Wild & Weedy! Why did we wait to plant and what's going on? |
by Melissa Ruschau
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Fall Cover Crops
If you drove by the Land Stewardship Initiative (LSI) on Vincennes University Campus in the month of May you may not have understood what you were seeing in the farm fields. You may have been confused/ concerned by what you could see from Meridian Road. It appears as though one field is planted in corn and the other two fields that you were skipped. You may have wondered if the planter broke down in the fields, or if the weather changed on planting day causing a delay, or perhaps the plan is to sow those fields with a late soybean crop. All of these are good guesses, but none of them are accurate. Several fields were left fallow at planting. This was done on purpose and here is the reason why.
This “different direction” in farm management can be summarized with two explanations: the recent rise of input costs and the desire to build better soil organic matter. Let’s go back in time to a meeting earlier this year where the ag advisory committee discussed planting and management plans for the 2022 crop season. |
Crimson Clover & Canola (Rape)
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Oats & Barley
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Due to global demand and lack of supply, fertilizer prices had doubled since 2021 and herbicide had almost quadrupled in price for 2022. “When a $4 decision becomes a $14 decision, farmers take note”. The team felt that it was time to look at the farm fields and what acres produce high yielding crops due to better soil and what acres struggle to even meet the county average. The plan was to focus on planting corn in high yielding acres where success had been seen in past years crops and amend the lower yielding acres.
With a “fix it or fail it” mentality several fields were removed temporarily from the cash crop rotation for the 2022 season. These acres are the average to low yielding fields. The fall cover crops were allowed to flourish and go to seed naturally. The plan was to go back to the field in the summer and plant a mixture of plants that would increase the organic matter and the water holding capacity of the soil. Especially since we knew that this was possible on our farm and in Dubois County soils. |
Back in 2019 an experiment was done in field 6, the 3.5 acre field south of College Avenue and west of the CTIM Building. In an attempt to build organic matter the field was taken out of the usual crop rotation, wheat was planted as a fall cover crop and a 13 way mix of summer cover crops was planted on it. Soil tests in 2020 did not reveal much, however the 2021 fall soil tests revealed a bump of 0.3 of a percent in organic matter. Soil under a no till cover crop system gains 0.1 a year under normal circumstances.
THIS WAS HUGE!!! And something the committee was excited about and would like to see replicated on a larger scale in more fields this year. If you drove by the fields in late May and early June you could see the seed heads of barley and oats, the red flowers of Crimson Clover in the understory, the tall yellow flowers of Canola, and the vines and purple and white flowers of Winter Peas. In mid-June a mixture of Sourgum Sudan grass, Sunhemp, Peredovid Sunflowers, Buckwheat and Pearl Millet was drilled into 2 fields. A different field added Cowpeas and Korean Lespedesa into the mixture and replaced the tall Sudan grass with oats. |
Winter Pea
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This summer and early fall we will be on the look out for Sasquatch territory. These plants should grow very tall and produce quite a bit of bio-mass. Their varied roots will mine and hold nutrients from deep within the soil. As the roots break down they will create pores for increased water infiltration and increased organic matter. We will report back in the fall of 2024 (giving the roots time to break down) to see how the organic matter changed.
Planting Green at LSI