PEI

Prince Edward Island was, in the telling of Lucy Maud Montgomery's stories-Ann of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon-a nearly unbelievably lovely place.  It still is, mostly.  Of course, you must ignore the tourist trade and the summer traffic, the summer homes of the weathy and the various "antique" stores.  You also must overlook the potato farming, lately added to Prince Edward Island agriculture.  Most of the island is lovely green slopes dotted with scattered farm places with ocean as a background.  It is difficult to imagine ever getting tired of that scenery, and the good feelings it evokes.  Much of the island's agriculture is still grazing animals and fruit, but like every where else, the grazing seems to suffer from a lack of willingness to take it seriously as an agricultural economy.  It is still too much "dump them out there in spring and round them up on Labor Day"

We did see several excellent grazing farms, both dairies, and right next to each other.  There were in addition more than a few farms fenced for casual rotation such as a week per paddock and four to five paddocks to use.  But many of these operations showed signs of being sidelines for people who made their livings on a time clock somewhere.  And even many of the dairy cows were confined.  The late May grass looked excellent, but there seems to be a tendency to put balers and forage havesters between the cows and the grass. 

The geologist we spoke to the day before said that the island featured a deep glacial till.  The soil there is very red in color and full of iron oxide.  Additionally, the retired dairy farmer I talked to referred to the acid nature of it, saying that alfalfa was difficult to establish and maintain.  We were looking at a winterkilled hay seeding at the time.  The farmer said he used clovers when he milked instead.  Silage for the first two cuttings and then hay.  He also told me that Prince Edward Island had gotten eighteen feet of snow this winter in February and March.  We saw many broken decks and porches and carpenters were busy on many roofs.  It shows in the potato fields. 

The Island showed much erosion in those tilled and mostly sloping fields.  We saw huge gullies coming down the hills and massive puddling at the bottom, worse than anything I have seen in Minnesota.  The saloon keeper where we stopped for fish and chips said the planting was three weeks late as of the last days of May. 

Eighteen inches of snow makes for significant runoff in the spring.  And the spring has been rainy.  But deep as that soil might be, they are headed for trouble with it, just as are we with letting family dairy slip away from us.  The earth was not made for a corn-bean rotation, even when potatoes are added.  Clean tillage and bare fields are unacceptable even when the occasion is the growing of potatoes or other trendy fare such as greens and vegetables.  Other than ruminant animals grazing perennial plants agriculture is problematic and it requires the close attention of a real farmer backed by a vibrant farming culture.  We have few of the former and none of the latter.  And the solutions we need will not come from Universities or other labs.  They won't be generated by electronics geeks or Silicon Valley or machine dealers or guidance systems.  We will have to get those few farmers to multiply.  And then figure out a way to honor and care for them.

Jim