OCR Text |
Show Tree Windbreaks Needed on Farms Say Agriculturists There is a great need for windbreak wind-break plantings on many farms in Utah, and as yet very little has been accomplished in this respect. Other states, such as South Dakota, Da-kota, have accomplished a considerable consid-erable amount of work in this important im-portant practice. Planting field windbreaks has long been recsognized as an important im-portant contribution to the Agricultural Agri-cultural economy of South Dakota.. Thousands of miles of windbreaks have been planted in this state during the past 20 years. Despite this wide-scale interest, little was actually known about the influence influ-ence of windbreaks on crop yields. To obtain information on this question, the Soil Conservation service ser-vice authorized a survey during the fall of 1954 in cooperation with the South Dakota State College Col-lege Agricultural Experiment Station. Sta-tion. A number of farmers, representative repre-sentative of those with good field windbreaks, were interviewed and the information gathered strongly indicates that good field windbreaks wind-breaks are valuable assets to South Dakota Farmers in their Soil Conservation work and in increasing in-creasing crop yields. Farmers observed that windbreak wind-break benefits accured from the following conditions: (1) Crop protection from hot, drying winds during critical stages of the growing season. (2 Reduction in evaporation rate due to lowering surface wind velocities. (3) Reduction in crop damage by storms andi high winds during the later stages of crop development. develop-ment. ' (4) Added soil moisture from snow trapped on cropland. (5) Reduction in damage to young seedlings by blowing soil in the spring. (6) Cropland south of east-west plantings warm up earlier in the spring, giving crops a faster start. Windbreaks will also increase the value of the land. They will more than pay for the land they occupy. Farmers in Utah can benefit from this conservation practice, just as South Dakota farmers have done. Now is the time to initiate this long range program. |