The Best
of Agriculture: A Photo Essay
The next time you drive
down a highway, take a look around. You'll notice farming seems
to be taking place everywhere. But is a field just a field? Do all
farms look alike? If you look closely, you will discover that one
farm can look drastically different from another. The reason is
that farmers put different agricultural practices in place. Some
of these practices are good and some are bad. The following is a
photo essay of the good agricultural practices.
|
|
|
Windbreaks
are trees planted along the perimeter of fields preventing the wind
from blowing away valuable topsoil. |
|
|
Terraces are level
pieces of land cut into a hill. They act like dams. They slow, or
prevent, water from washing soil down a slope. |
|
|
Groundcover can
be many things. It can be hay, native grasses, the leftovers from
last year's crop, or many other things. It is used to cover exposed
soil to prevent erosion. It surrounds, but does not cover, growing
plants. |
|
|
Crop rotation
is the practice of planting a different crop, or not planting at all,
on a piece of land. Farmers may grow corn one year and soybeans the
next. Or plant wheat in half of the field and leave the other half
alone. The next year crops are planted where there were no crops. |
|
|
Groundcover
and crop rotation is a good combination. Here cornstalks from
last year's crop are left in the aisle between the rows of the new
soybean crop. The stalks act as ground cover. Switching between crops
allows the soil recover from nutrient depletion. |
|
|
Stripcropping
is based on the same idea as crop rotation. The same crop is not planted
on the same land two years in a row. Multiple crops are planted in
alternating strips. The crop in each strip is then changed each year.
This way the nutrients in the soil are not depleted and are allowed
to replenish. |
|
|
Contour farming
uses the geography of the land to naturally defend against water erosion.
Crops are planted in rows that match the contours, or the curves,
of the land. |
|
|
Stripcropping and
contour farming are an excellent combination that prevents
water runoff and stops nutrient depletion. |
|
|
Buffers are
trees planted along creeks, rivers, and streams that prevent soil
from blowing into the water. When soil gets into the water, it's called
siltation and it can affect water quality. |
|
|
A runoff buffer prevents
soil from being blown into a creek, river, or stream, but it also
provides thick ground cover plantings, which help reduce the amount
of chemicals that run off into streams from the land. |
|
|
Manure management
means animal feces are not allowed to pollute our streams. Many farmers
use manure as a natural fertilizer. |
|
|
Organic farming
means no synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers
are applied to crops. Problems, such as bugs eating leaves, are dealt
with naturally. |
|
|
No till farming
means the ground is never plowed. A planter is used to shoot seeds
and nutrients into the ground. This method helps prevent erosion because
it doesn't leave soil exposed to the wind. |
|
|
Prairie burning is
a practice that allows nutrients to return to the soil and promotes
new plant growth. Some farmers burn the land where their cattle feed.
|
|
|
Capacity means
the land can only handle so many animals before there are problems.
An overgrazed prairie is exposed to wind erosion. A farmer must ensure
the ratio of animals to land allows both to prosper. |
|
|
Free range is
when animals, like chickens and cattle, are able the roam the land
without many restrictions. They are not crowded in cages or pens.
This is a healthier way, for the animals and the land, to raise animals. |
|
|
Grazing rotation
is a pratice used to prevent animals that eat grasses off the land
from overgrazing. Animals are allowed to graze a section of land for
a limited amount of time and then are moved to another section of
land. This allows the land time to recover. |
|
|
Lazer-leveling. Lazers
are used to precisely level the dirt mounds of crop rows. This practice
encourages irrigation water to be distributed equally over a crop,
preventing the waste of water. |
