DWAYNE BECK - CROP DIVERSITY & INTENSITY

      THESE  SHOULD  BE  VIEWED  SEVERAL  TIMES  FOR  AN  UNDERSTANDING

Click on the URL for topics of  NEW AG!    ---->    D. BECK 55:34 Presentation

 No-Till Guru  (Dwayne Beck)  55:34min presentation at the 2019 National No-Till Conference is a great audio/video on making new agriculture practices profitable.  I brought this up from a December 2020 post.  Everything said in this presentation is current today, June, 2023, and more meaningful for some of us who are trying to follow the principles for successfully regenerating our soils and maintaining yields.  The first ~ 18 minutes are about South Dakota, and the Pierre Research Farm.

Click on URL for, "Cover Crop Estabishment and Grazing".  --->  D. BECK 48:08 Presentation  

        No-Till Guru (Dwayne Beck) 2017 presentation talks about Cover Crops and factors to consider when raising them like purpose, and cultivar selection.   Some repeated information in different words.  If I would have found this earlier, I would probably have done better, and be farther along with cover cropping.                                                                                

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.

A 30 YEAR JOURNEY

This is a 15 minute presentation that I was suppose to give recently, but ended up in a snow bank.  I looked it over and decided that it was a pretty good representation and decided I would post it.

A  30 year  Journey To  Improve  Soil  Health

_______________________________________________

My name is Tracy Eriksen.  My wife, April, and I farm as a family corporation.  My son Kye, joined us in 1994.  Most of our land in the 14-16” rainfall area between St.John and Ewan.  The remainder is in the 18-20” rainfall zone near Thornton. 

My journey started in 1975.  One hot summer day, riding a noisy steel tracked tractor with no cab, making one of those mindless passes round the field pulling a rod weeder, I come to realize that I just can’t do this any longer.  At that point in time I had already spent more than two decades doing that same operation, making that same pass, and watching the dirt flow down the hill.  Tillage erosion became real to me at that point.  

My farming experience has totaled more than six decades.  Two of those decades were spent farming like my grandfather and father farmed. 

    [pic-erosion 4]--This could have been our field but was not.  I never saw erosion on our place quite this bad.    The next three decades were spent with only one goal, —STOP EROSION!,—salvage what top soil we had left.  During that period there was never any consideration of  building topsoil.   The information stating that it took 100 years for natural processes to build 1” of soil was accepted.  I no longer accept that statement.  My belief is that we now have the knowledge to build soils much faster if we stop degrading our soils and fix the biology.    Articles printed back in the mid 1970’s described the wonders of the Palouse, and how soil erosion was destroying those deep rich soils.  Soil erosion in the 1930’s -40’s -50’s -60’s, and into the 70’s was bad, and not infrequently,—horrendous, as pictured here.  

Have we changed our farming practices so as to not revisit those bad old days??..  Some of us have, … but there is still a lot of vulnerable land in the region showing those scars regularly.  A miracle saved our region last winter.  Do we get two in a row??  Looking outside it appears we are set up for serious runoff with a lot of drifted snow on frozen ground late in the season.   Our climate appears to be in an erratic cycle with more extremes.  My hope is that the ground we steward is prepared for some serious rainfall and runoff event.  We are not yet prepared for a serious drought.  Our soil biological health is just not good enough.

My early attempts to reduce soil erosion took a four prong approach.  

—-the first prong was to mulch till.  I called it trashy fallow.

—-the second prong was having a strict three year rotation that included winter wheat, spring barley and fallow or peas. That was pretty common rotation for the day.  A two year rotation of wheat fallow was problematic.

—-the third prong was to strip out each field according to NRCS guidelines and put all three crop types in each field annually.  The extra moving time proved significant, but was done for many years.

—-the fourth prong was to modify the equipment to combine operations, and size to fit the strips, and also, be easily moved from field to field.  Since my interest, and education was in engineering I enjoyed those challenges that consumed most of two decades.  Some of the projects were to complex to be practical for long days in the field.   They were generally modified after a couple of years.  This was a time of continual evolution.  Today, computers and software are doing what I was doing manually with switches and levers.   

Everything that I had put in place to stop erosion at that point in time was marginally successful.  Come spring the fields still looked bad from erosion.  Dennis Roe, who, many of you know, would figuratively hold my hand from time to time and assure me that those few ditches carried less dirt than the rilled and sheet eroded fields that were so prevalent.  I was never completely convinced.  

By the 1990’s no-till technology had made significant advancements.  Glyphosate, available since 1974, was more reasonably priced.  There were several types drills being marketed.  Guy Swannson regularly sponsored seminars supporting the value of no-till and various soil topics.  He brought speakers in from all over the country, and Canada.

In the mid 1980’s I started doing some no-tilling.  For several years I had Dwayne Blankenship custom drill winter wheat into my pea ground.  I rented disc drills to seed my chem fallow ground for a few years.  In 1992 I bought an AgPro hoe drill.  We modified and reconfigured that drill many times.

Around the year 2000, while touring the long term field plots at Oregon State University’s Pendleton Station I learned that no-tilling, with fallow in the rotation was not building soil health.  The fallow year degraded our soil more than the two crop years could build.  No-tilling was obviously saving soil.  Our chem fallow looked a lot better than the fields at Pendleton, so our response was to improve the residue on our fallow ground.  By this point in time I come to realize that even using no-till, if the soil was loosened and the surface exposed, there would be erosion.  Our response was to build and preserve more residue.

From the beginning, I and then, we, continually fought with residue. There were days I spent more time under the drill than in the tractor seat.  When entering a field we were never confident we would be able seed it.  We always did, —but some of it didn’t look pretty.  Every winter, and summer we would modify the drill and finally, the fall of 2009 we hit the residue wall.  A decision had to be made, —do we go back to doing some strategic burning, or use a different type of drill.  Burning was a huge step backward, —not acceptable.

    Starting the spring of 2010, we hired custom operators that used the CrossSlot technology.  All our residue issues went away.  By 2014 we completely retooled, going to ULD (ultra-low disturbance) system. We use the CrossSlot drill to minimize soil disturbance, and we are able to drill through any residue.  We have a GVM sprayer to minimize field tracks and be more timely, and  we bought a Shelbourne stripper header to maximize snow capture, and reduce wind velocity across the ground surface.   What have we accomplished by going this route?

1—Soil erosion has disappeared, —but we are still losing some water.  The armor is protecting the soil, but water, and all the bushels it represents is still escaping.  The fields look a lot better without rills and gullies.

2—Weedy cultivars are fewer and less competitive.  The mat of residue we have on most of our ground makes a very hostile environment.  Seed needs to contact earth to grow competitively.   Drilling with minimum disturbance minimizes the planting of weed seed.  If we could remove wheel tracks we would do even better. 

3—Soil temperatures have moderated both in the summer and winter.  In 2015 and 2016,  I used HOBO sensors to measure temperatures at seed depth.  Ground with good armor is 3-5º warmer than bare ground in the winter, —and 20-25º cooler in the heat of summer.  

Early spring planting has not been a problem.  Our seed depth temperatures are 1-3º cooler than in cultivated ground at seeding time.  Once seeded though, within 2-3 days the armored field reaches the same temperature as the cultivated field.   Soil armor helps support and spread the weight of our equipment, reducing compaction.

4—The drill technology has given us good emergence and stand count for a variety of crops in very difficult seeding conditions.

Are we at the point where we are improving our soil health, building soil organic matter and related carbon?  I would say YES …. and NO!  

Soil health has many parameters.  The physical parameters of our soils have improved dramatically, but the biological parameters are definitely not where they should be.

Over the years we have included more crop diversity in our cropping rotation.  Crop diversity has certainly helped make no-till successful, but the biological soil component has not gained a perceptible amount.

The next step appears to be the introduction of cover crops. Inter-seeding holds some promise.  This will be a new and challenging experience.  

At this point we have been replacing some of our fallow ground with a mixture of cover crop species, —making it green fallow.  In the short run green fallow is showing a yield drag because of the late emergence of our winter wheat crop.  My hope is that this yield drag disappears when we can get the right biology in the ground to provide the nutritional elements needed for a stronger, faster growing plant.  That sounded crazy a few years ago, but we now have a better understanding of plant nutrition and the problems that arrive from imbalances.  We are still trying to figure out what species and how many species need to be in cover crop mixes.  There are lots of ideas about that.

Seeding radish with our winter wheat will be pursued. It’s cheap and holds promise.  The idea here is for the radish to develop a finger size tuber that  extends below the frost layer before winter sets in.   When the radish dies, it shrinks quickly leaving a hole in the frozen ground for surface water to enter the soil profile.  I first saw the possibility in February of 2017, while walking a field during the spring flush.   I noticed that water was visibly moving across all of our winter wheat field except where we had grown the cover crop.  This observation supported earlier soil tests where our cover crops were using 3” of moisture, but nearly all of that moisture was replaced by the following spring.  I believe radish played a big part in that.  Except for radish all the other cover crop cultivars die leaving roots or tubers intact through the winter.

Seeding a perma-cover of a short statured perennial legume intrigues me.  I visualize seeding them onto our eroded hill tops.  This will help armor those vulnerable areas.  It will displace weedy cultivars.  It will add nitrogen, for a cash crop that will be seeded into it.  

I am currently part of a small group that is looking at soil additives, testing methods, composting, and application of compost teas and extracts to our soils and crops.  The purpose is to enhance the soil biota, and eventually reduce dependency on commercial inputs of fertilizer and chemistry. 

We are living in exciting times, and the future will be more so.  Since the mid 1980’s a great deal of work has been done on soil biology and how that component interacts with plants.  After hearing, Dr. Elaine Ingham’s story on how to rebuild soil health, I have been fascinated with the subject.  The more I delve into it, the more complex it becomes, but it holds hope where there was none before.  I doubt that there will ever be a play book on how to put all of this together, —but similar to the set of principals established for successful no-tilling, I envision a set of  principals to be developed that a farmer can follow for successfully developing a biologically healthy soil.

         This concludes my presentation.  I pray it invokes some thought about the future of FARMING THE PALOUSE.

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.

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"

2017 HARVEST UPDATE

The 2017 crop year was a record breaker.  Never in my lifetime have we received 20.4" of rain/snow in a crop year at our SJ/Ewan operation.  Also, we have had near record or record breaking temperatures for the 2017 crop year.  That sounds like it should be a banner year with plenty of moisture and heat.  Well, not for us.  Timing of the rain and heat trumped everything.  The harvest of 2017 was mostly disappointing.
WINTER WHEAT:   (Brundage 96)  All of our winter wheat was seeded on pea ground (no ww on fallow ground).  The ground was dry, which meant we didn't consider seeding until after Oct. 1st, --a bad decision this year.  October was extremely wet all month.  Lesson learned?! --Seed in September regardless of dryness, and seed it deep (1.5-2") so it takes a significant rain to start it.  Had we done that, the Thornton winter wheat crop would have probably been 100-110% of average, and the less forgiving SJ/Ewan area winter wheat crop would have been in the range of 90-100% of average.  As it was, Thornton was ~90% of average, and SJ/Ewan was ~50% of average.
SPRING WHEAT (DNS):  (Glee)  The season started out with great soil moisture, and timely seeding, that developed into a very nice looking stand of spring wheat.  The unusual heat wave (~ three weeks ± 100 degrees) damaged the bloom and seed development.  Our quality was remarkably good, --the meshes were just blanked out.  Test weight was good and shriveled kernels were few, and protein was just under 14%.  Our yield was ~ 90% of average.

[Update 6/28/18] --Meetings held during the winter and spring on Canola have emphasized the importance of proper timing for chemical applications.  There will be a yield loss to the crop if chemical is applied after bolting commences.  We didn't get to the in-crop application until bolting started showing, along with some flowering, --this is probably why we were ~200#/a below a neighbors yield although we had a better stand and population.  The neighbors field was a couple of hundred feet higher, and that may have been a factor as well in terms of heat effect.
SPRING CANOLA:  (hyCLASS 930 rr) The crop was timely seeded.  The plant population was good.  The crop was growing well, but the heat hit in early bloom (for 2016 trials, we had nearly a month of bloom).  The high heat over the extended time did not let a re-bloom establish pods.  In fact the spring canola continued to bloom through the beginning of 2018, although no pods set.  The yield was ~ 30-40% of what we expected.  Any other field would have probably done better this particular year.  This field was our poorest soil, lowest elevation and all faced S and SW.  It took the brunt of the heat.  We are not deterred.  We think that spring canola is going to be a great alternative to winter wheat.  Also, it appears that we will be able to cut spring canola with the stripper header which is a big plus.  This field went into winter in great shape, --good residue, standing tall with most of the plants still living.   The tall canola stubble, although not thick like wheat stubble, is great for reducing wind velocity near the soil surface, and snow catch.  Winter of 2017-2018 was not a big snow year like 2016 but we haven't seen any drifting in that field compared to mowed or tilled fields.
      I haven't sorted out the data for any comparison between CF/winter wheat and CC/winter wheat, or our canola on ground that has had a cover crop and ground that has never had a cover crop.  I may include that as an update to this post or it may take a post of it's own.

EARTH WORMS and RESIDUE

   
     It is becoming more common to see articles and presentations referencing the presence of earth worms as an indicator of soil health.  Does that mean you have reached the goal of returning the ground back to it's original self sustaining condition that was present prior to man's intervention?  NO, --it is one of many indicators!  The compaction layers, low pH, low SOM, and high erosion can be present and still have a significant population of earth worms, both horizontal movers and vertical movers.  I'm not convinced that every acre of ground has a native population of earth worms, --they either were never there, or conditions became so bad over time that they disappeared.  I am convinced that earth worms will move into an area if conditions change that will allow them to survive.  I have always been able to find earth worms in the early spring in the low areas where moisture was plentiful, even prior to no-tilling, --just not very many.  I soon learned as a kid that it took a lot of spading in the crop ground to find enough worms for a day of fishing, where, if I went to an area that had a lot of residue and was pretty wet, it only took a few spade full of dirt to fill my needs.
       What will encourage earth worms to inhabit cropped fields?  They need food, and shelter just like any other living thing.  If their homes and food are not destroyed on a regular basis they will be there or move there.
       The recent No-Till Farmer magazine had an insert titled "12 UNRIVALED BENEFITS OF EARTHWORM ACTIVITY IN YOUR SOILS".  When I first read them, several seemed to be repetitive, but they were different, but had similarities.  These 12 points come from various university studies throughout the US.  I'm going to paraphrase a two page article to shorten this post.  1--Improve Water infiltration:  Pencil thin burrows allow rainwater to penetrate deep into and throughout the soil profile.  2--Improve Soil Aeration:  Burrows are conduits for air moving into the soil profile and CO2 movement out to stimulate plant growth.  3--Increased Hardpan Penetration:  Earthworm tunnels once bored through the hardpans stay and improve root access.  4--Reduced Soil Compaction:  Burrows both vertical and horizontal encourage root growth, which helps breakup compacted areas.  5--Mix Surface Residue Into Soil:  Some species pull residue into the soil.  63000 worms per acre will make about 18 tons of castings.  In ten years they are capable of complete renewal of 2" of topsoil.  6--Release Of Crop Growth Stimulants:  Earthworms break down crop growth inhibitors, phenols and formaldehyde from decaying residue and lace the material with growth stimulants, auxins and cytokinins.  7--Bring Minerals Up From Subsoil:  Earthworm castings contain 5-10 times the soluble plant nutrients of the original soil.  8--Neutralization of Soil PH:  Earthworm processed soil is always closer to neutral pH.  9--Rapid Growth Of Beneficial Microbes:  Earthworms carry around and deposit beneficial microbes as they go.  These thrive and help decompose residue.  10-- Improve Soil Tilth:  Earthworm castings contain sugars and enzymes which help build soil aggregates.  Fields bulk up being more sponge like.   Fields with high worm populations have 4 times infiltration rate of fields without earthworms.  11-Improved Nematode Control:  Earthworms eat harmful nematodes and leave  soil conditions that limit nematode numbers.  12-- Increase Micronutrient Chelation:  Earthworms link micronutrients, such as zinc and boron to other nutrients for easier uptake by plant roots.  13--Reduce Erosion:  I'll add this one to the list.  The surface residue required for the listed benefits above, along with the earthworm tunneling to the surface slows water loss, hence, reduces erosion.
      Earth worms are truly natures plows, only they do a much better job by leaving a less erosive soil, cycling minerals through the soil, and improving moisture infiltration.  The higher the population the better.  Earth worms are a great indicator of which direction your soil is headed, --to a healthier state or to DIRT.
      The Take Home Message Here Is:  DON'T TILL AND DON'T REMOVE RESIDUE!
   

Low Disturbance vs High Disturbance DS drills

     All DS drills can seed and grow an excellent crop and improve soil health.  Farming too efficiently use the moisture we are provided, and the pace too improving soil health is the difference I see between high and low disturbance drill designs.
   High disturbance drills (the term I use for all hoe, double disc, and some single disc openers) all share a similar problem, --they move or disrupt too much soil which exposes the soil surface.  As a result they break infiltration channels, they accelerate decomposition of cover, they plant unwanted seed, and they damage the soil food web if any is present.  There are places in our field where even the CrossSlot fits into the high disturbance category, --on steep slopes where side pressure causes a wider slot, and where we turn.
     I distinguish between DS drills by the amount of soil surface they disturb.  They range from disrupting nearly the entire surface down to a narrow slot of <1.5 inches.  I would say that most hoe drills fall in the high disturbance category, and most single disc drills would fall in the low disturbance category and the CrossSlot in the ultra-low disturbance category.  Others may have their own scale.  By the numbers:
      High disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts a large percentage (>70%) of the soil surface and most or all of the surface residue. 
      Low disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts (<30%) of the soil surface and about 60% of the residue.
      Ultra-low disturbance drills:  Their configuration disrupts (<15%) of the soil surface and maybe 40% of the residue.
      Whether the numbers accurately describe the drill type performance is not the point here.  What is important is that they represent the concept that the more soil and residue that is disturbed, the more moisture you lose from evaporation, the less moisture your field can absorb from later rains because of disrupted channels, the more biological communities in the soil you disrupt which effects plant food production,  and the more unwanted seed that will be  planted grow and compete with the crop.
      To maximize moisture retention and absorption, you will want to minimize disturbance of the soil surface, grow and maintain the maximum amount of residue possible, and leave it as tall as possible in the absence of a growing crop. (see other posts for the reasoning behind this statement).  It's my belief as well that this statement is valid for all rainfall regions whether 7" or 70".

2017 Spring Runoff --> ULD-DS vs Tillage

      This last week we have been losing our snow.  It started out with light freezing rain, turning to light rain, then, temperatures going to the mid 40's during the day and down to 29 at night.

      A couple of weeks ago, it was predicted that we were going to get 1.5-2" of rain.  I fully expected massive runoff from our fields.  It didn't happen.  We are losing some water during the latter part of the day, but no huge amounts.  The creek in front of our house has risen to < 1/2 it's capacity.

     Our ULD-DS fields are handling the thaw quite well.  Nothing seems to be displaced on our stubble ground.  We have two WW fields west of St. John.  One is seeded on CC ground that included radish, mustard, canola and other cultivars (see earlier post).  I could not determine whether we were losing water or not.  There was definitely displacement, but runoff from a cultivated field was going through our field, and I could not determine if we were adding to that flow.  It appeared that the displacement wasn't more than 20-30' before the water disappeared.  There are exceptions, --seeding vertically.  I don't think you can stop water movement seeding vertically on a slope.  Even as narrow as our slot is with the cross-slot (pic on the right).  Maybe an exception would be where stubble was plentiful enough to hairpin it into the slot to slow the velocity.  Our CC or WP ground definitely did not have that condition.  The WW on WP ground was losing some water.  There were no deep rooted, fast deteriorating radish plants in that field.
      The jar on the right was taken at our WW on WP field border.  It is nearly clear and I see no sediment showing on the bottom.   I will be sending a sample to a lab to see what polluting elements may be present.  Obviously sediment is not one of them.
      The jar on the left was taken at the outflow of a conventional tilled field, and sediment does settle out.

      At Thornton, the WW seeded into SP residue looks terrific.  Except for the drifts, which are large, the snow has pretty well disappeared.  Again, without vertical blockage snow is displaced and drifts form.   This condition is yield robbing, even if the water doesn't leave the field.  There are areas that are short ≈2"moisture, and areas that have excess moisture but losing sunlight energy.

      The pic on the left shows disappearing snow and a good WW crop exposed.  The pic on the right is Thorn Creek.  Our property is not contributing to this flow.  Our property scores very well on the Slake test which is helping us with moisture infiltration.
       I'm including a 7min (YouTube) video by Ray Archuleta explaining the Slake Test and it's meaning.

VALUE OF TALL STUBBLE (RESIDUE)

 [SUMMARY] --The taller and more dense the standing residue, the less snow displacement takes place.
      As, when I started direct seeding (DS) many years ago, much of the time there is nothing dramatic to see from an enhanced conservation practice, --DS compared to conventional tillage.
      But, there are exceptions, and this winter is one of them.   This winter is a showcase for what tall residue left by the stripper header can mean for the coming crop.

Above:  This pic shows snow accumulation of 12", fairly evenly distributed over the field of spring wheat stubble that stands ≈24" tall.  Compare this pic to the pic below.

     This pic shows accumulation of 6" in a neighboring field of mowed/harvested stubble standing 7".  Both fields experienced the same snow and wind events.  Notice the small area of standing stubble ≈16"tall and the snow that accumulated in and down wind of the clump.  Which condition provides more moisture for the coming years crop?  --Obviously the condition shown in the top pic.  In this instance with the snow bearing 0.25" moisture for every 2" of snow,  the field in the top pic has accumulated potentially 0.75" more moisture than the field in the lower pic.

       To continue this story, the pic above shows a conventionally tilled field seeded to ww.  The point here is that with no vertical blockage (tall residue), the recent 3" snow fall left the field and piled up in the usual places.  The very white areas are what is left of that 3" snow fall.  The slightly darker area is the old crusted snow  The field shown in the pic at the top of this post did hold most of that snow fall for an additional ≈0.25" of moisture.

 
The two pictures, above, show two fields seeded to winter wheat.  On the left is seeded into a 9 cultivar CC.  The vertical blockage is relatively sparse, but still having an effect.  The snow cover is not as even as in the more dense stripper headed wheat and barley stubble, but snow displacement is significantly less than WW fields with no vertical blockage.  We have radish in this field.  The radishes have deteriorated, leaving holes through the frost layer. We expect to retain all the moisture available from the snow for that crop.   On the right is WW seeded on spring pea ground.  The crop was seeded into heavy residue (SP plus past WW residue); however, that residue provides no vertical blockage.  There are noticeable snow drifts, indicating that we have large areas in this field where the crop is missing more than 2" of potential moisture.   In this field we will be dependent on thawing conditions.  If the thaw is gradual, we'll retain the moisture in the field although it's distribution will be uneven.  If the thaw is accelerated, we'll lose a lot of this moisture, similar to 2014.  

    (UPDATE:  In late February we had a Chinook,  which is when warm air suddenly moves in, and in this case a light rain accompanied it, that quickly removed the snow.  When I saw water in the ditch near our home, I geared up and walked the fields to see where the water was originating, --hoping it was all from my neighbors portion of the drainage.  It wasn't!!  First evident was my neighbors winter wheat on black fallow ground.  It showed like a mottled black/white area beyond the border of our field.   The snow, a thin layer because of previous winds, was mostly gone, and water was coursing down the hillside leaving a badly eroded hillside.  The ditch water was heavy laden with soil.  Little, if any, of that moisture was able to enter the ground.  Our winter wheat on chem fallow ground had good surface protection, but mostly flat from a year of fallow.  It caught very little additional snow compared to my neighbors.  I saw water was rolling down our hillsides the same as our neighbors.  The difference was that the water we were losing was mostly clear.   There was very little soil included in the ditch water.  The bright spot though was the field of winter wheat we seeded into the cover crop.  When I walked out of our ww on chem fallow into the field of ww on cover crop it was like night and day.  We had a lot of snow caught in the cover crop residue.  There was no movement of water down the slopes of that field.  Every drop of water entered the soil profile.  The cover crop (specifically the radish) did its job of saving the moisture.  The ground was frozen 4-6" deep, but the radish grew, died, deteriorated, and left a hole through the frozen soil surface that allowed moisture to enter the soil profile.)

Another observation:  I decided to check on the frost depth and whether the snow cover made a difference. This was a chilly morning in single digit temperatures and no wind.  By this time we have experienced a lot of cold weather including three nights of below zero temperatures.   In this field with 12" snow cover, one stab and a push by standing on the trenching shovel drove it more than a foot into the ground. That was a surprise, and pretty good.  It felt like the shovel was going through a big rice crispy treat.  In another field I found a bare ridge with ww and tried the same technique.  I stabbed repeatedly in the same spot and never got more than 2".  The third field, a flat, had 6" snow cover.  I stabbed repeatedly and eventually would have been able to get the shovel to the depth shown in the picture, but it would have been a hole instead of a slice.
      I'm not sure what part snow cover has played in frost depth at this point in time.
      I think the field shown above is frozen fairly deep but has developed a better soil structure over the years using DS and now has a lower bulk density.  This should allow moisture to enter the soil profile faster than the other two fields that were conventionally tilled.

A little Tillage Ruins No-Till

      [update 10/6/16]  I have no comment related to the cover crop aspect; however, the tillage part supports my experience, and my contention that using "no-till" as a rotational practice, in CT is not sustainable.  It takes time for ground to re-develop soil structure, and channels from earthworm activity, and decayed root channels.  Any cultivation will destroy the surface connection for moisture to rapidly enter the soil profile.  Many will argue that moisture goes two ways as a reason to till and make the dust mulch in the fallow year.  Yes! --CF with little cover, can dry down the seed zone moisture.  I haven't found that it dried deeper than CT; however, it's harder to reach.  In our operation moisture has improved through increased surface residue, --it's a priority for us.  Moving to ULD (ultra low disturbance) is helping.  Using the stripper header where possible is helping.  The main factor in making winter wheat a high yielding success for us is to seed for early emergance in the fall.  Don't wait and let seed zone moisture escape.  That may mean seeding in August.  We have not gone that extreme yet, but some have.  No-till takes different management thinking to be successful. 
     FARM JOURNAL, Oct.2016:  Article by Darrell Smith reports on experiment done by Farm Journal's field agronomist, Ken Ferry.  The experiment compares two fields, --one with 4 years of no-till and the last two years featured cereal rye as a cover crop.  The other field had three years of no-till with the fourth year either having one or two tillage operations.  The implements used were, a soil finisher, moldboard plow, chisel plow.  There were several conclusions made by Ferry.  Among them, --cover crop (rye) did little to improve infiltration, --top few inches were dryer than the no-till prior to termination, but wetter after termination. --tillage hurt soil structure resulting in less infiltration, --the moldboard plow sole restricted water percolation into lower soil profile, --in their soils, more water ran off the surface with that one tillage year in four, compared to four no-till years.  Consider what those conclusions mean for us in the Palouse Hills when translated from the flatlands of Missouri.

THE LONG & SHORT OF THE STRIPPER HEADER

IT'S ALL ABOUT MOISTURE  ---->  FARM TO SAVE IT OR LOSE IT
       Fact: --there is a layer at the soil surface, even though it looks dry, that is at 100% humidity.  This layer may be only 1-2micro's thick.  This layer is maintained until the soil profile can no longer draw on it's reserves.   How you manage this soil surface environment has a big impact on evaporation and the moisture available for the crop.
       Fact: --residue modifies soil temperature.  Soils are warmer through the winter and cooler during the summer with surface residue either standing or flat.
      83% of rainfall over a two year wheat/fallow rotation is lost off the soil surface through evaporation.  (see post of 9/19/2012)-- conclusion was to keep soils as cool as possible and air velocity across the soil surface as low as possible.  This translates to, --maintain as much cover as possible over the soil, and keep the cover as tall as possible, for as long as possible, to maximize moisture available for crop production.
      Our observations over 4 years indicates considerably fewer weed cultivars germinate and compete with the crop on ground that is not disturbed.  The more residue, the less disturbance, including disturbance from tracks/wheels, the better.
   
THE LONG:

       1-- Removing the straw row of a poor residue managing combine, is a major plus.  It gives new life to older machines and increases capacity by 10-20%.
      ---There is much less material being processed.  This has resulted in significant savings for us in combine repairs.

       2--Potential increase in moisture available to the crop by:  
      ---increasing snow catch (when we get it) over the standard cut or mowed height.  This resists snow drifting, leaving more even snow (water) distribution over the field.
      ---Accompanied with solar energy which warms the stems, the snow melts and enters the soil at the base of the plants in a slow controlled manner.
       ---reduced weed competition when used as part of the ULD system.  Fewer weeds, leaves more moisture for the crop.  Less surface disturbance including wheel tracks, the fewer the weeds.
       ---reducing air velocity over soil surface. Studies are showing reduced evaporation from tall stubble.  This means more moisture for the crop.
        ---reducing soil temperatures in the warm season.  Several studies, including our  own measurements with HOBO sensors show significant drop in summer surface temperatures compared to bare soil.  Studies concur, that lower soil temperatures conserves moisture for the crop.
       3--Modifies winter soil temperatures.  Our HOBO sensors are showing that tall stubble insulates the soil, not only in the summer to reduced soil temperatures, but also insulates the soil from the cold winter temperatures.
       4--The Shelbourne is a low maintenance header for us.
       5--The Shelbourne, being a sealed unit, reduces harvest dust around the combine cab.

THE SHORT:
       1--Is not useable for all the crops we grow.
              ---spring standup peas:  grade reduction from cracked/skinned seed coats.
              --mustard/canola:  problematic if stems carry seed pods extending more than 24 inches along the plants vertical axis.
              ---crops with seeds forming around a central stem like sorghum.
       2--Not all drills will successfully seed behind the stripper header.  Type and density of residue needs to be considered.
               

CONVENTIONAL TILLAGE & MOISTURE

It's that time of year!!  We, along with our neighbors have started making fallow that will be seeded to WW this fall.  There are as many ways to do this as there are farmers in the area.

I walked into this field the other day (not ours) and smelled the pungent aroma of fresh tilled soil, and also I felt a significant difference in humidity while traversing from the cultivated area into the non cultivated area.  It was a bit startling.   There is a lesson here!  (actually 5 that comes to mind.)
1--Soil moisture:  Moisture has been exposed by the cultivator and is being evaporated out of the soil at a rapid rate, raising the humidity.  Some documents I have cruised indicate approximately 0.5" lost per trip.  (Many years ago, I checked this on our operation and found that we had lost ≈0.5"+ in three operations of cultivating, weeding, harrowing to set up the fallow.)
        On this field(pic), the lack of residue (standing or not) allows air movement along the surface, removing the high humidity(100%) interface between soil an the atmosphere, --if you see dirt there isn't enough residue to protect the soil.  This high humidity layer is constantly being replaced until the soil can no longer provide the moisture.  Research shows that most of our soil moisture is lost through EVAPORATION (83%+) from the soil surface.  The best moisture saving practices keep the surface COOL and CALM.  This loss can not be eliminated, but it can be dramatically slowed.
2--Soil Temperature:  Destroying residue that covers the soil raises soil temperature.  This in turn increases the evaporation from the soil.  Research shows a 20 degrees difference between covered and uncovered soil.  Our own testing verifies this.

 3--OM is being destroyed.  Tillage introduces oxygen (air).  By combining  OM(fuel), oxygen, and heat(from ground and atmosphere), so the biological furnace is stoked and the OM is destroyed, converting to elements that include nitrogen(N), and CO2.
 4--CO2:   --is released into the atmosphere.  When soils are not disturbed, a relative balance of gases is established in the soil profile.  The two most notable are oxygen and CO2.  Cultivation, while adding oxygen to the soil releases CO2 from the soil.  There is some exchange of these gases all the time through soil interaction with plant growth and biological activity; however, soil disturbance accelerates this phenomena.  The more intense the disturbance, the greater the gas exchange.  Conventional fallow, requiring several tillage operations, releases CO2 to the atmosphere several times during that fallow period.  Minimizing mechanical soil disturbance, and building soil structure through plant diversity is the best way to provide oxygen to the soil, and control the release of CO2 into the atmosphere.
5--N:  There is no question that N is produced by this accelerated biological furnace, and standard soil tests acknowledge this by calculating an expected amount of N, from a given level of OM.
      The stability of this N seems to be the question, and I am totally confused at this point.  Nitrate N is water soluble and goes where the water goes.  Ammonia N ties to the soil particles and goes where the soil goes.  Both of these forms evolve over time.  This has been known for many decades.  A high percentage of these forms end up in the public waters.  From what I'm reading, our crops are only using about 45% of the N that we apply.  That's pathetic, costly to our operations and the environment.
       Now "Organic N" is becoming a subject of discussion.   What is this, and what distinguishes it?  From what I am reading, Organic N is suppose to be stable and available to plants.  It's not suppose to disappear except through plants or the physical removal of the organic matter from the field, --but information is all over the board on this subject and my understanding is minimal.  Please enlighten!

2016 CROP YEAR -- RAINFALL

 [Update 1/16/17]  I have recently been informed that the THORNTON rainfall record does not reflect snow catch.  This is a discrepancy that may be large or small depending on the snow fall.  The St. John rainfall record attempts to include snow fall.  At times the wind probably distorts that record a little.  
  [Update 10/13/16]  I have added in the remainder rainfall totals for the cropping year.  Thornton, WA. had significantly less rainfall for the year than normal.  The Thornton rain belt is ≈17"- 19"and 2016 showed 13.78".                                                                The SJ-E (my gauge) rain belt is14.67" 2016 showed 16.95".
      The Thornton area crops were generally quite good.  Our spring standup peas were fantastic.
      The SJ-E area crops were spotty ranging from fantastic to a little above average.
      There are many examples that indicate there is more to yield than rainfall total.  Weather, as it plays across a field can make or break a yield.  We experienced a frost in April and June that had differing effects on fields.
I'm going to start posting rainfall for the two regions we farm.  It's very surprising to me, and most unusual that this crop year shows St.John/Ewan area with more moisture than Thornton.   Micro climates are certainly playing a part to have this happen.  Brackets show a running total for the crop year which starts September 1st.
Thornton Rainfall Records for the crop year 2016:  Cropping year Sept-->Aug.  [13.78"]
        Sept. ---->0.23(0.23),  Oct. ---->0.02(0.25),  Nov. ---->1.77(2.02),  Dec. ---->2.22 ( ),  Jan. ---->1.98 (6.23),  Feb. ---->1.10 (7.33),  Mar. ---->3.42(10.75),  April --->0.79 (11.54),  May -->1.18 (12.72 ),  June -->0.40 (13.12 ),  July -->0.26 (13.38 ),  Aug. --> 0.40 (13.78 ).
St. John Rainfall Records for the crop year 2016:  Cropping year Sept-->Aug.    [16.95"]
        Sept. ---->0.55(0.55),  Oct. ---->1.00(1.55),  Nov. ---->1.35(2.90),  Dec. ---->3.83(6.73),  Jan. ---->2.26(8.99),  Feb. ---->1.31(10.3),  Mar. ---->3.89(14.19),  April -->0.58 (14.77 ),  May -->1.05 (15.82 ),  June -->0.64 (16.46 ),  July -->0.33 (16.79 ),  Aug. -->0.16 (16.95 ).
       

2016 CROP YEAR -- RAINFALL

     [Update 10/13/16]  I have added in the remainder rainfall totals for the cropping year.  Thornton, WA. had significantly less rainfall for the year than normal.  The Thornton rain belt is ≈17"- 19"and 2016 showed 13.78".  The SJ-E (my gauge) rain belt is14.67" 2016 showed 16.95".
      The Thornton area crops were generally quite good.  Our spring standup peas were fantastic.
      The SJ-E area crops were spotty, ranging from fantastic to a little above average.
      There are many examples that indicate there is more to yield than rainfall total.  Weather, as it plays across a field can make or break a yield.  We experienced a frost in April and June that had differing effects on fields.

I'm going to start posting rainfall for the two regions we farm.  It's very surprising to me, and most unusual that this crop year shows St.John/Ewan area with more moisture than Thornton.   Micro climates are certainly playing a part to have this happen.  Brackets show a running total for the crop year which starts September 1st.
Thornton Rainfall Records for the crop year 2016:  Cropping year Sept-->Aug.  [13.78"]
        September 2015---->0.23(0.23),  Oct. ---->0.02(0.25),  Nov. ---->1.77(2.02),  Dec. ---->2.22 ( ),  January 2016---->1.98 (6.23),  Feb. ---->1.10 (7.33),  Mar. ---->3.42(10.75),  April --->0.79 (11.54),  May -->1.18 (12.72 ),  June -->0.40 (13.12 ),  July -->0.26 (13.38 ),  Aug. --> 0.40 (13.78 ).
St. John Rainfall Records for the crop year 2016:  Cropping year Sept-->Aug.    [16.95"]
        September 2015 ---->0.55(0.55),  Oct. ---->1.00(1.55),  Nov. ---->1.35(2.90),  Dec. ---->3.83(6.73),  January 2016 ---->2.26(8.99),  Feb. ---->1.31(10.3),  Mar. ---->3.89(14.19),  April -->0.58 (14.77 ),  May -->1.05 (15.82 ),  June -->0.64 (16.46 ),  July -->0.33 (16.79 ),  Aug. -->0.16 (16.95 ).
       

EROSION EFFECT ON SOIL HEALTH

Today I went to Lewiston in the rain and came across these two fields vomiting, water, and mud into the road side ditch.  We have had an unusual rain today, starting before midnight and lasting all day, and into the evening.  Events like this show that fields with a history of direct seeding are more capable of taking advantage of these rain events, than cultivated fields.  Cultivation, destroys the surface entrances to channels left by old root systems.  Cultivation breaks apart soil aggregates and leaves behind smaller particles.  The energy released by the impact of the rain droplet on exposed soil breaks down particles left by cultivation into even smaller particles.  These then are carried into the macro pore spaces and effectively seals off the surface, greatly slowing water infiltration, causing water to run off the surface, carrying soil with attached chemistry and nutrients into the ditch, down the creek into the rivers, and on out to sea.  Road side ditches, and harbors both have to be dredged at great expense to remove this material that should have stayed in the field.  Today, with the tools and knowledge we have available to us, these sights should not be occurring.  They are ugly to look at, and show a lack of stewardship.  Scenes like this live forever in pictures that can be used to justify legislating stronger environmental laws, where a little common sense would do better.

PNW weather for 2016

WHAT WE MAY EXPERIENCE IN 2016
      Art Douglas from Creighton University is always a big draw at the Farm Forum in Spokane.   Many people make farm decisions from his prognostications, --including us.  This is how I interpreted his 2016 comments for the inland northwest.
     ---El Nino is here for a second year.  It's very strong, but will start moving out in a couple of months.
     ---Not expecting any arctic blasts.  These events will stay east of the Rocky's.  Some cold temperatures, but not severe.
     ---late winter & spring looks good, with a little above average moisture, and average to cooler temperatures.  The month of May, could be quite warm but with good moisture to get the crops through it.  Putting up quality hay may be difficult, and harvesting in July may be problematic from rain showers.  Pastures should be good.
     ---August is expected to be dry, so the majority of grain harvest in the Palouse should go well.
     ---Fall and winter is expected to be cool and wet.  We should get a good start on the fall planted crops.
CLIMATE CHANGE:
     ---Current CO2 and temperature levels are not nearly as high as they have been at times in the past according to ice core samples taken from the Antarctic dating back 400,000 years.
     ---Oceans are tremendous CO2 sinks.  When they warm, CO2 is expelled into the atmosphere.  When they cool, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.  The oceans, being warm are expected to start cooling.
     ---Sun flares/spots are decreasing so the energy coming to the earth is decreasing.  This will have an influence on ocean temperature.  There are indications that the planet temperature may be peaking; however, there will likely be a runout of another 10-15 years for this warming period (cycle).
     ---The Capital Press reported differently from what I heard.  They reported that Douglas stated the 0.7 degree (C) increase widely reported the past two years was 50-50 between natural climatic variability, and man.  I heard 0.1 degree of the 0.7, was probably man caused, with the remainder due to natural climatic variability, and sun energy variability.
     ---Have I mis-interpretated, or left out a significant point, leave a comment!

   

Our Farms Historic Rainfall

I have recently put 18 years of rainfall data in a spreadsheet ( 1998 - 2015).
---14.67"  is what it turns out to be our average yearly rainfall over the years, --with 9 years at or above, and 10 years at or below. (one point was counted in both, above/below).  The graph indicates our Ewan/St.John farm is in the 13-16" rainfall zone, instead of the 15-17" as most maps have us.  (Is this a real change from 1940-1970's)???
---Our lowest rainfall total was in 2002 with 10.31 inches.
---Our highest rainfall total was in 2006 with 18.35 inches
---Two years, 2015 & 2003, June received a trace, or no rain.  June is a benchmark for us.  Good rains normally translate to good yields, little rain translates to not so good yields.
---Six years, July received no rain.
---Five years, August had a trace, or no rain.
---June with more than 1.5 inches were (2014, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2005 ).  These were great crop years, or, had the potential had not other climatic forces become involved, --for example, Nov. of 2013 had an event where high winds accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature severely damaged the 2014 winter wheat through out the Palouse.  Most people had patches of good wheat, but the general yield was down approximately 25-30%,
---Our ULD system that incorporates the Shelbourne header and the CrossSlot drill is an attempt to lessen dependency on good June rains by reducing moisture loss through runoff and evaporation.  2014 was a great year to test the theory, but alas, the June 12 freeze ruined the potential of all our crops, both winter and spring.  All surviving crops were delayed in maturity, and the unusually high heat of July & August caused further damage.  The CrossSlot did all it was advertised to do, and the crops got a great start, but circumstances beyond our, or it's control lowered yields.
---Our rainfall tends to cycle up for three years, then, down for three years.  (+/- ?)
---If that pattern holds we may rise through the average precipitation line in 2016, and give us, depending on the June rains, a good crop, both winter and spring.
---The charts below use the same data, but the lines attempt to show three different aspects:  June rain,  total rain received, average monthly rain received.

Conclusions (?):  When I started this post three days ago, the goal was to state a few obvious points that stuck out in the 18 years of data, but as I got more into it, the more intriguing it became.  I'm not going into any more detail than what's been stated above; other than to say that,  I'm extremely glad we chose to upgrade to a ULD system.  In the short time (4 years), I can visually see it is paying off.  We are, and always have been in climate change.  What that means for the future is argued daily.  I'm convinced the Shelbourne and CrossSlot is the best option for meeting the challenges in the future.