Larry Powell Powell is a veteran, award-winning journalist based in Shoal Lake, Manitoba, Canada. He specialize in stories about agriculture and the environment. For decades, he worked for broadcast outlets in all four provinces in western Canada. This included a 5 years stint as Senior Editor for CBC Radio News in Saskatchewan. He is authorized to receive embargoed news releases on important, global stories, through the Science Media Centre of Canada, the Royal Society, Nature Research and the World Weather Attribution Network. He's a member of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada, the Canadian Association of Journalists and a past member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2020, Powell joined an international team of writers providing articles for the Swiss-based online journal, Focusing on Wildlife - celebrating the biodiversity of Planet Earth. In June, 2014, he was a panelist at a world conference in Winnipeg entitled Holding
Comments
consult with the past.then use some ingenuity and common sense.
Back in April of 2012, shelter Belts, are no long useful, says the Minister of agriculture.
Well, it’s apparent that Gerry Ritz, born in 1951, never had to deal with the dry and wind years of the 1930’s,when never ending dust clouds, grasshoppers, and no rain settled on the prairies.
The settlers of those years knew if they were to survive, changes had to be taken in their farming methods and stop their land base from being blown away.
The tree and shrub belts were a beginning, but also a challenge, as with the scarcity of water, even for themselves and livestock, resulted in many failures and setbacks.
But eventually, conditions improved and the trees and shelter belts began to flourish. And were successful.
Yes, with modern farming methods and large machinery, they have become ,somewhat of a nuisance to the aggressive farmers of to-day, so they are ripped away, piled and burned.
The Minister has now proclaimed that shelter belts and pastures are not the way of the future, in that, stubble fields and continuous cropping is the new salvation.
Guess he’s been in touch with Nature at the highest level, and been assured that drought years and winds storms are a past memory, and will never return to challenge the modern farmers of to-day.
His crystal ball is due for a cleaning and complete overhaul.
John
"What's it going to Take to Stop Soil Erosion?"… For openers, a minister who needs to consult with the past, then use some ingenuity and common sense. That would be a big help.
Back in April of 2012, shelter Belts, are no long useful, says the Minister of Agriculture.
Well, it’s apparent that Gerry Ritz, born in 1951, never had to deal with the dry and wind years of the 1930’s,when never ending dust clouds, grasshoppers, and no rain settled on the prairies.
The settlers of those years knew if they were to survive, changes had to be taken in their farming methods and stop their land base from being blown away.
The tree and shrub belts were a beginning, but also a challenge, as with the scarcity of water, even for themselves and livestock, resulted in many failures and setbacks.
But eventually, conditions improved and the trees and shelter belts began to flourish. And were successful.
Yes, with modern farming methods and large machinery, they have become ,somewhat of a nuisance to the aggressive farmers of to-day, so they are ripped away, piled and burned.
The Minister has now proclaimed that shelter belts and pastures are not the way of the future, in that, stubble fields and continuous cropping is the new salvation.
Guess he’s been in touch with Nature at the highest level, and been assured that drought years and winds storms are a past memory, and will never return to challenge the modern farmers of to-day.
His crystal ball is due for a cleaning and complete overhaul