March 5, 2007:
For the Gauthier family farm in Alberta's Peace Country, nitrogen-fixing legumes such as yellow peas and alfalfa provide profit and environmental benefits in the cropping system. "The bottom line is our nitrogen requirements are reduced," says Rhonda Clarke-Gauthier. "This reduces our input costs, but it also reduces risk of having nutrients lost through runoff or leaching which could contaminate ground and surface water."
"In addition, by including the legume crops in our rotation, we are able to reduce fertilizer rates in crops over the two years following the legumes," says Clarke-Gauthier. By bringing in crops such as red clover, the Gauthiers plan to seed at least 25 percent of their land to these nitrogen-fixing crops over the next few years.