Ag StewardshipYour Soil Health Can Be Key The importance of building good Soil Health to your farming operation, garden, lawn, trees, etc., can make a huge difference! To learn more about the topic from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), visit this website.
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I hope this post finds you in good and health and looking forward to a much better spring planting season this year! I wanted to share with you an opportunity to do some field trials in partnership with the Hamilton County SWCD. I have worked with several of you in past years on various programs and studies, and this is a new opportunity that I believe you will find beneficial, and it could improve your bottom line as well.
There are basically three different options available to do strip trials, where you will be able to study differences within the same field, applying different practices to each side. I have included information sheets that describe each protocol, what will be required, and what you will get in return. This is a limited opportunity statewide, so please get back with me as soon as you can if interested (Deadline was extended to April 30, even though the protocols list April 1). Each farmer will be allowed to enter one field into the program for 2020, on a first-come basis, as long as there are still slots available.
Field Trial Options Include
Split Nitrogen Application: To determine if split applying N in corn can improve nitrogen utilization.
Cover Crop Study: To determine how much nitrogen can be sequestered in fields with cover crops planted.
No-Till VS. Tillage Study: To compare no-till and tillage systems in corn and soybean production.
I hope you will consider participating by entering a field this year. Although our physical office door is currently closed until April 20, I am still coming in and working on things and will be happy to sign you up. I look forward to better days ahead this spring and working with several of you on this program.
Mark McCauley
Ph: 317-773-2181
Email: [email protected]
There are basically three different options available to do strip trials, where you will be able to study differences within the same field, applying different practices to each side. I have included information sheets that describe each protocol, what will be required, and what you will get in return. This is a limited opportunity statewide, so please get back with me as soon as you can if interested (Deadline was extended to April 30, even though the protocols list April 1). Each farmer will be allowed to enter one field into the program for 2020, on a first-come basis, as long as there are still slots available.
Field Trial Options Include
Split Nitrogen Application: To determine if split applying N in corn can improve nitrogen utilization.
Cover Crop Study: To determine how much nitrogen can be sequestered in fields with cover crops planted.
No-Till VS. Tillage Study: To compare no-till and tillage systems in corn and soybean production.
I hope you will consider participating by entering a field this year. Although our physical office door is currently closed until April 20, I am still coming in and working on things and will be happy to sign you up. I look forward to better days ahead this spring and working with several of you on this program.
Mark McCauley
Ph: 317-773-2181
Email: [email protected]
To download the three different protocols for the field strip trials, click on the links below.
| spilt_nitrogen_application_study_protocol.pdf |
| cover_crop_study_protocol.pdf |
| tillage_study_protocol.pdf |
Participating farmers use precision ag tools and technologies to conduct research on their own farms. Through the On-Farm Network®, farmers use this data from their own farms and others in their area to evaluate the effectiveness and economic pros and cons of different management practices, such as nutrient application rates, timing, and form. Farmers not only evaluate the effectiveness of different practices on their own farm, but benefit from aggregate data across multiple farms and years. The end result is farmer-driven adaptive management in real time – farmers gathering and making beneficial changes based on data from their own fields and those of others. The farmers are in the driver’s seat, which significantly increases buy in to the results and willingness to make long-term changes.
Contact Mark McCauley for more details on ag stewardship.
Conservation Clips
Conservation Clips is a weekly collection of articles distributed by National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what's driving conservation. These articles are not indicative of NACD policy and are the opinions of their authors, unless otherwise noted.
WNAX Radio 570: NACD Asks Congress To Fully Fund Conservation Programs In FY Appropriations Bill
04/06/20
The National Association of Conservation Districts is one of 76 groups that’s written to Congress requesting full funding for conservation programs and technical assistance in the fiscal year 2021 Appropriations legislation. NACD President and Iowa producer Tim Palmer says conservation funding in the past has eclipsed $840 million.
Feedstuffs: Ag groups seek conservation funding support
04/03/20
Over 75 organizations ask Congress to reject any farm bill conservation program cuts in 2021 appropriations process. The National Association of Conservation Districts and other signatories called upon House and Senate appropriators to maintain discretionary U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation funding and reject any cuts to farm bill conservation programs through the fiscal 2021 appropriations process.
No-Till Farmer: Building Soils, Getting Over the Hump with No-Tilling
By John Dobberstein
04/07/20
No-till practices, covers and better fertilizer management have been the right combination to return NACD Soil Health Champion Linus Rothermich’s rain-soaked clay soils to productivity.
Kitsap Sun: Kitsap agriculture, backyard gardening seeing a surge during coronavirus pandemic
By Jessie Darland
04/06/20
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has become increasingly popular as a means of obtaining food during the outbreak of COVID-19. Many local farmers donate what they grow to local food banks through the Farm to Food Bank program run by the Kitsap County Conservation District and funded by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
ScienceDaily: Plant root hairs key to reducing soil erosion
04/03/20
The tiny hairs found on plant roots play a pivotal role in helping reduce soil erosion, a new study has found. The research provides compelling evidence that when root hairs interact with the surrounding soil they reduce soil erosion and increase soil cohesion by binding soil particles.
E&E News: Monarch butterfly gets protection in 'historic' deal
By Michael Doyle
04/08/20
(Subscriber Only) The Fish and Wildlife Service unveiled a sweeping, multistate plan to protect the monarch butterfly without adding it to the Endangered Species Act list. A long time in the making, the plan called, in part, a "candidate conservation" agreement unites state and federal officials with energy and transportation industry leaders on a common cause.
Phys.org: Repurposing straw lets farmers grow more food with less water and fertilizer
By Bill Wellock
04/08/20
Straw left over from processing crops can be made into hydrogels—molecules that can absorb large amounts of water as well as fertilizers, then slowly release them as needed by crops.
Indiana Public Radio: Farmers Who Rent Less Likely To Do Practices That Improve Soil, Water
By Rebecca Thiele
04/07/20
Almost half of all Indiana farmland isn’t owned by the farmer who works it — it’s rented out. In the same way people who rent apartments are unlikely to invest in them, studies show farmers who rent land are less likely to do conservation practices.
The Salt Lake Tribune: Wildfire fighting plan eyes 1,000 miles of new fuel breaks, which could cut into sage grouse leks
By Keith Ridler
04/08/20
The agency said creating fuel breaks by clearing vegetation will help firefighters stop wildfires and protect key habitat for sage grouse and other wildlife on land also used by cattle ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts.
ScienceDaily: Scientists discover legacy of past weather in stories of prairie plant restoration
04/06/20
Today, tall grass prairies East of the Mississippi are virtually extinct. But some landowners want to return land throughout the Midwest to its incredibly deep roots, converting abandoned, depleted and fallow agricultural fields to native prairie -- with varying degrees of success.
Phys.org: How soil microbes help plants resist disease
By Olga Kuchment
04/07/20
Plants can't self-isolate during a disease outbreak, but they can get help from a friend—beneficial soil microbes help plants ward off a wide range of diseases. Now, Texas A&M AgriLife scientists have uncovered a major part of the process in which beneficial fungi help corn plants defend against pathogens.
Spotlight: Herbicide Resistant Weed In Indiana
Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) is one of the most widespread, troublesome, and economically damaging weeds in the Southeast, and it has now spread to the Midwest. Palmer amaranth arrived in Indiana and can spread in a variety of ways, including livestock feed, manure, machinery, wildlife, and seed mixes for wildlife habitat, cover crops, and other purposes. It is a pigweed and close relative of water hemp that emerges in May and grows through September. This weed is not on the Indiana noxious weed list, but it grows rapidly, is highly competitive, produces over 100,000 seeds per female plant, and is difficult to eradicate. The high seed production of Palmer amaranth increases the risk of it moving into additional crop fields and other lands. Because of the real threat it poses to agriculture, it is important to limit its spread to more areas in Indiana.
For additional assistance with identification and control of Palmer amaranth, please refer to the Purdue University resources below.
For additional assistance with identification and control of Palmer amaranth, please refer to the Purdue University resources below.
- Palmer Amaranth Biology, Identification, and Management (.pdf) (WS-51) 11/13
- Identifying Palmer Amaranth in the Field – YouTube Video
- Palmer Amaranth Seedling ID - YouTube Video
- Palmer Amaranth Time-Lapse, Early Growth - YouTube Video: Early Palmer Growth
- Palmer Amaranth Time-Lapse, Late Growth - YouTube Video: Late Palmer Growth