By Suzanne Armstrong September 11, 2015
This year has been declared the International Year of Soils by the United Nations. This is the third of three commentaries highlighting speakers from the Soil Health Day I recently attended organized by agricultural consultant Ruth Knight. I previously discussed the important relationship between living plants and soil life and maximizing the value of animals. Guest speakers came from Australia and the United States, and were all keenly interested in using no-till and cover crops to improve soil while at the same time increasing farm profitability. The methods they described increase yields and decrease the need for many farm inputs, thus building soil and also improving the bottom line. Two farmer guest speakers, Lucas Criswell and Jeff Rasawehr shared their practical knowledge and experience working with cover crops.
Listen here:
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Lucas Criswell farms 1800 acres in Pennsylvania. He spoke about his experiences growing and planting into large cover crops, including a video of him planting corn into 3 foot high rye, using a roller crimper. He stressed the benefits of letting cover crops get to a good size before being terminated for the main crop. He also recommended finding shorter season corn and soy bean varieties to make more time in the rotation for cover crops.
Finally, Jeff Rasawehr, a farmer from Michigan, also runs his own cover crop seed company. He advocates using a diverse mix of cover crops planted together to get the greatest advantage in soil quality and availability of soil nutrients for plants. He argued that nutrients should only be leaving farms in the commodities being sold.
The enthusiasm they shared for the positive impacts they have seen on their own yields and bottom lines as a result of implementing these methods was infectious. The on-farm experience of these two speakers was also appreciated by the farming audience, many of whom had practical questions about implementation.
The extent of potential benefits of no-till and cover crops for improving soils, yields, and greater farm efficiency are being explored by these innovative farm entrepreneurs. Every farm is different, and innovative farmers here in Ontario will have to consider methods that will work on their own farms. Sharing practical knowledge and experience among farmers can only lead to better innovation and success.
______________________________________________________________________________________ Suzanne Armstrong is the Director of Research Manager of Board and Committee Services for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston.
