of the East Interlake Watershed District. Hjertaas and Theile, about five years into their project, come from Understanding Ag., which is an organization of genuine farmers and ranchers who work with clients who are willing to learn about and put a model of regenerative principles into place to create more sustainable and profitable farms. They work with services like Ducks Unlimited to promote conservation.
Hjertaas is a farmer of 49 years from Saskatchewan, 25 of which have been under the regenerative model, who does consulting work for Understanding Ag. Thiele is from the Dauphin area and has always been curious about agriculture, having completed a plant science degree at the University of Manitoba.
Concerningly, after about 20 years of cultivating land using past methods, organic matter in soil has dropped from 12 to 2 percent. One third of farmable land has been lost in the last 40 years. “We are wrecking the resource that our livelihoods depend on,” says Hjertaas.
Regenerative agriculture involves using the rules of nature and cooperating with them, and working these rules into our understanding and relationships with nature itself. The six regenerative principles are context (the only man-made principle), living root for as long as possible, diversity, armour on the surface, minimizing disturbance, and animal incorporation. These are the principles that will allow farmers to accommodate nature and its economic processes: energy flow, the water cycle, the mineral cycle, and biodiversity.
During their presentation, Hjertaas and Theile guided the audience through each principle, its history, and its benefits. They also guided everyone through a few big things that can be done to create healthier soil; the ideal soil is not compact and concentrated but a spacious balance between soil and carbon that allows for water to soak in and room for roots.
This can be tested using a water infiltration test. Understanding Ag. also promotes the power of observing the soil directly, using the senses and watching how it changes from day to day. They are highly enthusiastic about these changes being picked up across the prairies. “There’s so much cool stuff being done here in Manitoba and Saskatchewan,” says Thiele.
Not only do these methods produce healthier soil with more nutrients and allow for a more biodiverse environment involving large feeders and pollinators, but they also reduce the risk of both droughts and floods. This is where the Watershed District comes in; a watershed is an area of land that carries rainfall and melted snow down to creeks and rivers, and eventually to larger bodies of water. The Watershed District is all about protecting those areas of land and sustainably making use of aquatic resources. They also aim to protect wetlands, native grasslands, forests, and riparian areas.
Currently, fields that are farmed using typical methods can often take about an hour to absorb one inch of rain, making those fields highly susceptible to floods during intense rainfall. Also, if the field is not soaking up and storing water, it will become very dry very quickly, causing a drought. In contrast, a field that is farmed under regenerative agriculture’s ideals would take about 10 to 30 seconds to soak up that one inch of rain. Now, the example being used is just one inch of rain, so let’s look at things on a larger, more realistic scale: it is estimated that 25,000 gallons of water could be stored on just one acre of land when following these regenerative principles.
If you missed the collaborative workshop event between the East Interlake Watershed District and Understanding Ag, some things to check out would include any of EIWD’s upcoming open houses, or take a look at any of the funding they have available for things like reforestation, prairie rehabilitation, and regenerative agriculture practices.
