LETS BUILD HEALTHY SOILS (pt1of 2)

For the last 10 years our operation has been working on acquiring the capacity to build soil health.  We have needed knowledge on how to approach the subject, and the equipment to apply that knowledge.  Prior to 2010, we were working to stop the destruction of our soils.  We now have the pieces to improve our soils natural productivity and` make a serious attempt to reach our goal of a sustainable cropping system with reduced synthetic inputs. 

    How do we reach our goal?  My video and document search, along with our limited experience, shows that it is imperative that soil organic matter be increased.  I list several points, not necessarily prioritized, that I have found to be important.   1--manage our cropping system with an eye on ways to reduce herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide applications.   These all have components that negatively influence the development of soil organic matter.    2--we need to do minimal ground disturbance.  This minimizes soil structure damage, keeps roots intact to help hold soil in place and leave root and worm channels exposed at the soil surface.  This also minimizes loss of surface cover.  This also maximizes any mycorrhizal network we may be able to develop for a nutrient/moisture transport, and communication pathway between plants.   3--develop and maintain surface residue.  Residue protects the soil surface, reduces compaction from equipment, feeds the soil macrofauna along with some microfauna, and helps moderate the soil temperature.   4--minimize compaction.  This will help improve soil structure.  Compacted areas have poor soil structure and promote anaerobic soil conditions that increase the types of fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases and insect predation.  Aerobic soil conditions, on the other hand, increase fungi and bacteria types that promote healthy soil organisms, and reduce pathogenic organisms that negatively impact plants     5--we need to change our fertilizer practices, to minimize the lowering of soil pH,  minimize harm to microbes, and reduce nutrient antagonism.   6--develop techniques to extend the time living roots are in the ground, --preferably all year long.    7--increase microbes and fungi, in our soil.  With our history of a monoculture wheat system, our soils are extremely bacterial.  Soils would perform better if the Bacteria to Fungi ratio was closer to 1/1.   Fungi are important to soil and plant health.  They convert nutrients into more plant available forms.  When available, mycorrhizea fungal networks are an important transporter of moisture and nutrients to plant roots.  Fungal mycellium serve as a line of defense for plant diseases.  Fungi can be promoted by doing all of the (1-6) points discussed above which boils down to, --providing fungi food for as much of the year as possible and stopping the destruction of their hyphae and mycelium.  The chart below shows the relationship between plant types and the bacteria to fungi ratio.  The chart shows there is not much on the "left" of our wheat monoculture other than weeds and rocks.

    For the past 2-3 years, I have participated with a group looking into soil and plant testing, organic forms of fertilizers, and ways to manipulate soil biology to increase soil health.  This has been a valuable experience, and there is more to learn.  

    During this time I have come to the conclusion that we can build healthy soils by proper crop management without amendments.  This requires absolute minimal tillage, keeping the soil surface covered, replacing chemical fallow with green fallow, diversifying our crop cultivars, extending the time we keep a living root in the ground, and paying attention to the synthetic inputs we apply to our crops so as to not destroy the positive gains we make from other practices employed.  The use of animals is not mandatory, but it has been shown that grazing animals speed up the positive soil health processes when properly managed.   

    I feel our operation has the equipment and basic knowledge to begin the process of building soil health.  We now need to develop management skills to make it all happen.  

    As a final note to this post:  Absolute minimal tillage by itself works well too stop erosion and establish a base from which to develop practices that will improve our soils natural productivity.  However, actual improvement of our soils natural productivity comes by managing soil biology through growing diverse plant cultivars.  The intensity, meaning the time with living roots in the ground, and the time taken to mitigate negative components to soil biology, such as synthetic amendments, sets the pace for improving our soils natural productive capacity.

Building Soil Resilience

 

  < Loyal to the Soil >     1:02:07

Above is the link to a presentation (3/3/2020) by a young progressive farmer, Derek Axten, about his journey of building soil health and a sustainable agriculture operation in the challenging environment of Minton, SK.  It's amazing to see what can be done in a relatively short time at a location with low rainfall, short season, on shallow soils with low infiltration.  Even though the Axten operation is a long way from St. John, WA, in an entirely different growing environment, I found several ideas that are food for thought. 

    Axten's operation centers around five principles:  Keeping the soil covered at all times, minimize soil disturbance, diversify plant species, keep a living root in the ground as long as possible, and incorporate livestock when possible.  The presentation tells their story of how they try to carry out those principles.  They also show ways they are adding value to the crops they raise.

    Their operation includes intercropping.  Flax and Chickpeas planted in alternate rows works well for them.  Flax and lentils work for them although others say this doesn't work.  Flax with another forb works.  Flax and mustard or canola works.  Flax and peas work and they don't have to be standup peas.  It's important that the crops mature fairly close together.  They don't normally add fertilizer with their interseeded crops except for a starter with micros.  They haven't found a companion crop that works well with their cereal crops.  They are doing some interseeding with a planter that seeds a companion when the grain is at flag to heading.  They are not finding a yield drag by going out to 15" with the planter, and also, with singulation, they have cut seed rates back giving a substantial cost saving.

Succeed with No-Till

 < Dwayne Beck presentation>    55:34

In recent years I have observed a number of no-till operations that do not look as if the operators understand that there are some basic fundamentals that need to be followed to be successful.  I fear these operations will get into trouble, or revert back to their comfortable position with tillage.  I recommend and encourage farmers to open the above link and learn from it.

This image of Dwayne Beck, a researcher at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre, SD, is from a presentation he gave at a meeting sponsored by the SD NO-TILL ASSOCIATION, March 11, 2019.  I have had the privilege of meeting with him and listening to several presentations over the years, starting in May of 1995 at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm.  I would say that Dwayne is the GURU of gurus when it comes to no-till.  Back in the early 1990s, he established the basic fundamentals for successfully no-tilling and the reasoning behind them.  His interest and mine are the same,  --manage water better.  He needed to stop soil erosion in SD, and I needed to stop soil erosion on my operation.  No-tilling was key to that goal.  Unlike so much information available through media, his basic fundamentals on Sanitation, Diversity, Intensity and Competition to successfully no-till works anywhere on the globe.   My first trip (1995) to the research station was prompted by complaints I had using Glyphosate for weed control.  My second trip was prompted by complaints I had about applying his fundamentals to my operation.  The take-home message from that trip was his statement to me, "I earned my Ph.D. developing those fundamentals, now, you will earn your Ph.D. learning how to apply those fundamentals on your farm".  He was so right!  I knew back then that everything about farming is site-specific, but didn't think about it in this context.  Soils, microclimates, topography vary across the land.  I was trying to clone his Pierre SD practices for St. John WA, and that didn't work.  When I adapted my practices to fit the FUNDAMENTALS, no-tilling did work.  We learn our trade and tend to get stuck in our ways instead of adapting to changing conditions.  Climate change and an increasing population with its political fall out are major challenges for farming, and will be more so in the future.  As we move forward to a goal of sustainable production and more nutrient-dense foods with reduced commercial inputs we will have to follow "improved" fundamentals.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to interpret "improved fundamentals" at this time, but I do have a blurred direction to follow.

RUSLE2 -- Explanation of Use

RUSLE2 is used by USDA to evaluate a farm operation for various programs offered by the USDA.  It also can be used by individuals to evaluate practices for the purpose of improving soil health.  Following, is the link to this 1:03:34 presentation explaining the variables that make up  RUSLE2.  [ RUSLE2 explained ]   This is a very good and thorough understandable explanation of what goes into the evaluation.  It's a much better tool than I ever thought.  I knew that it was under constant research to improve its accuracy.

Regenerate the EcoSystem

    Regreening the desert [47:30min]  This link is a video that I found interesting and gives hope to those of us attempting to rebuild what has been lost through 100+ years of destructive, misguided farm practices and programs.   John D. Liu, the photographer and narrator, made a couple of compeling statements in this video.  

    One:  The source of wealth is the functional ecosystem.  The products & services we develop from that are derivatives.  It's impossible for the derivatives to be more valuable than the source, and yet, in our economy as it stands, the products & services have monetary value, but the source, the functional ecosystem have zero. [38:38-39:32]  This is not sustainable.  It promotes the destruction of our ecosystem.

    Two:   Money is a belief system.  There is nothing wrong with money.  The problem is, what is money based on.  If money is based on a functional ecosystem, the future will be beautiful.  If we continue to base money on goods and services, we'll turn everything into a desert. [40:40-41:28]   Unfortunately, this has been the path mankind has taken over human history resulting in the destruction of great societies; however, we now have the communication capability and the knowledge base to improve the outlook for the future.

Blogger change

     Google is changing Blogger's appearance.  My understanding is that the new look will make the Blogs more user friendly for devices like cell phones and pads pads.   It's one of those advancements required of the times, but it's making me learn some new process' that I don't really want to do.  I guess it's not an option if I'm going to continue with this blog, so, will persevere.  I need to do some updating and posting new items since harvest is completed for us.

ROD WEEDER VS PLANT HEALTH

This post relates to an earlier post [TILLAGE VS NO TILLAGE 3/2/20].   I had a very rare opportunity to compare crop response between using the rod weeder and not using the rod weeder.  In the pic to the left, everything is the same except seeding date and use of the rod weeder.   The yellowish tint (background) is the result of the crop roots growing in a low oxygen environment created by the the rod weeder.  The crop in the foreground did not have a rod weeder used prior to seeding.  The rod weeder, a regularly used tool with conventional tillage systems, creates a compaction layer where the bar presses and smears the soil it comes in contact with under the bar, while at the same time fluffs and loosens the soil that goes over the bar.  Compaction layers slow the movement of water into (through) the soil profile which can, and in this case, did, cause the moisture content to remain above the field capacity for a significant amount of time.  This excess moisture replaces oxygen in pore spaces and leads to an anaerobic condition.  An Anaerobic soil condition increase growth of organisms normally associated with decreased plant health.  Aerobic soils increase growth of organisms normally associated with promoting plant health.

    [Feb. 10th pic]  This pic (from the yellowish field) shows a very wet root ball.  I could not remove the dirt for a decent pic of the root structure.  The roots were bunched with few roots extending deeper into the profile.   If you enlarge this pic, and compare with the one below,   you can detect more yellowing of the plant leaves associated with oxygen deprivation compared to the pic below.
     How this condition will effect overall yield compared to the crop in the pic below will be hard to assess because of so many variables inherent with two different operations and the weather from now to harvest.   An example, --two recent events of very cold nights, one on April 13th @ 10ºF and the other April 17th @ 19ºF, and since then, many mornings with temps in the mid to upper 20's.  When scouting on April 14th, the crop in the pic above was not jointing, while the crop in the pic below was jointing.   The seed head associated with jointing could be vulnerable to freeze damage.  During these events, the younger crop was showing serious leaf damage with color change and laying flat to the ground,  while the older crop showed no leaf damage.  Symptoms of cold damage in the area were reported as related to cultivar type, and plant size.

     [Feb. 10th pic]  This plant shown on the left is from the crop in the foreground of the pic at the top (dark green).  The roots are quite  damp but I was able to knock the dirt ball loose, exposing the root structure.  The roots extended deep into the profile with no root mass near the crown of the plant.  It was obvious the moisture was draining more quickly into the profile.

     There is one more point related to water infiltration that I want to make, --that is, comparing the conventional fallow based system (the three pic's above), too a bordering field with a long history of direct seeding shown in the pic below.

[Feb. 10th pic]
    The pic on the left shows winter wheat growing in a long term ultra-low disturbance direct seed field with surface armor well above the 100% NRCS residue chart.   Notice how much dryer the roots look in this pic compared to either pic above.  The wet dirt was easily removed, leaving much of the root system intact.  The roots are growing and elongating very well.

    This post brings up another subject, --fall tillering compared to spring tillering.  I'll address that subject in another post.

   

EFFECTS OF FIRE ON SOIL HEALTH

     Fire has always been controversial.  In the past I have used it, and may, in a rare circumstance use it again.   With the equipment we have available to us now, fire is an outdated, archaic practice.
     It has been obvious to me for many years that fire was destructive to soil health.  Denuding a field by any means, negatively impacts soil.  Fire not only removes the litter that, at some point in time will become part of the organic component of the soil, but it also burns some of the SOM already present.  The soil, losing its cover, is exposed to the natural elements and become warmer in the summer and colder in the winter.  Bare soil effects natural processes, some associated with temperature extremes, that impact moisture available to the soil as well as moisture in the soil.  This in turn effects the soil biota, that effects nutrient cycling, which has an effect on raising crops.  This is not linear as the statement may insinuate, but is a complex interrelationship of many elements.  We are slowing gaining the understanding that processes resulting from less tillage, and more cover is basic to improving soil health.



   
   

TILLAGE vs NO TILLAGE

      We have recently taken on some land with conventional fallow to seed this fall.  We have not dealt with conventional fallow for 25 years, and are no longer equipped for that condition.  This field has well over a 100 year history of tillage.  In our area, do to the geological history, that includes the Great Missoula Floods, most fields have several soil types.  [ Missoula Floods is a 3:50 minute animated video showing some history of our Palouse Hill landscape. ]  By the time fall seeding takes place, a cultivated field has had several tillage operations, and it's usual to have areas that powder and flow down slope in front of an implement.  It's hard to hold seed at the desired depth in that situation.  The pic shows a raindrop impacting bare soil.  When rain falls, soils on cultivated fields tend to seal up due to poor structure left by impacting raindrops and tillage.  With these conditions, the most successful tillage systems I have observed, are those that reduce the number of tillage passes to reduce aggravating powder development, and for the last pass prior to seeding, use a spiral packer to firm up the ground for the drill opener gauge wheel.
      A decision had to be made on how to get this cultivated fallow field seeded.  Rather then take the time to round up equipment to prepare this field for conventional seeding practice, Kye decided to take his chances with our heavy no-till CrossSlot drill, follow it with a tine harrow, and hope for the best, --expecting to do some reseeding later.  Conditions allowed the crop to emerge and reseeding was unnecessary.  Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
       Some fields, or areas within fields, may require 3-5 years of no tillage to stop the seal over effect of the soil left from years of intense cultivation.  We hope with our no-till experience, we can shorten that time frame without giving our landlord a hemorrhage.
      When we started no-tilling there were problems that needed to be worked out.  In our early no-till years there was no path for success developed through many years of experience, as there was with the conventional tillage system.  That is behind us now, and transition can be shortened by years.
      Now, --what do I see as significant between the two systems (tillage - no tillage) that exist side by side sharing a 3/4 mile long border, in our Palouse Hills region.  We have had only a few months to deal with the cultivated ground but a few things have stood out.
      ---The no-till fallow ground is firm with good armor and operations create little or no dust.  There was no dust coming off the field during windy conditions.
      ---The tilled fallow ground has deep (2-4") soft dirt with no armor and it was very dusty from any operation performed.  The exposed surface did produce dust from wind when it blew before the surface sealed.
      ---This mild winter, allowed us to walk all over our no-tilled field without sinking.  With care, I seldom got mud up the side of my boots.  That was not the case with the tilled/winter wheat field.  Walking in that field always left your boots a mess and you left deep tracks where you walked.
      ---The no-till fallow/winter wheat ground did not seal the surface when rainfall occurs.
      ---The tilled fallow/winter wheat ground sealed over immediately from light rainfall.  Fortunately most of the winter wheat had emerged by the time measurable rain events arrived, and what wasn't emerged, was very shallow and able to push through the thin weak crust that formed on the soil surface.
      ---In early February, when scouting the fields, as I walked down our steep (20-40% slopes), there was no noticeable increased squishiness in the no-till fields.  Our no-till fields have a very high infiltration rate and no tillage pan to restrict water movement through the upper profile.  There was noticeable squishiness as I progressed down the slope in the conventional fallow/winter wheat field.  This condition is when water moves slowly under the surface, on or near the restricting tillage transition zone from high to low elevations.  Surface erosion was expected, but did not show in the conventional tilled field.
      There is much that I could say to support no-tilling over tillage; however, this post is to utilize the rare opportunity to compare side by side effects between no tillage and tillage as we experienced them.

Climate & Water Vapor

     Throughout this past year there has been numerous reports of rainfall in excessive amounts in many different locations throughout the US.  It seems like reports have come in from everywhere except the Inland Northwest, --us.   In October there were reports of flooding along the Snoqualmie river in western Washington.  Now it is no surprise to hear that the Snoqualmie floods.  That's an annual spring event when the snow pack starts melting off the western slopes of the Cascade Mts, --but in October!!!(???), that's most unusual.  Last fall I read where there were 10's of thousands acres of farmland flooded along the Missouri River this past year and that currently there are thirty thousand acres of farmland still under water and expected to stay underwater until April when the 2020 flood season normally starts.  In recent years I have been watching/listening to reports of heavy rainfalls throughout the US.  They use to be associated with thunder storms on the Great Plains and the areas around the southeast and the gulf hit with the occasional hurricane.  Not any more.  Heavy rainfall events are now being reported west of the Rockies with southern California receiving heavy rainfall events as well as along the Oregon coast and now maybe the Washington coast. West of the Cascade Mts., particularly Seattle (the Emerald City) is noted for it's rainy weather, and of coarse, the Olympic Rainforest is a historical feature of Washington, so rain is not a new phenomenon; however, the amounts and in the time received may be changing.  I can't even imagine the damage to our farmland should we start receiving rains that measure in the inches per hour.  These thoughts  play a part for the passion I have to armor our fields and increase moisture infiltration.  How long will it be before we have to endure one of these high volume rain events?  There was a time that I thought our location between the Rocky and Cascade mountains would shield us from any devastating weather event, but, I'm not so sure any more.
      Atmospheric rivers (of water) seem to be more prevalent around the globe.  We mostly hear about what is going on in the US, but other places are getting similar weather events.  In one of her presentations, Dr. Christine Jones, makes reference to the excessive atmospheric moisture, and questions why more attention is not given to that greenhouse pollutant.  I did a quick google search of atmospheric pollutants and found that neither CO2 or moisture was listed as a pollutant.  There are caveats, to these and other elements, depending on the authors specific mindset.  The media gives us the impression that the debate is over, but what I see in the weeds, is that the debate is anything but over.  There is a lot more than CO2 involved with our climate and we don't understand what that is.