Feb 3rd, 2020 : Australia Plowing

[xoxoxoBruce]

After a fire (they’ve had a few down there in case you haven’t heard) burned off the vegetation, the farmer had extra time on his
hands to be creative, to play out the suppressed roll, to feed the artist soul within.
He plows, I lie.

After a recent bushfire consumed all vegetation on his land, a South Australian farmer Brian Fischer decided to etch a gigantic geometric pattern on the bare ground in a bid to fight soil erosion. Without vegetation, the topsoil was vulnerable to erosion by gusting winds. So Fischer ploughed his land in a patchwork of spirals creating long furrows in the topsoil. Now no matter which direction the wind blows there will always be a furrow to catch the soil. Fischer says the pattern cost him a few days to make, but he expects to save 15 cm of topsoil that would have otherwise been lost, until the fields are green again.

The clever erosion-fighting technique came from his dad, who used it on the farm as early as 1944 during one of the worst droughts South Australia experienced. More than one million hectares of land were destroyed by a raging bushfire in Victoria, prompting some farmers to come up with this unique solution.

link

[glatt]

Smart. I hope it works.

[xoxoxoBruce]

What I don't get is why he is plowing? I've seen a lot of burned off fields. Labor day weekend all of western Canada is ablaze burning off the wheat fields for miles and miles. Unlike a brush fire it doesn't linger, it sweeps across a field leaving charred stubble with the root structure intact. I can't see the wind moving much of that. So the only reason to plow would be to plant new and I don't think this is the right time of year for that. The article doesn't mention planting either.

edit add

The geometrical pattern has been worked up in 1ha blocks using a standard five-metre 33-tyne cultivator.

edit again
OK, proof positive. This is the wind whipping up a dust storm on the property of a neighbor who did nothing after the fire.