New Yields From Old Fields (1937)

[Music] the greatest problem facing american agriculture today is the rapidly waning fertility of our soil since the beginning of farming on this great continent man has been busily engaged in exploiting the natural resources of the soil everything was taken out nothing put back in when the best soil of a territory had been exhausted the men moved on to new fields today there are no more virgin fields to exploit and we are beginning to reap the ill awards of our short-sighted farm methods every season millions of tons of valuable topsoil are blown away in dust storms leaving bare fields and desolation over rapidly increasing areas floods wash off many more millions of tons the mississippi river alone carries away over 300 million tons each year the total losses from such floods reach staggering proportions in soil alone to say nothing of property damage and even life added to all this drought is apparently on the increase over a large portion of the continent what is the answer well let's take a quick glance at the whole picture originally the eastern half of this continent was covered almost entirely by a heavy forest growth when cut down and cleared this left a deep sponge-like soil composed of decayed vegetation roots and absorbent material rain falling on this soil found its way quickly into the ground with little or no runoff or erosion the plains country of the west in those early days was covered with luxuriant grass which formed a thick thirsty sponge on top of the earth rains were quickly absorbed by the billions of tiny hair-like roots that literally covered the entire surface of the west roots whose winding matting threads went down to amazing depths into the ground the university of saskatchewan excavated and entirely washed out complete roots on various plains grasses and believe it or not a single plant of crested wheatgrass had roots that went down to a depth of 90 inches and there were over 300 miles of them on the one plant and here's another of those amazing grasses brome a single plant now multiply the roots on this one plant by the millions of plants on an acre and you see why we say sponge as time went on this vast expanse of matted sponge was quickly broken and planted to grains and other soil depleting crops after years of intensive cultivation this maze of fine hair-like roots that went so deep were completely destroyed here's an illustration of water action in soil a prominent midwestern university recently sprinkled three inches of rainfall on a thoroughly cultivated plot of corn and an equal amount on a plot of native grass the soil was similar both on a five percent slope the cornfield absorbed only 30 percent of the water and the balance which ran off carried eight tons of topsoil per acre with it the grass plot absorbed 99 of the water and had no erosion and it works both ways native grasses with their enormous root growth have a peculiar ability to keep the soil structure granular allowing easy movement of surface and subsurface moisture strange as it may seem the very condition shortage of roots and organic matter in cultivated soil that causes our dust storms and drought in the semi-arid territories also causes the enormous water erosion in the more humid sections the rains that cannot be absorbed by the soil run off carrying top soil along with them those parallel ridges were once cornrows earth alone cannot grow crops but whether it be clay sand or any of the intermediate soil it must contain moisture and humus or decaying organic matter before plant growth can be possible continual cropping and cultivating have depleted the humus and reduced the structure on much of our soil to the consistency of talcum powder water cannot penetrate soil of this nature and every wind takes its toll listing does leave the land in ridges that help hold the soil and furrows will hold some of the water but this is not the real cure basin listing is another method that is helping to keep the moisture where it falls here the land is ridged and furrowed and dams are built in the furrows to hold water that would otherwise run and cause erosion again the method helps but it does not supply the cure that is so desperately needed the real answer lies in two things first the elimination of practices that contribute to erosion and second the growing of crops that will supply the sponge needed straw pile burning for example should be stopped it has contributed in no small degree to the present condition straw contains 40 of the plant food material that produce the crop and plowed down it tends to stabilize the soil and washing and blowing it also helps absorb moisture and makes organic matter obviously grass crops are valuable as a source of food for livestock but over grazing is one of the important factors that has destroyed millions of acres intelligent grazing practices should be maintained over grazing causes untold damage to the sponge that should protect the land unfortunately our soil depleting crops up till now have been our cash crops grains corn cotton tobacco potatoes and truck crops each of these take out of the ground considerably more than they can possibly return they leave the fields deficient in minerals and organic matter called humus and do not have the fine hair-like root structure that holds the soil and absorbs moisture now cash crops can be soil building and soil holding crops they can be crops that will return in actual money as much and usually more than the soil depleting crops and they will build up and hold the soil let's see how soil conservation programs are now nationwide and called for intelligent crop rotation that will restore the soil at least in part to its original condition better rotation with grasses and legumes terracing and contour farming on the rolling land on the long slopes strip cropping with rows of grasses clovers or hay between the cultivated crops is being recommended with excellent results the grass and hay crops catch the water that runs off the tilled fields in all areas a thorough analysis of the fields is recommended and limestone and mineral fertilizer is being applied wherever necessary this work has been found to pay large dividends to further build up soils the plowing down of barnyard manure that has been evenly spread on the fields is being practiced this too brings profitable results farmers are beginning to realize that losses often result from manure that is piled instead of spread the piling method is now being rapidly eliminated another result producing method to help the soil is the plowing down of green manure and vegetative crops to make humus or organic matter even a crop of weeds plowed down in this manner improves the absorbent quality of the soil and prevents blowing and washing and finally farmers are now growing crops that will not only hold and build up the soil but which will return to the owner a good profit at the same time let's look at a few of these and see for ourselves here's a field of cerisa lespedeza in western tennessee in a district where erosion and gullying are a real problem just across the road from this fine field is a scene that tells a sad story of poor crop practices the syriza field had started to gully badly but stopped immediately once the growth started and no wonder have a look at these roots they go down to great depths and there are millions of them holding the clump of earth so tightly you can hardly break off portions and every one of these millions of both coarse and fine roots has its quota of nodules of nitrogen which build up the soil add to this the thick vegetative covering and you have a soil builder of unequal ability but that tells only half the story of this tennessee farmer's success first erosion was checked with this long rooted crop the soil was built up and stabilized and finally by letting the crop mature for seed and harvesting in this manner the owner received over one hundred dollars an acre for seed alone a new and profitable yield from an old field here's a grass that is doing a fine job in the middle west brome in one of its many varieties a nebraska grower reports a seed crop that netted him over sixty dollars an acre when harvested in this manner what better crop can you grow and for the northwest and the high plains crested wheatgrass promises big things it's a dry land grass that goes down as deep as the old prairie wool and has enormous root structure that smothers weeds and resists drought also it can be seeded with an ordinary grain drill and yields from one to eight hundred pounds of seed per acre when harvested in this manner seed that will bring 40 cents a pound another new and profitable yield from an old field and there are scores of others crops of this kind not only bring new yields from old fields they increase the yields for years to come because they bring back to the soil that indispensable mixture of roots organic matter and humus on which plants thrive they tie the soil together and allow the moisture to get down into the ground where it becomes the lifeblood of profitable crops heretofore grasses have always been regarded as a pasture crop on which the only cash income was from livestock no longer does this idea hold true today the majority of grasses yield a seed crop of real cash value kentucky bluegrass for example easily pays out more in seed than a grain crop second only to bluegrass as a pasture crop is red top grass which grows from canada to the gulf of mexico its most unusual feature is that while it's strongly drought resistant still it thrives well in wet foggy land and whether in a wet or dry territory red top is an excellent soil holder being able to resist erosion even in gullies and drain outlets the seed though light and fluffy is easy to save in this manner and it's doggone profitable johnson grass has long been known as a curse of the cotton field but thanks to the experiments of the soil conservation program johnson grass has been proven valuable today it's being used to save these same cotton fields from erosion and gullying this texas grower is also realizing a nice profit from the seed crop by plowing immediately after seed harvest he has no trouble with root growth profits and soil improvement from a weed crop an important pasture grass in the south now is bermuda grass the seed which is mostly sold back to the south and the east brings around 30 cents a pound and each acre yields several hundred pounds bermuda grass makes a splendid sod for pastures and lawns it resists drought and heat and holds the soil together when seeded on the water outlets of terraces here's a hay crop of real merit that has been grown all over the middle west for years timothy though it does not provide as tough as odds as some of the other grasses the roots go down quite deep helping to rebuild soil structure also timothy has a tendency to loosen the soil making it much more absorbent lately the seed crop which is easy to harvest has proven much more profitable than the hay rhodes grass is a fine hay of the south up until just recently however the seed which is worth 60 cents per pound was imported from australia for that reason the experience of this texas grower is quite an example of new yields from old fields he planted rhodes grass to build up this soil in return he got two dollars an acre for soil conserving and forty dollars an acre for the seed and canary grass is another about which you can tell almost the same facts it's called the alfalfa of the lowlands because it will grow in sour boggy soil that formerly produced nothing but coarse marsh hay and cattails on such wasteland this wisconsin grower really achieved profitable yields with canary grass he produced four tons of good hay 100 pounds of seed to the acre of course the real soil builders are the legumes many have root structures that approximate those of the grasses but in addition legumes are nitrogen gathering plants when properly inoculated they absorb more of this material from the air than they can possibly use as a result the surplus nitrogen is left in the ground to improve the fertility and development of succeeding crops common red clover an excellent hay crop all over the middle west is typical of the soil improvement and profits that are possible with practically all of the legumes one crop is estimated as being equivalent to 17 loads of manure to the acre in soil building value alone on the first cut it yields a fine crop of hay then on the second cutting a seed crop worth anywhere from twenty to sixty dollars to the acre the aristocrat of all the clovers is mammoth english grown mostly in the southern midwest here is a legume that produces an enormous crop of hay if harvested for seed with the straw and chaff scattered and plowed down it has a mammoth soil building value withdrawn chaff contain a high percentage of minerals that are essential to promoting quick active growth the king of soil builders is sweet clover with sufficient lime it will grow anywhere like mammoth clover it makes an enormous growth when plowed down for green manure it rebuilds worn out soil at an unusually fast pace this is a result of a huge root structure which decays quickly leaving the soil in excellent condition to absorb all the moisture the crop is profitable for its seed also and when harvested in this manner the straw can be plowed down thus you secure all the soil building benefits and harvest a good cash crop as well alpsych or poor land clover grows on soils that will not produce red or mammoth clover for such exhausted and eroded territories alsyke is a remarkable soil builder invariably the crop that follows shows an incredible improvement over previous results but alsake is also a profitable seed drop in itself typical yields from many different farms show averages out from four to 12 bushels per acre and it pays all the way from ten dollars for bushel up here's a southern winter crop that keeps the soil covered during the wet season crimson clover like most of the legumes crimson clover is a high nitrogen producing growth with an excellent root structure like the others too it yields a worthwhile seed crop more profitable than a grain crop repeated tests demonstrate that crimson clover increases soil fertility from 25 to 100 percent for following crops new yields from old fields brings us an interesting story concerning hugh bam sweet clover an annual legume when he saw the wiry tangled mess which huban presents when full-grown the owner of this california farm gave up the job of harvesting it the man on the all crop however stepped in and made a deal to harvest for the seed he made a nice fat profit for himself out of an abandoned crop alfalfa our most valuable hay crop has been harvested for seed in only a few sections of the country largely because it was difficult to harvest today however hundreds of growers report substantial seed profits and an easy harvest when the all crop is used for the job one grower secured 12 bushels per acre and it brings 20 a bushel another legume crop that had gone out of fashion because of harvest difficulties was the field pea now it's easy to harvest a crop of vegetable peas today brings a good return and following crops improved as a result of the soil building materials left by the field team new yields from old fields that's the plan to follow for present profits and for future security the austrian winter pea has long been a soil building favorite in the south lately the northern farmer has discovered that he can also use it as a spring crop in north dakota it's being used as a cash crop in rotation with potatoes each following year the potatoes are greatly improved because of the high nitrogen content of the austrian pea together with the ploughing down of all chaff and straw the seed crop is as valuable as a grain vets in some of its forms is becoming a most popular soil builder through the south planted on the cotton middles in the fall it covers the ground within a short time it can be plowed down in spring to increase enormously the cotton yield or it may be allowed to mature and harvested for seed though the crop ripens unevenly it's easy to save straw and chaff go back into the field helping in no small degree toward rebuilding tight and worn out soil korean lespedeza soil builder and soil safer yes it's both fine hair-like roots descend deeply into the soil spreading and building a firm threaded mat that is virtually as luxuriant as that supplied by grassroots each of the root stems carries valuable nitrogen materials down to where it's most needed because korean lespedeza will thrive well on acid soils it's particularly beneficial as a rebuilder of old pasture land it grows without interfering with the grass in fact it actually helps the grass along nor will its growth interfere with that of a grain or a cover crop seed from korean lespedeza runs up to a thousand pounds per acre and it's worth up to 20 cents a pound do you recognize this crop that's right cow peas sometimes called whipper will peas it's a fast-growing legume generally planted after the early summer crops have been harvested this particular planting followed a crop of crimson clover you can imagine the soil building effects of these two crops in one season the two seed harvests crimson clover and cowpea made a mighty profitable year one of the best-like soil builders in the southeast is crotalaria all of the straw chaff and residue is plowed under making humors for soil building previously seed could only be hand-picked for this reason it still brings high prices harvesting seed in this manner makes a really profitable new crop from an old field the soybean is probably grown in larger acreages than any other of our legume crops it's grown however mostly as a straight cash crop and a good one its value as a soil builder in the corn belt rotation has probably never been given full credit when used properly each ensuing corn crop shows definite proof of the soybeans ability to improve soil demand for the bean has grown by leaps and bounds and it's now considered a regular field problem and there are many other soil building and soil improving crops over eight million dollars were paid out for imported grass and legume seeds last year so there's a real market for seed growers for several years to come some of these will fit into your rotation and increase your income see your county agent or your district soil conservation director work with them and get these new yields from your old fields you