In the early 1900’s, thousands of trees were planted in rows to protect yards and soils from our Saskatchewan winds. Farming has changed since then, and while soil conservation practices such as minimizing tillage and direct seeding have greatly reduced the risk of wind erosion, those iconic field shelterbelts are quickly disappearing from the landscape.

(This article was written by Hilary Luchinski, the agri-environmental specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture regional office in Outlook)

Shelterbelts and tree rows still provide in-field environmental and economic benefits that should earn them a permanent place in Western Canada’s agricultural landscape.

Tree rows protect farm infrastructure and reduce energy costs by slowing and redirecting local wind currents. They also create barriers to sight lines, noise, livestock odors, and pesticide drifts or weed seed movement. Some trees and shrubs planted in shelterbelts also can fix nitrogen into forms available for uptake by nearby crops, reducing the need for fertilizer. Additionally, they add value to your property!

Some environmental benefits of tree rows include reduction of soil wind erosion, wildlife habitat and corridors, nutrient cycling, and moisture regulation. Shelterbelts support biodiversity by creating habitat corridors for many life forms including wildlife, crop pest predators, tree-nesting birds, pollinators, and microbes that play an integral role in nutrient cycling. They act as conduits for wildlife travelling between habitats, helping reduce the impacts of agriculture on habitat fragmentation. Trees provide oxygen and sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, helping us fight against the climate conditions that are contributing to some of our extreme weather events.

Shelterbelts also play a key role in keeping moisture available to your crops. Wind erosion is greatly reduced downwind of a shelterbelt, which protects soil from erosion and from soils from drying. In the winter, windbreaks capture snow in banks that slowly release come springtime, resulting in the slow-release of moisture onto your fields. Shading and cooling the soil around a shelterbelt helps reduce evaporation and retains available soil moisture. The deep root systems of trees and shrubs will pull a low water table up for crop uptake and soak up excess moisture when conditions are too wet. During flooding conditions, shelterbelts improve water infiltration by slowing the speed of runoff and drawing water down into the soil profile with their extensive root system.

For more information on shelterbelts and their benefits, call the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at –(866)457-2377 or visit www.saskatchewan.ca..