Land cover and land use, to a large extent, reflect land management practices being used. The change in land management practices over the past 15 to 20 years can be considered to reflect progress toward increased sustainability on the prairies. By establishing an accurate picture of the current land management practices in the Parkland, we can detect changes that will occur over the next 5 to 20 years. In particular, surface radar imagery is being investigated to determine the applicability of this technology for determining residue status of cropped fields. Conservation Demonstration Farms Research information on soil management, soil conservation and cropping systems exists for uniform soils of the Canadian prairies.
Some elements are immediately applicable to assist in reducing summerfallow acreage.
However, the application of this knowledge in the most feasible and economically sustainable fashion on a given farm is hampered for many reasons. Conservation demonstration farms in each of the prairie provinces were developed for two major purposes. First, to provide regional sites for extension of soil conservation technology on a farm-scale, instead of the normal plot scale that is currently utilized. Second, they will provide field laboratories for evaluation of research on the applicability of soil conservation technology. This will also allow economic evaluations of on-farm soil conservation systems, and provide opportunities for developing partnerships between the agricultural and environmental communities.