CONSERVATION OF SOIL MOISTURE FROM FALL AND WINTER PRECIPITATION

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Abstract
Twenty years' results showed that 37 per cent of the over-winter precipitation at Swift Current was conserved in stubble fields and 9 per cent in fallow. Further analysis showed that rainfall and snowfall were conserved equally well in stubble but that conservation in fallow was mostly from rainfall. Much of the snow was blown from the fallow and accumulated in the stubble.Fall moisture was also a factor, in that each inch of moisture stored in the soil in the fall reduced the over-winter conservation by approximately 0.2 inch.Nine years' results with fall cultivation on stubble showed that one-way disking after harvest reduced the winter storage in 3 years out of 9. Apparently any gain in moisture conservation from the removal of weed growth was more than offset by reduced snow accumulation during the winter. Blade tillage in the fall resulted in greater moisture storage at seed-time in 1 year out of 9.

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