Tillage affects the soil and the surrounding environment. Tillage is used to prepare a seedbed and remove and control unwanted plants. Tillage can commence right after harvest, followed by a number of spring operations up to seeding and include cultivation during the growing season for some row crops. Although smooth bare fields are an indication of a new cycle of production and harvest, soil left unprotected by plant cover is susceptible to erosion by rain and wind. Brown streams, gullies in the fields and blowing dirt are the obvious signs that erosion is occurring.
Agricultural productivity is based solely on the thin layer of topsoil in which crops are produced.
Erosion is the movement of this topsoil and its loss threatens the long term sustainability and productivity of the sector. Generally, the potential for erosion is a function of the likelihood of a weather event, the time soil is left unprotected, the slope of the land, and the type of soil with fine textured sandy soils being very erosive. What farmers grow and how often they till the soil will have a direct bearing on the rate of erosion. Besides erosion, cultivation can have other impacts including salinization, acidification, loss of organic matter, and compaction to name a few. In the Prairies, the practice of summerfallowing is a real concern because it leaves the soil devoid of plant cover and, therefore, highly susceptible to erosion.