Resilient crop yields can be maximized by improving soil health, which is enhanced with cover crops. Long-term advocates have found that adding cover crops to their rotation adds a critical amount of additional carbon to the soil. Cover crops should be considered as part of the overall crop rotation, and especially on soils with lower […]
The success of a crop is generally evaluated on economic yield, where inputs and fixed costs are subtracted from gross profit. Most of the time the crop is evaluated on a per year basis and the decision as to which crop to grow includes market demand as part of the decision-making process. A more sustainable […]
Crop rotation is an integral part of the crop production system. A well-planned crop rotation will: The basic rule of crop rotation is that a crop should never follow itself. Continuous cropping of any crop will increase the buildup of diseases and insects specific to that crop and will potentially result in heavier infestations and […]
Soil health is described as the soil’s capacity to support crop growth without becoming degraded or otherwise harming the environment. Physical, chemical and biological indicators can help determine relative soil health. Physical indicators include aggregate stability, available water holding capacity, soil structure and soil compaction. Chemical indicators include soil pH, and soil nutrient content. Biological […]
Agricultural systems that integrate crops and livestock offer benefits for sustainability, resilience, and economic diversity. Beyond the influences on ecological processes and soil microbial communities, the opportunity to utilize manure, crop residues (i.e. wheat straw for bedding), and crop rotations around feed production contribute to a more nutritious livestock feed production and promotes environmental stability […]
Integrated pest management (IPM) is an approach to weed, insect and disease management that uses all available control strategies to manage pest populations, keeping them below economic thresholds. This results in a cropping system that is more resilient to failures since it does not exclusively rely on the use of pesticides to control pests. For […]
How nutrients are managed for crop production will depend on many other components of the whole farm operation. The 4R concept of nutrient management is an approach that is essential to the development of sustainable agriculture and is focused on the “4 Rs”: the right nutrient sources at the right rate, right time and in […]
Reasons for Tillage There are many reasons to perform tillage for crop production in addition to increasing soil dry-down. Soil is also tilled for reasons such as: Herbicides have resulted in reduced need for tillage to control weeds, except in organic production systems. And the development of equipment capable of planting into crop residue ensures […]
Agricultural systems that integrate crops and livestock offer benefits for sustainability, resilience, and economic diversity. Beyond the influences on ecological processes and soil microbial communities, the opportunity to utilize manure, crop residues (i.e. wheat straw for bedding), and crop rotations around feed production contribute to a more nutritious livestock feed production and promotes environmental stability […]
Sustainable crop production can be defined as “developing and utilizing crop production systems that meet the need of present producers without compromising the ability of future generations of producers to do the same” (adapted definition from Dr. G. Brundtland – Director General of the World Health Organization1). There are three segments to sustainable crop production: […]
Calibrating manure application equipment is essential. Technology including flow meters, load cells, on-the-go targeted application (e.g., HarvestLab 3000) and other precision ag tools are making calibration easier and less time consuming. Several manual methods can be used to measure spreading rates and uniformity of spread. Weighing a load of manure and measuring the area that […]
Nitrate-N and Manure Nitrogen Index NH4-N, whether applied directly or from the mineralization of organic-N, is further converted to nitrate-N (NO3-N) by microbial action in the soil. This process occurs rapidly (weeks) during the growing season. Unlike NH4-N, which will adhere to soil particles, the nitrate ion can move freely with soil water. Loss of […]
Manure application is an important part of manure management and equipment design and set up will impact manure distribution, utilization and potential losses. Application timing The timing of manure application may be driven by manure production and available storage. There should be enough storage capacity to allow application when field and soil conditions are fit. […]
Regular manure applications combined with forage-based rotations are the envy of crop producers when soil organic matter (SOM) levels and soil resilience are considered. What is the actual organic matter benefit from manure to the soil, and how does that vary with different types of manure and organic amendments? Livestock manure is an excellent source […]
Available organic nitrogen Organic nitrogen is not available to the crop until it has been mineralized to the ammonium form by microbial action. The speed of mineralization increases with warm temperatures and adequate moisture, which promote microbial activity and will slow down to almost no activity when soil temperatures approach freezing. Nitrogen from solid manure […]