Posts Tagged: cover crops
20-year summary of soil health research in Five Points, CA published in California Agriculture!
May 17, 2024
Findings from twenty years of soil health research in Five Points, CA have been published in the University of California's California Agriculture peer-reviewed journal's May 1, 2024 issue. https://doi.org/10.3733/001c.94714.
This work has been a large collaborative effort involving twenty-one UC and non-UC coauthors. It began in 1998 initially as an effort to evaluate the potential of reduced disturbance tillage systems to reduce dust emissions from annual cropping systems that are common in California's San Joaquin Valley. It long-term nature however, allowed it to become a unique site for also monitoring changes in soil properties and function under four experimental systems: conventional tillage with no cover crop, conventional tillage with cover crop, no-till with no cover crop, and no-till with cover crop. Crops rotated between tomato and cotton initially, but later during the study, the rotation was diversified to include melons, sorghum, and garbanzo beans.
The work involved the Soil Health Institute's Shannon Cappellazzi, who sampled at the site in 2019. That sampling event led to the site becoming part of a multiple-publication series of articles that reported on soil health impacts in 124 long-term study sites across North America.
https://soilhealthinstitute.org/news-events/a-minimum-suite-of-soil-health-indicators-for-north-american-agriculture/
/span>
Screenshot 2024-05-17 080919 Cal Ag
Fresno State MS student shares his research work on strip-tillage!
Robert Willmott not only recently wrapped up his MS thesis research at Fresno State, but he also works full-time as the Farm Manager for his college's student ag farm, is married, and has two small children as well! A full plate, to say the least. In addition to all this, he recently told his story at Fresno State in a 3-minute video that is now posted at You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo6xZh5sGdA
Working in the Department of Plant Science in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology under his award-winning and Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy major professor, Anil Shrestha, Robert presented his thesis work in an exit seminar on May 14th on campus ahead of being awarded this MS and graduating later this month. His work consisted of a multiple-year study to evaluate the potential of using a roller crimper and strip-tillage for producing silage corn under center pivot irrigation, a new systems approach for San Joaquin Valley dairies that rely on winter and corn silage for animal feed materials. The several years of the study saw quite good success in terminating a variety of winter cover crop mixes using the roller crimper, strong weed suppression during the early corn season, and corn yields comparable to industry standards and the conventional control system that was part of the evaluation.
The work is now being prepared for submission to a scientific journal later this summer. A three-minute You Tube video summarizing Robert's work may be viewed at the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo6xZh5sGdA
/span>
Screenshot 2024-05-17 074737 Fresno State
CASI hosts the Soil Health Institute's US Regenerative Ag Cotton Program leaders - April 11 and 12, 2024
April 12, 2024
The UC ANR CASI Center hosted five members of the Soil Health Institute's US Regenerative Ag Cotton Program in the San Joaquin Valley on April 11th and 12th, 2024. The Soil Health Institute (SHI) is a non-profit organization based in Morrisville, NC that conducts research and extension education related to soil health management. Five SHI members, Diana Bagnall, David Lamm, Jessica Kelton, Emily Ball, and Nate Looker, took part in the two-day tour of six San Joaquin Valley farms and the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations. San Joaquin Valley farmers who hosted the SHI members included Mark Borba of Borba Farms in Riverdale, CA, Mark McKean of McKean Farms also in Riverdale, Tony Azevedo of Stone Land Company in Stratford, CA, Cannon Michael and Derek Azevedo of Bowles Farming in Los Banos, Gary and Mari Martin of Pikalok Farms in Mendota, and Gary Smith of Ingleby Farms in Burrel. Roger Isom, President of the CCGGA in Fresno, also hosted the SHI guests.
SHI requested help from CASI with the cotton tour and discussions that took place as an effort to expand their national Regenerative Ag Cotton Program to California in 2024. The tour provided excellent opportunities for SHI to learn about California cotton and to make connections with leading cotton farmers in the San Joaquin Valley who may become part of the baseline soil sampling project that SHI is looking to conduct with cotton producers this year.
In addition to the farmers who generously hosted the SHI guests, several other local California folks including Cary Crum, Kimber Moreland, Rob Roy, Jacob Wright, and Olivia Peters helped CASI's Jeff Mitchell in sharing information about California cotton systems.
DSC0148-1 FINAL
DSC0172-1 FINAL
Cover Crops in Rice - Field Demonstration Day
UC Cooperative Extension will host a Healthy Soils Program field demonstration day on...
2024 Rice Cover Crop Field Day Agenda FINAL
UCCE logo
2023 Delta Rice Recap
Rice production in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region has been steadily increasing in recent...