Wonderful Wind Protection!

Thunderstorms and intense cold fronts have been bringing high winds into Ontario on several occasions this spring. How did your soil fare? If it was loose and bare for planting odds are you and the neighbours have been exchanging topsoil - an expensive activity. You've lost fertility, possibly pesticides and soil organic matter. Last year with some soil tests, a quick calculation showed that this was worth $13 per acre per wind event, it's probably considerably more this year with the increase in fertilizer prices.

So what to do? Early spring planted cover crops have been highly effective this year. Take a look at cover crop pictures below. Barley or oats at 1.5 to 2 bushels per acre, planted in early spring did the trick to protect tender, emerged seed corn and newly planted tomatoes recently. And the cost benefit? As this grower says, "There is no excuse for being blown out anymore!" Newer herbicides and use of the GPS systems to selectively till out the row area means a lot more options for wind control with cover crops.

Wind eroded fence row

Sand blasted seed corn

Shows carrots well established among a
barley interseeded cover this spring

Tomato transplants happy in their killed barley wind strips