Vibrant plots with butterflies and dragonflies flying above crammed the again of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association’s lot at Ag in Motion 2026. Between sturdy moisture and good blends, the plots are very full this yr.
“We had an ideal catch this yr,” stated Paul Kernaleguen, vice chairman of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Affiliation (SaskSoil) and a dairy farmer close to Birch Hills, Sask.
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“Simply with the rotation of the intercropping versus poly crops and perennials and that, it’s simply going to assist.”
To spotlight methods to enhance soil health, the affiliation had plots with polycrops and forage mixes at Ag in Movement for 4 years. They’ve rotated the blends to provide probably the most life like software of the apply on farm. This yr’s plots featured a verify of arduous purple spring wheat; winter triticale seeded in 2025 and direct seeded with a forage pollinator; a various cowl crop combine; arduous purple spring wheat and winter triticale; purple lentil and brown flax intercrop; and a perennial combination plus oats.
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The forage and perennial mixes are pretty properly accepted amongst cattle producers, whereas intercropping is seen extra skeptically by grain producers. There are just a few extra concerns to be made on that entrance similar to harvestability, seeding instances and cleansing wants.
Photograph:
Janelle Rudolph
Kernaleguen stated there are alternatives for everybody to incorporate poly blends of their operations, whether or not they’re on the livestock or cropping facet of issues. His personal curiosity lies within the forages as a dairy farmer.
“We’ve acquired … a nine- or 10-year rotation with perennials blended in,” he stated of his personal operation.
“We’ll go for 3 to 4 years perennial simply to scrub up weeds and every thing else, deliver that soil again to extra fungal-dominated versus bacterial-dominated, after which we’ll go in with our annual mixes for in all probability three years and consider weed stress.”
These years are adopted by a biannual or an annual underseeded with a secondary similar to candy clover, furry vetch or winter triticale to “transfer that pendulum” extra towards fungal-dominated soil, then one to 2 extra years with an annual earlier than the rotation begins once more.
For Kerneleguen and others, these plans have been working properly. However the blends and technique did have a little bit of a studying curve.
“When these mixes first got here out, guys had been making an attempt to develop them indefinitely, and ultimately weed stress began to be a problem,” he defined. “When you understand what drives that weed stress is simply your bacterial-dominated soil, properly, you’re simply combating a shedding battle like each different annual farmer.”
Wholesome soil requires stability of micro organism and fungi; domination of 1 over the opposite brings totally different weeds.
For instance, by incorporating perennials right into a bacteria-dominated state of affairs, the annual, nitrate-seeking weeds dissipate.
Advantages of the blends
Every combine will provide one thing totally different to the soil. Producers needs to be making concerns for his or her soil well being objectives when choosing a route of adoption.
The arduous purple spring wheat paired with winter triticale gives the advantage of a dwelling root persevering with within the soil after the spring crop is harvested, which gives nice seeding prep for the next yr. The cereal pairing makes spraying easy.
The lentil and flax intercrop is a typical intercrop, with the 2 serving to each other develop, offering cover cowl and helps. SaskSoil seeded it on their plot as the combo is a low-carbon residue mixture, and former crops on this plot had been pretty excessive carbon, showcasing the rotation for carbon soil administration.
Within the perennial combine, oats present a little bit of a nurse crop to assist the forage stand get a powerful begin. The combo gives inexperienced feed earlier than grazing dependability.
For the forage combine with winter triticale, there’s an insurance coverage issue. The combo seeded at Ag in Movement included warm- and cool-season vegetation that provide certainty that one thing will develop, irrespective of the climate.
“This yr, every thing’s rising,” Kerneleguen stated of the plots. “It’s simply sort of been that scorching, moist, a lot of wet, simply actually good jungle-like circumstances, which every thing grows in.”
The combo supplies nitrogen fixation and root depth variation for the soil well being objectives, and assures that diet objectives are met with excessive protein and good starches.
The oats is also interchanged with barley, that may then be harvested.
Photograph:
Janelle Rudolph
“You harvest based mostly in your starch content material to try to get probably the most of that,” Kerneleguen defined. “Then you definately in all probability have some multi-cut species in there which might be going to regrow, after which you could have the choice for grazing it later within the fall.”
Seeing outcomes
Inclusions of intercropping can have advantages brief time period or long run. Relying on the combo and variety there will likely be optimistic adjustments to the soil straight away.
However the totally different system does require a unique strategy in administration and the steps taken to incorporate it. Producers need to make concerns for their very own operations, harvest patterns and what their space is like.
Geography, climate, rotation historical past and soil zone all play a component.
For instance, in northern Saskatchewan the aim could also be to cut back bush and bushes making an attempt to reclaim pasture or cropland boundaries. A bacteria-dominated combine could be a sensible choice, as that space has extra fungal-dominated soil.
In central Saskatchewan the higher challenge is probably going annual weed stress, which implies a unique strategy and assorted combine.
