Tags

  • Published on

    Average Tillage Intensity has decreased, part 2.

    Progress Tillage Intensity
    Picture
    When we examine the Tillage Intensity of the 191 sites for which we have tillage data and group them into their 5 crop categories, we see that 4 crop groups have made very good progress in reducing their Tillage Intensity, with Commercial Veg/Flower/Fruit sites and Dryland Grains making the most progress.  Perennial Hay/Alfalfa/Pastures have held steady with quite low Tillage Intensity scores.  Home gardens also have low tillage intensity scores, because many of our home gardeners use mostly hand tools, which disturb the soil less and have lower intensity scores.
  • Published on

    Average Tillage Intensity has decreased, part 1.

    Progress Tillage Intensity
    Picture
    When we examine just the 51 sites for which we have 5 years of data, we see that our growers have decreased their Tillage Intensity by 17 points over the last 5 years. This is very good news since lower tillage intensity is correlated with better soil health.  We use a Natural Resources Conservation Service soil erosion model to assign a soil disturbance score to all farm operations that compact or disturb soil.  For example, NRCS assigns a single pass with a subsoiler-chisel plow a score of 52.6, a disc harrow gets a score of 11.67, and hay cutting equipment gets a score of 0.15. We total all the scores from each implement used in a field in a calendar year to compute the tillage intensity score for each site.
  • Published on

    Our Growers have made progress!!

    Cover Crops Days Of Living Cover Organic Matter Inputs Progress Tillage Intensity Variability
    Picture
    The variability we continue to see in our lab results has thrown a great big monkey wrench into our ability to assess progress using only our lab results. However, we can still assess the progress our growers have made in increasing their use of tried-and-true soil health practices, including:
    • Increasing their Days of Living Cover
    • Increasing their use of Cover Crops
    • Decreasing their Tillage Intensity
    • Increasing their Organic Matter Inputs
    Our growers have made excellent progress incorporating 3 out of 4 of these soil health practices in the last 5 years.
  • Published on

    Predicting the Soil Health of our 3 Main Crop Groups, PART 2

    Alkaline Soil Crop Groups Days Of Living Cover Grazing Animals Irrigation Water Organic Matter Inputs PH Soil Organic Matter Tillage Intensity
    Predicting the Soil Health of our 3 Main Crop Groups, PART 2
    Perennial Hay/Alfalfa/Pastures: The Pasture group has the highest average soil health scores of these three crop groups.  Although the Pasture group has lower supplemental water days and lower organic matter added, their very high days of living cover and very high grazing days, along with their very low tillage intensity and lower soil pH seem to more than make up for their water challenges, in terms of soil health.
    Commodity Row Crops: The Commodity crop group has the lowest average scores of these three groups.  Although they have done an excellent job of reducing their tillage intensity, that fact alone cannot make up for their high soil pH, lowest days of living cover and lowest organic matter added.  They have only 2/3rds of the water availability as the Commercial Veg/Flower/Fruit group, which explains their lower days of cover crops that often require fall seeding and fall water.  Inter-seeding cover crops aerially or when the main crop is still small are work-arounds but not always practical.  Low commodity prices mean the cost of additional organic matter inputs like compost and manure are hard to justify.
    Commercial Veg/Flower/Fruit: The Commercial Veg group has the highest tillage intensity by far, but also triple the organic matter inputs of the other 2 groups.  These huge organic matter inputs, along with their longer water season, greater use of cover crops, and lower soil pH overpower their intense tillage and boost their average soil health scores above the commodity crops’ averages.  Their longer water season means they can plant more fall cover crops and string together succession plantings for a longer growing season.  Their high value vegetables mean that they can afford organic matter input costs and hauling fees.
  • Published on

    Predicting the Soil Health of 7 Different Crop Groups: PART 2

    Alkaline Soil Crop Groups Days Of Living Cover Grazing Animals Irrigation Water Organic Matter Inputs PH Tillage Intensity
    If you guessed that Dryland Grains would have the lowest average soil health scores, and that Trees, Wild Grasslands and Home Gardens would have the highest scores, you would hit the jackpot.  Dryland Grains have no supplemental water, no organic matter inputs, the shortest days of living cover, and high pH, which all gang up to give the group some of the lowest soil health scores.  Home Gardens have the most supplemental water available, huge organic matter inputs, very low tillage intensity and low soil pH, which raises them to the top.  Although Grasslands and Trees have no supplemental irrigation water generally and no organic matter inputs, they have the most days of living cover, no tillage and the lowest soil pH, so they do very well too.  The chart below has the average soil health scores of each of our 7 crop groups, for Soil Organic Matter, Soil Respiration, Organic Nitrogen, Organic Carbon, Soil Health Score, Total Microbial Biomass, and Number of Fungi. 
    Please remember that the numbers in these tables and graphs are averages, a mathematical construct.  There is no grower named “Average”, nor a field called “Average”.  We are talking about an imaginary mathematically constructed “average” site in these tables and charts.  Our real world is much more varied and complicated.
    Predicting the Soil Health of 7 Different Crop Groups: PART 2