2018 Wheat University

I recently attended the WSU Wheat University.  They had  a diverse agenda of subject matter, with presentations from researchers at Washington State University, Oregon State University, and University of Idaho.  Concurrent classes were going, and I didn't get to all the presentations.  From those that I did attend there were several things that I found important, hence, chronicle here.
     Water Movement:   --Soil type effects rate of moisture infiltration, shown by a demonstration using Walla Walla and Ritzville soil types.           --Soil particles are quickly transported by surface water and block passages into the soil profile, sealing the surface.  Runoff begins at that point.  No-till fields have more channels into the soil profile than cultivated fields and usually more surface residue.   --Surface residue retards water flowing across the soil surface.  The more residue the better.       Even though some moisture is trapped and evaporated from the residue, more residue translates to more moisture in the profile.   --The demo. in the pic above, shows a Ritzville soil with two containers of soils from a cultivated field.  One container had surface residue, the other did not.  The third container of Ritzville soil is from a no-till field.  The no-till container had no water loss from the simulated rain event.   The cultivated containers both had water loss but the container with residue had less loss and notably less soil loss.    --Water is held under tension until a path or condition breaks the tension.  Water is attracted to surfaces, going down the sides of channels into the soil profile.

      Nutrients in straw:   --A ton of wheat straw ranges from $10-$19 in nutrient value.  Straw nutrients vary depending on nutrient level found in the soil plus the  amount applied, and the value placed on the various nutrients.    --Rough estimate for straw residue is 100# per bushel of grain.    --Swath and bale removes approximately 50% of the residue.  Feeding baler directly from combine increases the loss of leaves and chaff raising the total loss a  couple of percentage points.  (A 100bu/ac yield translates to ~$25 to $47 per acre loss of nutrients).     --When a field is burned, you lose nearly all the C-N-S, and less of the remaining elements if the ash has not blown away.    --K & P can be washed out of the residue from rainfall or irrigation.
        Crop Insects:   
              --Wire worms: come in three species (Great Basin - Western - Sugar beet).    --The are identified by the shape of the little pincer type protrusion on their tail.    --The Western feeds actively in April & May.     --Sugar beet variety feeds later in the season.   --You may not encounter the Great Basin variety at economic levels.   --Seed treatment works pretty good on the Western.     --Check edges of bare areas for dead and dying new leaves on cereal plants, then dig around plant crowns.      --Wire worms prefer spring wheat over winter wheat.  It is probably a worm life cycle issue.    --They are found mostly in bottom land and may not need treating on hills.   --Wire worms are attracted to cereal grains, with the exception of oats.      --They have little attraction to Pulses, Brassica's, or chemical fallow.    --Wireworms may feed in chem fallow fields but they will not lay eggs.                    --Proximity to CRP fields will likely increase wireworm pressure.    -- ≥ 45ºF worms will be active.
             --Hession Fly: The female population is what does the damage.  She lays the eggs in the stem.   --The fly does not move far.     --The fly overwinters in grain (not oat) residue.    --Cereal plant resistance to Hession Fly is declining.  We need to pay attention to cultural practices like expanding crop rotation to help keep losses from this fly to a minimum.
             --Weevils:  Pea Weevil (not a true weevil because it has no elbow in it's antenna), Pea Leaf Weevil, Cabbage Seedpod Weevil are the three main types that cause economic damage in peas and canola.  The pea weevil scallops the lower leaves weakening the plant making it more susceptible to aphid attack.  These don't seem to be as prevalent as the pea leaf weevil.  The cabbage seedpod weevil lays eggs in the pea and canola seedpods.  In canola the pods become misshapen when attacked.
            --Aphid:  They tend to attack weakened plants/stands due to nutrition deficiencies or weevil attack.    --Scout field edges for infestations.  It's possible you will only have to treat the border which will minimize damage to beneficial insects.    --When possible spray late in the day to minimize impact on beneficial insects (specifically bees).

Glyphosate

 Wikipedia-Glyphosate
    I don't pretend to be an expert on Glyphosate but I try to keep up on current revelations, --and factors promoting them.  After attending a few agricultural meetings this fall several statements were thrown around about glyphosate that prompted me to look further into the subject.  Wikipedia, I find to be a fantastic source of information on about everything.  They have a lot of material on Glyphosate (click on link above).  If printed out there would be thirty five pages in 12pt type.  It shows 216 different reference sources.  The material is broken out into ten major categories: General statement, Discovery, Chemistry, Mode of Action, Uses, Formulations, Environmental Fate, Toxicity, Effects of Use, and Legal Status.  If that isn't enough reading you can further educate yourself by reading the thousands of pages contained in the 216 source documents.
Here are a few things I found worth remembering about glyphosate:
     ---First synthesized in 1950 by Swiss chemist Henry Martin.
     ---1964 Stauffer Chemical patented it as a "chelator"as it binds and remove minerals such as Ca,Mg,Mn, Cu, and Zn.  We need to keep this in mind as a potential factor related to plant nutrition  and effectiveness of the chemical itself.
     ---In 1970 Monsanto became involved, and discovered many derivatives were potential water-softening agents, and a couple had weak herbicidal activity.
     ---Monsanto's John E. Franz, working with these few derivatives, developed glyphosate as we know it, bringing it to market in 1974.
     ---A broad-spectrum systemic herbicide that is an organophosphorus compound, used to inhibit the plant enzyme, --5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3phosphate synthase.
     ---Works through the shikimate pathway.  This pathway does not exist in the mammal/humane genome, but is in plants and some other life forms.
     ---Has relatively small effect on some clover species and morning glory.
     ---Is an acid molecule so it is formulated as a salt for packaging and handling.  Different companies use different salt formulations.  Monsanto uses isopropylamine salt of glyphosate.  It should be kept in mind that different salt formulations of glyphosate, along with the adjuvants that become part of the compound applied may give different results/effectiveness .
     --- Glyphosate adsorbs strongly to soil particles, and it's residues are expected to generally be immobile in soil.  Glyphosate found in water was probably carried there on soil particles.
     --- Glyphosate is readily degraded by soil microbes, but not as readily by water or sunlight; although the stated pathway for the degradation of glyphosate is through hydrolysis. (citation #35 is a good general read for a more complete explanation)
     ---Some of the aminomethylphosphonic acid found in water bodies may be from the degradation of detergents rather than glyphosate.  They degrade in a similar manner.
     ---Anaerobic conditions release phosphorous and can also release glyphosate from sediments as well.
     ---Half life of the glyphosate molecule ranges from 2-197 days depending on soils and climate.  Colder the clime the longer it seems to take to degrade below detection level.
     ---2003 Monsanto patented glyphosate as an anti parasitic.  Glyphosate combined with other agents are used as prevention and therapy of pathogenic infections such as malaria.
     ---Health. Literature reviews have reports of human consumption of the glyphosate concentrate (not diluted) running from no adverse effect to being fatal, --depending on the person and amount consumed being among the factors.  Charges of various health issues run the gamut.  Research tends to support the concept of glyphosate being safe, --but there are caveats to that.
     Glyphosate is more than a simple herbicide.  Being a potential chelator, anti parasitic, and a herbicide raises all kinds of questions in peoples minds.  I have a better understanding of how a small grain of truth can lead people to link glyphosate with every imaginable bad thing experienced by humans.
     When glyphosate herbicide was introduced back in 1974, it cost ~$100/gal and was reported to be the discovery of the century.  After 44 years I think it is living up to that report pretty well.  Will it make 100 years? --anyones guess!  It's demise, if glyphosate does go away, will be because of its popularity.  The Roundup Ready crops are a double edge sword for the farming community.  First, they are encouraging the use of glyphosate.  This rapidly expanding market is causing alarm.  Secondly, research for new chemistry has ground to a halt do to glyphosate being so effective, versatile and inexpensive.
     I don't expect glyphosate to go away anytime soon; however, I do think that more regulation will come into play, and it's effectiveness will become less as time passes. 
     More than once I have been asked how we will continue no-tilling if glyphosate is pulled from the agricultural market.  I personally don't see that being a problem.  In the short term, there is alternative chemistry to replace glyphosate.  They will be more expensive, much harsher on the environment and less safe to use, but currently not under the public microscope.  Hopefully it will give us-Kye time to figure out how to incorporated biologicals and cover crops into our cropping system that will reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals and fertilizers.  I am of the opinion that we have to remove chem fallow from our cropping system to make this all work. Vacant ground increases weed pressure.  Our current chemical fallow has to become either green fallow or be replaced with a cash crop.
     

SOIL HEALTH

DID YOU KNOW !  ------
        The modern soil health (SH) movement has its roots in the oil embargo of 1973 that spurred a renewed interest in investigating how the soil microbial population could be used to replenish nitrogen (N) available from soil, due to huge increases in the price of N fertilizers. Soon after, there was a push to implement minimum and no-till conservation practices on the land to reduce anthropogenic erosion. In the 1980s, a consortium of public and private entities provided information to land managers on the best ways to implement these new practices. Concurrently, leading experts in soil quality were developing definitions and recommended data to characterize soil quality as affected by human management (Doran et al. 1994, Doran and Jones 1996).

While soil microbial methodologies were relatively primitive at the time, soil biology was always an integral part of the scientific effort to improve the understanding and measurement of soil characteristics. Eventually, as the capacity to study soil biology improved, discussion of soil quality was replaced by a discussion of soil health as a means of communicating the importance of understanding and managing the soil as a living, breathing ecosystem. NRCS has defined soil health as “the capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that supports plants, animals, and humans.”
        The above paragraph is a cut/paste piece from the INTRODUCTION to the document:   Soil Health Technical Note No. SH-XX.  --This is a draft version in the Federal Register relating to Soil Health Standard Indicators and Laboratory Procedures, by USDA.  Public comment period is about to close and the draft version will be edited and a final version will likely be posted sometime in 2019.
       When I came across this document it helped reduce my skepticism about Elaine Ingham's statement that the first comprehensive book on soil microbiology was published in 1985.  It seemed unreal to me that there was so little known about our soil that recent.  I was well into my farming career by that time and didn't know I was so ignorant.  Now it seems that the more I learn, the less I know.
        I remember the oil embargo of 73.  It was one of those experiences that produced uncertainty, and hence, was a bit scary.  I remember visiting relatives in Seattle and hunting for a gas station that advertised "Have Gas", and waiting in line a block long, hoping to get a tank full.  Sometimes you were limited to 5 gallons per purchase.  Farm fuel suppliers were put on allotments.  Harvest started early that year and our local fuel supplier was running low on his allotment for August.  He kept all the machines running that last couple of days in August by daily going from field to field and delivering directly into the combine only enough for most of that days run.  September 1st came with a new allotment of fuel and everything was fine after that.  We mostly live with our head in a cloud and don't realize how vulnerable we are to societies infrastructure.  Loss of fuel or the electrical grid are two examples of many issues that would turn civil to uncivil quickly.  

2018 Cover Crop Update

SUMMARY OF 2018 COVER CROP EXPERIENCE: (the details are below this summary)  -- The property history is:  farmed conventionally from ~1900 through 1986.  CRP  from 1986 through 2013.  2014 field seeded to spring barley.  2015 seeded to 5 & 9 cultivar cover crop.  2016 seeded to winter wheat.  2017 seeded to spring canola.  2018 seeded to 5 cultivar cover crop.
     The cover crop (~75ac) was the first seeded for the year, with (~ 10ac) seeded last, after the cash crops.  All the cover crop cultivars had a high emergence rate with a good to excellent stand on poor as well as good soil.  The amount of biomass grown represented the type of ground under it.  10#N placed with the seed would have paid big dividends in the poor soil areas.  We did an early takeout this year instead of letting it go to maturity.  The hope was that we could maximize the N retention and minimize water loss.  We took soil tests from our normal fallow area as well as on the cover crop area.  As usual they are a source of frustration.  Inconsistent, What? that's not right! how can that be?!  The only consistent element is the use of 3" moisture to grow the CC.  I'm disappointed in this because our early takeout should have resulted in less moisture use by the CC.  Well, it's just one piece of data in a short list of try's.  I can see that I should be taking these tests myself.  Even though I have a competent person pulling these tests, I can't be sure they are taken consistently in the same place time after time, and without that knowledge it's difficult for me to analyze the results.  (Most of this summary was posted to the Cover Crop Page.)
                                            --------------------------------------
    4/15/18?? --Seeded ~75ac field with 5 cultivar cover crop.  Two cultivars of large seed (forage pea, forage oats), and 3 cultivars of small seed (white dutch clover, daikon radish, pardenni lentil).
    5/12/18?? --Seeded ~ 5ac with remaining 5 cultivar cover crop all mixed together.  Earlier seeding was separated by size with large seed on 20" row's and small seeds between the large seed rows.  We had great emergence of the early seeded cultivars, including the Dutch White Clover.
    7/7/18 --We started the takeout process for the 5 cultivar (forage oat, forage pea, daikon radish, small lentil, white dutch clover) cover crop.  The intent this year was to takeout at the height of N production (early pod setting).  We were a little late (~1-1.5wks).  Currently the peas and lentils and radish have finished bloom and well into pod/seed development.  The clover has some blooms.  The forage oats has headed and have some seed in the milk.  East of the ditch, the planting is ~3wks later and takeout is probably 1-1.5wks too early.  We should have added some N (~10#).  I think it would have resulted in significant more biomass.  As it is, we have some areas with good height and color, and others are shorter, and yellowish in color.  Many of the areas without complete canopy have Russian Thistle and Skeleton Weed competing with the covers.
        The late seeded cover mix, which was all mixed together and seeded out at the same depth as the canola at Thornton showed difference in emergence between cultivars.  The radish was the only indicator that the small seed mix was fairly well distributed throughout the large seed mix.  The White Dutch Clover did not emerge well.  The other four cultivars emerged well.  Radish, because of it's early bolt and flowering, is a good indicator of field distribution of the seed mix.  What we have learned at this point from three years experience is that radish will likely emerge if held to around 1.5" depth.
        We have an interest in four types of takeout processes.  We hope to find one that will leave our White Dutch Clover and take out the remainder.
        Because of logistics issues we were not able to try a crimper.  We would like to have tried that method although we are skeptical that it would work with our cultivars or terrain.
        We sprayed ~20ac (one swath west of the ditch, and all the cover on the east side of the ditch) with a mix of 2-4D and Rt3 left over from the bordering chem fall field.
        We used the 26' Shulte mower on ~20ac, --mostly on the upper west side with wide headlands on the north and south borders.  At a distance the mowed area looks pretty good; however, close inspection shows cultivars missed.  We'll see if the forage oats become a contaminate in next years fall wheat.
        On the 9th we sprayed one quart per acre of paraquat and 2qt/100g of Outrigger with 20gpa total solution on the remaining field and over some of the mowed ground.

     8/14/18-- The cover crop takeout methods were evaluated.  The Roundup and Gromoxone applications look pretty good; however, the mowed area has recovered with the skeleton weed showing a lot of bloom.  We applied Gromoxone to the mowed ground to stop the Skeleton weed bloom.
     9/20/18--Some recovery of Rush Skeleton Weed, and it was flowering and some matured.  It appears that the Gromoxone is the best takeout method.  It burned everything down fast and the Rush Skeleton Weed was very slow to recover.  The Glyphosate was too slow in burn down allowing the target plants to continue competing for 4-6 days longer than the Gromoxone.
     We did not make a Glyphosate application prior to seeding our winter wheat.   There were few Russian thistles present and no grass weeds observed.  There was a significant amount of Rush Skeleton weed present.  I'm not sure whether we are making any headway in controlling that pest(Rush Skeleton weed).  It's not suppose to compete well with a growing crop; however, this piece of ground with shallow soil and heavy population, may be an exception.
      11/21/18  --Evaluated winter wheat seeded into the cover crop ground.  The wheat was seeded during the 3rd wk of September into dry conditions.  We received sufficient moisture the 4th wk of October to germinate the winter wheat, but by then the weather was quite cool with freezing nights and near freezing days.  The winter wheat has mostly emerged (~95%) but very small, ranging from spike to a few two leaves.                                                                    

Glyphosate

        Roundup is back in the news.  The jury verdict this past spring was surprising.  To me this looked like an easy win for Monsanto with the plaintiff being a groundskeeper with only two years history using Roundup, while there is a American Health Study (AHS) on farmers and farm families  that summarizes: --In this large, prospective cohort study (#1 link), no association was apparent between glyphosate and any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including NHL(Non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and its subtypes. There was some evidence of increased risk of AML(Acute myeloid leukemia) among the highest exposed group that requires confirmation.  This study was revisited and updated in 2018 with no change in the summary.  Links #2 & 3, describes why it is so difficult to predict an outcome with a jury trial.  The facts are so ambiguous and they can be blurred by how a question is framed/phrased/developed.   I am slowly coming to the conclusion that there is no conclusive science surrounding this subject, and that public perception, emotion, and political correctness will rule the day on the use of Glyphosate, --or any other subject that catches the publics attention.
      I'm including a link (#4) to an AHS site showing increased risk for farmers and farm families to certain diseases/conditions.  This is not a comprehensive list, but recent determinations.  It's a bit sobering.  I think I am a typical farmer in that safety frequently takes second place to expediency when it comes to working with agriculture chemistry.  An Antidote: (recently we took old, and in some cases unidentifiable (lost label) agricultural chemistry to a state sponsored collection area. Every year the Dept of Ag sponsors these collections as encouragement for  farmers to not dump this chemistry on the ground when it's determined to be unusable for their crops.  The collection "professionals" were all dressed in hazmat suits, and the farmers were delivering their jugs and other containers wearing normal working clothing of leather boots, cotton pants, shirts, bill caps and no gloves.)  After viewing PBS's documentary on "9 Months That Made Me", I have become more aware of how life style effects our health and life expectancy and general quality of life.   It's a little late for me; however, the younger generation should pay more attention to personal protection when using Ag Chemistry.  The AHS studies show that we not only have elevated levels of these chemistry's in our bodies, but we expose our families to the effects of these chemistry's when we wear contaminated clothing around them.
1)  Farmer Health study :  (This is an abstract of the AHS mentioned above on Glyphosate.)
2)  Popular Science on Jury's & Science :  (A short article on dilemma associated with Juries reconciling legal and Science evidence.)
3  SNOPES: Juries & Science :  (A long article explaining the difficulty in reconciling legal and science evidence.)
4  News & Findings (on Farmers Health)  (A list of findings on increased risks for farmers.)

SOIL TESTING - Simple/Useful/DIY tests

    Through a Twitter post, I discovered the following website that gave 20 various tests for evaluating soil health.  Most are useful for both pasture and cropland, with visual observation tips and evaluation sheets/parameters to track progress to improved soil health.  Many only require taking a spade depth and width plug of soil (I use a trenching shovel for it's long narrow blade), and a number of these tests/observations can be made with the same sample. [ variety of useful DIY tests soil health ]

LAND STEWARDSHIP -- IMPROVE WITH KNOWLEDGE

For Soil Sustainability - every agricultural operation needs

continual upgrading of it's conservation ethic, and it's increasingly easier to do with the internet providing access to the research being done.
      As I look back, my life has spanned nearly the entire period of "modern" agriculture, --since tractors replaced horses.  In the early 1930's, my grandfather traded twelve Percheron horses for a 20hp, gas fueled, steel track, Allis Chalmers Model M tractor (I have one stored in the barn).  1942, the farming community started learning to farm out of a "jug" (2-4D was first marketed).   Holistic farming practices, what there was, were abandoned.  I have a newspaper article where my grandfather was interviewed, stating that when he first started farming he could raise forty bushels to the acre of winter wheat every year, but now (early 1940's), he had to incorporate a fallow year to get 40 bushels on his winter wheat.  In retrospect, what can be read into his statement was this:  In 30-40 years,  farming practices had destroyed the native soils natural ability to annually grow 40bu/ac of winter wheat.  Tillage along with associated erosion was destroying the organic matter, reducing the ability of the soil to hold water, and provide nutrients for the crop.  This destructive process is continuing today on most farming operations.  Today, it's reported, depending on the location, that 40% - 60% of the natural productivity of our soils have been lost.  

      From the time the sod was plowed under at the turn of the 20th century, through the mid 1960's there was tremendous erosion.  Regularly there was deep snow on frozen ground that resulted in spring runoffs that cut many and deep ditches in fields of winter wheat, along with intense summer storms compounding the problem.  From the 60's to the mid 80's snow decreased, the ground didn't freeze as deep, summer storms became less, and in 1984 we were declared a drought region.  Around  2006 it looked like we may be seeing a swing back to more snow, and summer storm activity but now I question that observation.  Climate is dynamic, and change was obviously taking place, then, as now.

      Today, many farm operations are still following the farming practices of our grandfathers and fathers.  The difference I see is today tractors have more horsepower, and tillage equipment is bigger and heavier.  A 500-600 horsepower tractor can pull equipment faster and deeper.  In the Palouse it has long been common practice to comb the field to smooth the roughness left by primary tillage operations.  These operations have loosened and floated most , or all, the organic matter off narrow ridges and redeposited it on the lower slopes.
       I credit the publics demand for clean water and the interest in organic food for the research being done that can only be termed more "holistic".  The federal and state governments are throwing a lot of money at the problem of water pollution.  In the last two decades research has been steadily ramping up on all disciplines associated with soil health which included the reintroduction of cover crops.
       In my college days if someone would have said "plants communicate with one another" they would have been dismissed as looney.  Today we know this to be a credible statement, along with knowledge that organisms in the soil biota mine nutrients from solid rock, plants can redistribute nutrients through the soil profile, influence soil pH, mycorrhiza fungi transport water and nutrients between supportive plant species, and every plant type manufactures a different root exudate.
      There is tremendous amount of new information on issues relating to soil health, and it is coming at an every increasing pace.  We as Stewards of the land need to learn and apply this knowledge.

Canola Information 2018

 < Canolawatch.com >  great source of information from Canada.  How much is transferrable to our operation is a question at this point, but it's someplace to start.

Market:  8/15/18--Near term looks bearish. Soy prices are dropping, and there is a good canola crop in US and Canada.  Price recovery will probably not happen until January or beyond.
Harvest prep:  Three dry down products are diquat, saflufenacil, and glyphosate.  Diquat stops development nearly immediately.  With diquat, the crop needs to be 90% brown seed on the entire plant, --main stem and branches.   Saflufenacil can be applied a little earlier with the crop at 75% brown seed on the main stem.  Glyphosate offers the earliest application with plants at 30% moisture.  The product is good for variable maturity in a non roundup tolerant crop.
Storage: To store long term have clean canola (not weedy) that tests at 8% moisture or lower, (preferable 5-6%).  Can cut and store clean canola, with aeration, to ~12%, but need to watch carefully for hot spots.  Clean canola at 8% can be store in non-aerated bin without much worry (check bin on regular basis).  If canola measures 8%, but there are high moisture spots that is part of the harvested crop, consider rotating bins to redistribute material. 
Delivery: Have some kind of contract on file with Viterra indicating approximate quantity so space is saved at the plant for harvest delivery.  Harvested weedy canola needs to be delivered directly to theWarden plant for immediate cleaning and crushing (call prior to cutting or delivering product to Warden plant). 

RAINFALL -- 1998 to 2018

        This pic  updates the original post of Feb 1, 2016 under the title [OUR FARMS HISTORIC RAINFALL] to include 2016-2017 year totals along with the corresponding line graph.
        For 2018 we appear to be above average in rainfall again.  Are we experiencing a long term trend of higher than average rainfall?  Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it!  Back in 2006, you can see that we had 4 years with above average rainfall and then 2007 brought us back to reality, bouncing around, from a high in 2006 to a low in 2013, then making a steady gain to our all time high in 2017. This variation should indicate that you can't make cropping decisions on what happened last year.  It would be better to develop a diverse rotation that includes, legume, brassica, cereal cultivars; then tweek between high and low water use cultivars within those categories to address your best guess as to what the weather will bring.  It is my contention that future financial survivability will depend on our soils biological and structural health, and that means reduce tillage, increase crop diversity, and keep the soil surface covered, --as the beginning.  More rapid improvement in soil health will probably require application of compost "extracts" to add fungal, protozoa, and beneficial nematode life forms to our depleted soil, and multi-species covers to support them beyond our normal crop cultivars.  How to do this in an unstable, low moisture environment is the challenge, --but one that needs to be faced.
       As I read/listen to the news it seems that our weather is getting more unpredictable and more extreme, --I wonder how long it will be before one of those storms heavily laden with moisture will reach our area.   While admitting that my mindset has been riveted on how to minimize the loss of moisture we currently receive, it is becoming a nagging concern as to how well our farming system would hold up under a barrage of rain.  With all my comments on the amount of residue we have, and able to seed into, our most vulnerable ground (high, steep and eroded) is still exposed.  Now that we are comfortable seeding into high volume residue, we need to concentrate on better protection of vulnerable areas by replacing the cash crop with covers specific to build surface protection and soil structure for a year or two.

SPRING SEEDING 2018

<--Last year our spring Canola never had this much color, --and our yield reflected the fact.  Last year, three weeks of +/- 100 degree heat beat up all spring crops in the area and caught our canola at the start of bloom.
       This pic shows a week of bloom.  It appears to take about a week to reach maximum color. Hopefully we will see this for another couple of weeks (or more).

    This spring we seeded spring canola, and a field with a cover crop mix.  No other spring crop was drilled, neither cereal or legume.   At SJ/Ewan we seeded canola at 5#/a on 10" rows @ ≥1" and Thornton we seeded 5#/a on 10" @≤1" depth with the CrossSlot drill.  The cultivar was a HighClass RR variety so that we could get another whack at Rattail Fescue and Downy Brome with Roundup.
   Early Field evaluation:
       In general, it appears that 5#/a provides  a high population, --good/bad(?)
       We have holes in the stand.  The small in-row holes are likely do to the low seeding rate of a very small seed metered through our old valmar air delivery system.  Any motion or attitude change of the drill will cause slight deceleration or acceleration of seed delivery with this type metering system.  
        The Large holes involving several openers or the whole drill width are a different story.  The tall heavy residue is playing a part.  Scouting and evaluating the canola stand the past 2-3 weeks have led us to the conclusion that we should leave a seeded field with the residue flat on the ground, and seed no shallower than 1.25".  The canola stand at SJ/Ewan is very good, but Thornton is a different story.  There are a lot of holes.  There are plants struggling through tangled, half height  residue, and areas where the seed didn't get into the ground sufficiently.  Thornton fields were wet and cold.  We shallowed up the seeding depth and reduced opener down pressure, --a mistake!  When we think back over the years of planting with the CrossSlot, we have never had a problem of emerging a crop from seeding too deep, --the problems, when developed,  have always been from seeding too shallow.  
        The technology developed in the CrossSlot opener has the ability to emerge a crop from greater depths than is normally acceptable under the "conditions", but it is difficult to break the mindset of shallowing up seeding depth with cold wet soil.  With a "seasoned" field (one with years of low disturbance no-till), which we have, water drains rapidly, --and the soil warms quickly when disturbed in the drilling process.

<--This pic shows a Thornton field with tall, heavy residue. You can see holes in the stand, which, unfortunately, there are many.  At first we thought it may be chemistry since this is an area that had an abundance of Canadian Thistle.  It turns out to be that the seed was placed too shallow, or the mat to thick.  That's easily corrected for another year, --set the drill a little deeper and apply a little more down pressure.
    The Flea Beetle has been a problem in some fields but we don't see any evidence of that pest.  One symptom of their presence is where they severe cotyledons leaving bare patches in the field.  Cold, damp, slow growing conditions favor that type damage.  

<--This pic, taken earlier, shows the visual difference between tall, heavy residue in the background and no residue in the foreground.
The canola in the background looks rough, but it actually is a good stand.  In a week or two,  I'll add a pic from this same location. 
      The lack of residue in the foreground  makes the field look a lot better, --but I think it is only visual.  This piece (foreground) is new to us, very wet, never direct seeded.  This area had some standing water when we did our preplant Roundup application, but we were able to drill it without difficulty. 
      At SJ we also have ~50a where we replaced our regular fertility with fish, sea salt, humid acid.  We're participating with a group to learn more about "biologicals".  I think I've called these "snake oil" in the past.  I'll address our experience with this later in another post.  At this point in time it isn't impressive, --we'll see.

<--[Update: 6/27 pic]  The same area as above with canola in full bloom.   This pic is zoomed out further.  Both the foreground and background looks very good.  We have experienced good weather for the canola bloom this year.  Some areas on the plants are showing evidence of some cold nights.
     Unfortunately there are two other fields that don't look this good.  Recent evaluation of these fields haven't changed our earlier conclusion, --seeded to shallow for the amount of residue that exists on some of the areas.  Canola doesn't like wet feet, but this condition was short lived as other wet areas with good stands attest.

    Evaluating the Cover Crop field:  I updated the "Cover Crop" page to reflect what has been done for the spring of 2018.  Another update will be added when we decide how and when we will terminate the stand.
                 

2018 Crop Year -- Rainfall - SJ/Ewan

                                  CROP YEAR (AUG/JULY)
August 2017 --> 0.00",  September 2017 --> 0.69",  October 2017 --> 1.98"
November 2017 --> 2.96",  December 2017 --> 3.16",  January 2018 --> 2.42"
February 2018 --> 1.58",  March 2018 --> 1.45",  April 2018 --> 1.99"
May 2018 --> 1.07",  June 2018 (6/11) ≠ 0.40",  July 2018 =?
                                    TOTAL TO DATE: = 17.70"
We are nearly 3.0" ahead of our long term average for the year.  The remainder of June, July and August normally add little to our year's total.

2017 Rainfall Summary for SJ/Ewan

     By reviewing my posts I see that I never updated our rainfall for 2017.  View the post of July 16th, 2017 for update by months.  [ Click on "rainfall" in labels and scroll down to post.] 
                   The totals are listed here.
2017 Crop Yr:          (August / July) ----------  Total = 20.67"
2017 Calendar Yr:   (January / December) --- Total = 21.05"

Two Pass vs Single Pass No-Till

        Two pass no-till is an oxymoron; however, it is a term used, and a BM practice (in our area), allowing participants to access USDA and Ecology money as an incentive to try no-till for erosion control.  I have never been a fan of the practice, feeling that success would be erratic and it may be an inoculant against no-tilling.  That question is still not answered.

       For nearly 40 years I have listened to researchers talk about what it takes for maximum yields, whether it be a conventional tillage, or no-till system.  There are many factors that go into high yields but two are always part of the list.  They are:
                ---Place seed in soil (not residue).  Most crop cultivars grow through and among residue without any growth issues as long as the seed is placed in soil.  All the issues I have heard about have been with seed being in close contact with decaying residue.
                ---Cotyledons need to emerge within three days of each other.  Thirty-five plus years ago I first heard a speaker (and several since), mention that seed can lay in the ground for some time; however, when conditions allow the seed to germinate, cotyledons emerging within three days of each other comprise 90% of a crops yield.  You can imagine how this be the case.  All plants compete for sunlight, nutrients and water.  If one gets a jump start of four or more days, that plant develops roots and leaves before the other plants in it's sphere of influence, and takes the lion share of everything.  The plants emerging later will be starved to some extent, and can actually degrade the overall quality of the crop.
       Operations associated with 2 pass no-till systems in our area just don't meet the two parameters mentioned above, of seed placement for timely emergence.  A lot of N is lost in a surface application of fertilizer unless the operation can be timed with a rain, --this results in most fertilizer being shanked 4-6 inches into the ground.  Shanked fields are rough and cloddy and residue, if there is any, is left clumped.  Drills normally used for conventional tillage systems are then rolled over these rough fields dropping seed erratically in/on the ground and residue.  If the stars line up right you can get a decent looking crop started; however, most look bad.  To improve emergence, harrows or packers have been allowed and still qualify for two-pass operations.  In my mind these operations then become reduced tillage operations.  Reduced tillage systems do reduce water erosion in a lot of cases, but still, they are not nearly as effective as a high disturbance one pass no-till drill system, in either plant emergence or soil erosion.

COVER-CROP INFORMATION

       A good article in No-Till Farmer (June 18th, 2018 edition) on the experience of John Stigge.  Stigge no-tills corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, milo and raises livestock on 2000ac near Washington, KS.  He has cover cropped ground for many years.  Real progress has been made to soil health in the past 5 years, after years of trial and error, and some notable failures.   He has found that grazing cover-crops have given him positive income when grain has not, and that grazing has accelerated microbiology.   Here are some points he expressed that I found pertinent.  Keep in mind this is KS, with a much longer growing season than we have in the Inland Northwest.
     ---Three main species work synergistically!  He states that brassicas, legumes and grasses work together supporting soil biology and providing nutrients for cash crops.  He has found that using the three together has been the secret to getting the results he wants.
     ---Use of Grasses in mixes!  Stigge finds grasses are an essential foundation to cover-crop mixes.  He likes annual ryegrass as it's relatively inexpensive, grows extensive, deep root systems, and are easy to terminate.  After starting to use annual ryegrass, his OM started to jump.
      Cereal rye is used by many no-tillers.  He states that those looking for cover, but have to put up with late seeding dates, go this route but he found cereal rye problematic and quit using the cultivar.  (my note:  I have found only one other article expressing a concern using cereal rye, --and I know it is problematic.  We are still rouging cereal rye out of our fields after 70+ years since it's introduction.  That one article cautioned, to use cereal rye seed that the supplier can certify being one cereal rye cultivar, and not a mix of 5 cultivars that is commonly sold as cereal rye.  Growth habits vary with each type of cultivar. )

<---pic shows cereal rye plant in WW.  65 years ago you could hardly see the wheat for the rye.  Today, we still walk our fields and find a few stalks of rye.  If you miss a year, you have a bigger problem the next year.  
         Stigge also noted that cereal rye, once it hits boot stage has the value of compost from a grazing standpoint.
        Oats are a great soil conditioner and hold their grazing value through it's life cycle.  Stigge likes using oats, vetch, peas, and a brassica for weed control in his organic program.  After it dies he grazes calves through the winter with no additional feed.  He once rolled out a bale of alfalfa and they used it for bedding, not interested in eating any of it.
    ---Use of Legumes in mixes!  Stigge includes a legume in all his mixes.  They are expensive but very important part of his mixes and about half the mix cost.  They not only sequester free N in the soil but support rhizobia bacterium to fix N, and feed mycorrhizal fungi that serve as the transportation network bringing nutrients from plant to plant.  Legumes also aid in the formation of globulin which is important for soil aggregation.  Vetch (seeded in summer or early fall) is a good spring grazing cultivar if you don't have to terminate to early.  He likes Naomi Wooly Pod vetch, a variety from Australia.  It will start nodules after seven days.  He likes cow peas and they all die with one 37F night in either spring or fall (probably not an option for us where we will reach that temp, or lower, nearly every month of the year).  Stigge likes flying on crimson clover with annual ryegrass.  Berseem clover is for warm season use.  He has found Sunn hemp is good.  Seed is becoming more available and with better inoculants.  It does require heat though to perform well.  Sunn hemp builds a lot of N and has a tap root that goes deep.
      ---Use of Brassicas in mixes!  He has found that brassicas bring up nutrients from deep in the profile and make them available to cash crops.  Their exudates break off calcium, sulfur and other minerals from phosphorous compounds to make them more available.  He likes mustards and radishes, and particularly the bayou kale-rapeseed cross.  This cross has an exceptional root structure.  This cross also brings in a lot of leaf eaters, but they quickly are countered by predator bugs, so don't apply insecticides.  Stigge finds that Daikon radish is great for loosing top soil but the leaves are bitter and livestock don't like it until after a frost.

Scraper Issue with the CrossSlot Drill

         The consumables on a CrossSlot opener include a scraper for each side of the disc.  The purpose of this scraper is to prevent seed from catching on the disc and being drawn back to the surface.  We have not been able to use the scraper because of it's tendency to catch residue and foul the opener.  We have a lot of surface residue, and we farm across slopes of ≤ 40% which exacerbates the problem.
         We have always used the cast chrome blades because they are significantly cheaper than the blades with carbide inserts.
         The fix:  --  Using Blades with Carbide Inserts. 
        Because of our past experience with one cast chrome blade with carbide inserts, we put new blades with carbide inserts on all the openers at the beginning of 2018 season.  We also put all the scrapers back on the seed side of the openers.
        The spring planting is done, -- SUCCESS!   We had less operating down time, with better seed placement using these new blades.  This spring the seeding condition was grueling.   We seeded into all combinations of wet to too wet soils and varying amounts of surface residue.  Kye avoided, where possible, seeding through standing water.  Did we eliminate all plugging of openers? --NO!, --but there was never any consideration of removing the scrapers.  The pace of work picked up compared to the past.   Our seed placement and emergence shows improvement to the point we need to consider dropping seeding rates.  
        This is an expensive opener to maintain compared to our hoe drills in the past, but it's versatility, and ability to seed/emerge a crop in any residue and field condition, is outstanding.  If one figures all the costs that goes into field preparation to emerge a successful stand, the CrossSlot is the least expensive, and the lowest disturbance no-till drill commercially available today.

<---This pic shows the CS opener with the notched disc, the spring plate, the left blade with the carbide inserts, and the scraper.  This blade has run one season showing little to no wear.  By looking closely you can see a short black object hanging down in front of the blade.  There is a hole just below the spring plate that allows material (residue) to enter the void designed for the seed.  This material has the potential of stopping the seed drop.  Several years ago a local custom operator (Jon Olson) spotted the problem and developed a plastic shield to cover that opening.  It works great and we are using the shield.

<---This pic shows two sets of cast chrome blades (w/o carbide inserts) positioned bottom to bottom.  On the left is a new pair, and on the right is a used pair.  The leading edge for both pair is on your left.  Notice the wear on the bottom leading edge of the used blade.  We have found that this wear gradually gets to the point where dirt is allowed to enter the void designed for the seed drop.  It's easy to see this condition when you remove the blade.  There will be a plug of dirt that falls out, or is molded to the blade.  The void designed  in the blade is open on the back (trailing) edge, so the condition won't necessarily stop seed flow, --you will however, have poor seed positioning, leaving the seed near or on the soil surface.

<--- This pic shows the cast chrome blade with two carbide inserts.  One on the lower portion of the leading edge (to your right) and one on the front portion of the leading edge on the bottom wing.  The bottom insert stops the wear on the short wing preventing dirt from entering the void designed for the seed drop.
       Notice the geometry is different from the cast chrome blade without the inserts.  We don't fully understand what is happening here, but, between the geometry difference, and the carbide protected wear surfaces along the leading edge and the bottom wing area, we are now able to seed and use the scrapers as intended.
       One blade with carbide inserts has run on this drill since 2014 and is the only blade that ran the whole time with the scraper.  We have been told that we will have grooving and excessive disc wear using the carbide.  We have not seen that yet.  We have replaced all the disc's due to wear that thinned the blade which caused cracking and breakage from the stress of weight, and hillside operation.

Rotate DS w TILLAGE ??

 

    Left pic:  --one pass low disturbance             Right pic:  --a good no-till drill in tillage
                     drill in undisturbed field.                                     prepped field.
        
 For many years I have heard farmers express a willingness to include a "no-till" practice within a tillage system.  It blows my mind every time I hear it, --these are two completely different (maybe polar opposite) systems.  To me it's like mixing oil and water, --a mess.

Advantages:

        --The potential for soil erosion from water, wind and tillage is significantly reduced during the period that the soil is not tilled.  Un-tilled soil allows old root systems to remain intact along with the surface residue.  These elements resist erosion.  Any tillage that follows negates this advantage.   As years of no-till add up, and as you move from high disturbance to low disturbance no-till, the advantage of no-till increases, --meaning: as time passes and you gain knowledge on soil biology and apply that knowledge, your soils will gain health and productivity instead of continuing to degrade under a tillage system.

Disadvantages:

       --You may expand the number of weed species in your field.  There is a weed shift with no-till.  China Lettuce and Russian Thistle can be problem weeds in chem-fallow. Every plant type has a preferred environment.  Changing that environment by introducing no-till, or diversifying crops, or even reducing the number of tillage passes will change weed types and populations.  Those of us experienced in no-till use that fact and exploit it in our management of the system.

       --You will probably need additional N.  If you take soil samples and use an N budget, it will include a factor for N production that relates to the percent of OM in the sample.  Tillage stokes the furnace; making N, by mixing oxygen (air) with fuel (OM) and soil temperature to break down the OM.  Without tillage this process is slowed way down by not introducing oxygen (air) into the soil profile, creating less N from the soil source.  It varies, but somewhere around 3-7 years of continued no-till, N release becomes similar to tilled soil.  When you start building your soil OM, than you can start reducing your commercial applied N, and other plant nutrients.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

      When you finally quit making excuses and admit to yourself that the productivity of the land you are stewarding is being flushed down the creek and/or blowing away and decide to change, --CHANGE!!!

      Start slowly, --take a field that is large enough to bring in a custom no-tiller to do your seeding, dedicate the field to no-till, and learn the system.  Expand across the remainder of your operation as soon as you get some comfort level with the system.   Don't make comparisons with your tilled fields.  These comparisons only slow down the process of positive change.  It is a proven fact that tillage destroys soil productivity, and unless you change, your soil will become dirt, and unproductive.  It's just a matter of time.  In a little over a 100 years we have lost ~50% of our soils natural productivity. Evidence of this happening sticks out all over the Palouse Hills region by observing the skimpy/no crop on some ridge lines. Change has never been easier than it is now.  Most no-till issues have been experienced and solutions found, --meaning: no-tillers are experiencing fewer problems as their experience and knowledge increases.  Most experienced no-tillers I have been around are quite willing to talk about their experiences and help others.

FUTURE:

      No-till controls the bleeding by stopping erosion through protecting the soil surface and building back soil structure.  You can accelerate building soil productivity by increasing soil biology, --a subject beyond this post.

SOME BASICS OF SOIL HEALTH

       Soil health is such a multifaceted subject that it's easy to get lost in the rhetoric.  My intention here is to summarize what I have sifted out of a lot of material to be important for soil health, along with the reasoning for these statements.
      In general, strive to minimize erosion, and maximize soil biota.  To achieve these two goals five criteria emerge
       1 ---Manage the farm operation to maximize soil surface residue: 

If you see dirt you are short residue!  Every primer on soil health will include a section on the need to protect the soil's surface 24/7, 365 days a year.  This means, keep it covered!  A farming operation does this with crop residue.  Residue resists erosion, feeds soil biota, moderates soil temperature, maximizes moisture capture, reduces weed emergence.
<---this pic shows cover with  >20,000#/ac.  Although this volume is preferable, rotations that include low residue crops will not likely retain this much protection.  This pic also shows seed placement of spring wheat in the lower center.

          2---Strive for less disturbance of the soil profile:

Use a ULD (ultra-low-disturbance) cropping system.  It will maximize residue retention, minimize destruction of soil aggregates, maximize retention of channels made by roots and macro soil biota for water infiltration and gas exchange, minimize weed competition by leaving weed seed high and dry.
<---this field is seeded to mustard that is starting to emerge.




          3---Develop a diverse crop rotation:

Soil biota need a diversity of plant cultivar exudates.  These exudates are derived from warm and cool season broadleaf cultivars, and warm and cool season grass cultivars.  Wheat is King in our region.  Basically we are a mono culture.   Although other crops haven't given the return like winter wheat, we need to develop crop diversity if there is any hope of recovering the natural productivity our soils.
<---pic of spring peas no-tilled into winter wheat stubble.



          4---Plant cover crops to replace fallow:

We need to replace traditional fallow with green fallow(GF). Green fallow is the opportunity to increase cultivar diversity beyond the normal crop diversity.  Research is pretty clear that, in our region, fallow is counter productive to building soil health. More SOM is lost during the fallow year than is gained during the cropping period.
<---pic shows a GF field seeded with 9 cultivars, including three radish, one cabbage, one triticale, one pea, two mustard, one winter canola.

        5---Measuring progress:

Testing is obvious, but what tests?   Unless you understand each test's limitations, they can be quite misleading.  There are a number of tests available to measure progress, --chemical soil tests, leaf tests, biological tests using soil, Haney, or Solvita, and also microscopy.  Rely on leaf tests to discover crop deficiencies.  Every five years or so sample for a soil biological test to determine long term changes.  These tests are expensive and also limited to information for a very small area.  Because our soils vary greatly from one footstep to another, analyzing any soil sample has limited value.  Chemical analysis of soil is good at determining the total quantity of a nutrient but not so good about determining the plant availability of that nutrient.  Frequently, leaf tests will show a deficiency when the chemical analysis of the soil shows an abundance of that particular nutrient.  As the agricultural industry learns more about plant nutrition, more elements are needing to be tested.

    In recent years I have become aware of the importance of soil biology.  Soil biology sounds like a very old discipline, and it is; however, the first comprehensive publication on the subject was not printed until the mid 1980's (that absolutely astounded me).  Since then we have learned that plants communicate, and that symbiotic systems can develop in the soil that interact with plants.  Although a novice, I am convinced that we can rebuild the natural productivity our soils once contained.  To do this, we will need multiple field checks to determine what organisms are present, or may need to be added, and food (plant cultivars grown, or amendments applied) provided to grow their population.  That is the purpose for buying a microscope, and online classes to learn the basics of soil biology.  Armed with these tools one can identify and manage for the different soil biota at a relatively low cost.  My equipment and education cost the equivalent of six biological tests.  These six tests would give me detailed information on six small areas of a field, and takes a week or two for the results.  With the microscope, I can get a general idea of conditions, and get that information in a half hour allowing the opportunity to correct a deficiency in a timely manner.

         STILL UNANSWERED TO MY SATISFACTION:  The following two subjects have a lot of literature expressing diverse opinions.

--What depth should you draw your sample for biological and chemical tests?  In the literature I discover no consistency on depth from which to pull a sample, when it is even mentioned.  It comes down to what you have a question about.  An example would be, do you want the nutrient analysis in the top 2" or the top 12"???  So, since most of the plant roots are in the top 12-18", and most of my sampling in the past has been done at 12", I'm going to continue using 12" depth for sampling and comparison.  At least I will be able to salvage some useful data from the past.  Any real gain in SOM will have to reflect more than 3" profile, so, 12" it is.
This pic shows a soil pit from the Aeschliman farm south of Colfax, WA.  The top of the pic just catches the soil surface.  The bottom of the pic shows the washed out color of residue on the near bank of the pit.  Notice the dark streaks going down into the pit which is ≥ 6' deep.  These dark streaks are carbon enriched soils that are left behind in the root channels and worm burrows. As can be seen, these channel sources are important in moving carbon deep into the soil profile.  The color variation in this pic goes a long ways in explaining the potential for variability of our soil.  Think about coring down a dark area and then a foot or two away coring down a light area.  Is the chemical or biological analysis going to come out the same, --no way!

--What species and number of cultivars should be included in a cover crop?   The most consistent advise I hear is, plant cultivars that support your "goal", or needs of the cash crop that follows, --such as, will you need N, or do you need more biomass, or do you need to improve soil structure?  My thinking follows along the line of:   Include as many different cultivars as economically possible in the cc mix, --at least five with one of them being a radish, and another a legume (unless the next crop is a legume). Radish are good bio-drillers, and the taproot (not the tuber) goes deep and scavenges nutrients, bringing them back near the surface. Caution:--make sure all brassica's in the cc mix is certified disease free.  Canola is going to be an important crop for us and we want to avoid  bringing in soil borne diseases on brassica seed stock.  Another caution is to not include a cultivar that will be hard to remove from the following crop.

      WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS:

Our farming methods will change to more closely mirror nature, simply because the forces that impact agriculture will move the industry in that direction.  Input costs of equipment, chemistry, and plant nutrition along with increasing regulation and legal liability associated with farming will force agriculture to be more holistic in nature.  I fully expect, not too long in the future there will be a requirement to be "licensed" to farm.  With the world political, and climate change implications, food security issues will draw more political attention. I expect this to be a slow transition that will come through the metamorphosis of the current required "private applicators license".   All it would take is a tweak in the current law to include current soil conservation and biology information.  If this becomes the trend of the future I heartily support it.  Farmers need to be a highly trained professionals, and that requires a continuing education program.  Those of us that regularly attend university research seminars, and direct seed conferences are already exceeding any probable requirement that a law would require.
       As a Sanskrit text written in about 1500BC noted: “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.”
 
    The No-Till Farmer features an article:  < Building Resilient Soil System >