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Cover crops in potato production slideshow
- 1. Cover Crops in Potato Produc1on ACORN Conference Charlo9etown, PEI November 23-‐ 25, 2015 Ruth Knight – Organic Consultant Inc
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- 3. Cover Crop Services • Weed management • Water management • Disease Management • Pollina1on • Soil Structure • Biodiversity • Carbon / Life
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- 6. Adding Carbon to Soil Decomposi)on Pathway Photosynthesis Biomass produc)on Decomposi)on CO2 Organic Ma;er Organic ma9er – Lose CO2 Labile = not stable Humifica)on Pathway Photosynthesis Transloca)on to roots Transloca)on to soil/ microbes Humus Humus – Increase C Non Labile = Stable
- 7. Principles for Soil Regenera1on 1. Minimize soil disturbance -‐ tillage 2. Keep soil covered 24/7 3. Living roots as long as possible 4. Diversity 5. Integrate livestock 6. Manage Farmscape for other ecological services -‐ pollinators, wildlife, community
- 8. Rockey Farms • Brendon Rockey, Rockey Farms, Center Colorado • speciality potatoes, cer1fied potato seed, fresh market fingerlings, • 2 year rota1on, mul1 species green manure, center pivot irriga1on • focus on quality, reach quality get quan1ty • no inorganic fer1lizers, no pes1cides • green manures, companion cropping, compost, fish based fer1lizers, biological soil amendments • decreased pest and disease pressure, water savings, decreased soil erosion, lower inputs, higher quality and more profitability • principles apply to any crop
- 9. Rockey Farms Pro-‐Bio1c Approach Rockey Farms
- 10. Adding Carbon/ Life is Base Rockey Farms
- 11. Rockey Farms Adding Carbon/ Life is Base
- 12. Rockey Farms Adding Carbon/ Life is Base
- 13. Is your Cropping Management Removing Life or Adding Life?
- 14. Campanion Crop • Peas, chickling vetch, and buckwheat • seed 6 " with potato piece, peas get out of ground before potato • diverse root system in the soil feed different biology, N fixing, more flowers to a9ract predators, complimentary vine types that dont compete with the potatoes (mycorrhizal fungi connec1ng legumes to potatoes • instead of looking at sterile environment with only one crop, looking for adding some more diversity • Peas seed itself acer potato harvest.
- 15. Rockey Farms Interseeding Cover Crops
- 16. Cover Crop Emerges with Potato
- 17. Cover Crop In Potato
- 19. Green Manure Cover Crop • Diversity -‐ move from single spp -‐ sudan grass, to mul1 10 spp • cool season broadleaf -‐ peas, len1ls, radish, purple top turnip, ethopian cabbage • cool season grasses -‐ oats • warm season broad leaf – buckwheat, safflower, • warm season grass -‐ sudan, millet • Legumes – peas, len1ls -‐ add free N, reduce fer1lizer needs • Buckwheat -‐ mobilize P, flowers a9ract predator, • Brassicas -‐ radish turnip, cabbage -‐ deep 1llage, nitrogen scavenger, weed suppression -‐ reduce 1llage prac1ces • Sudan grass -‐ nematode suppression, subsoil condi1oner • mul1 spp -‐ benefits every year from all the green manure • Change not very diverse & boring to exci1ng to grow new plants • Incorporate green manure-‐ plow need to break down residue for next crop • have reduced 1llage, one deep disturbance every other year
- 20. Cover Crop Selec1on Cool Season Grasses • Oats • Winter Rye • Winter Tri1cale Warm Season Grasses • Millet • Sorghum Sudan Cool Season Broadleaves Radish Turnip Peas Clover Warm Season Broadleaves Sunn Hemp Sunflower Buckwheat Cow Peas Faba Beans
- 21. Diversity • Crop Rota1on • Cover Crops • Terminate and Start • Reduced Tillage • Shorten Maturity • Intercrop • Add Livestock • Address Resource Need • Landscape
- 22. No Till Soybeans in Rye
- 23. No Till Soybeans in Rye
- 24. No Till Soybeans in Rye
- 25. No Till Soybeans in Rye
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- 32. Mul1 Species Cover Crops
- 33. AGROECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT Increase in Natural Enemies Species Diversity Lower Pest Popula1on Densi1es Hedgerows Shelterbelts Windbreaks Polyculture Rota1ons Cover Crops Habitat Diversifica1on Decrease in Natural Enemies Species Diversity Popula1on Increase of Pest Species Organic Soil Management Low Soil Disturbance Tillage Prac1ces Cultural Prac1ces Pes1cides Conven1onal Tillage Total Weed Removal Monoculture Chemical Fer1liza1on M. A Al1eri / Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 74 (1999) 19-‐31
- 34. AGROECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT Increase in Natural Enemies Species Diversity Lower Pest Popula1on Densi1es Hedgerows Shelterbelts Windbreaks Polyculture Rota1ons Cover Crops Habitat Diversifica1on Decrease in Natural Enemies Species Diversity Popula1on Increase of Pest Species Organic Soil Management Low Soil Disturbance Tillage Prac1ces Cultural Prac1ces Pes1cides Conven1onal Tillage Total Weed Removal Monoculture Chemical Fer1liza1on GOOD HABITS POOR HABITS M. A Al1eri / Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 74 (1999) 19-‐31 ?Commitment
- 35. Thoughts on Change • The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagina1on • Look deep into nature, and you then will understand everything be9er • We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them Albert Einstein
- 36. Brendon Rockey’s Advise • Don’t avoid your problems, solve your problems • Encourage life in the soil in order to support the complete system • Focus more on quality and less on quantity • Eliminate expenses from your operation and start investing in your soil • Commit to break bad habits and form good habits
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