- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Extensive research by UC scientists and innovative farmers has shown that making the changes can be challenging at first, but in time results in more efficient, environmentally sound and profitable food production systems.
“There’s a sense of inevitability now that these systems will be more widely adopted in California annual cropping systems,” said Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
| View a two-minute video snapshot of the field day and farm tour at the end of this post. |
The growing interest was demonstrated at a UC field day and farm tour in September in which more than 200 participants visited three farms already successfully implementing conservation practices and three sites at the field station where research on conservation farming practices is underway.
At Five Points Ranch, field day participants stood on an alfalfa field and inched along with an operating center pivot system. Farmer Armando Galvan has added “boom backs” behind the wheels that roll the system through the field. The boom backs make sure the wheel tracks stay dry until the wheels have passed, which prevents wheels from carving deep trenches in wet soil.
At the Morning Star dairy farm, John and JoAnne Tacherra irrigate rolling acres of forage with a center pivot irrigation system and have put the employees who used to undertake the punishing task of moving sprinkler sets to work inside the dairy barn. The center pivot system is controlled with the touch of a button. The combination of advanced nozzle packages and software that manages the pivot speed allow the Tacherras to distribute precise quantities of water and dispense the water with the ideal droplet size for each stage of the crop’s development. The couple now plans to experiment with the application of dairy lagoon water through the center pivot system.
At Farming “D” Ranch in Five Points, logistics manager Scott Schmidt experienced some problems with overhead irrigation this spring. Water was applied on cotton over triangular beds, slipped into the furrows and left seeds dry. Water infiltration was also inhibited when the wetted surface of the field dried into a crust and subsequent irrigation washed off. The crop had to be replanted.
“These sorts of problems can be solved,” Mitchell said. “Carefully designed nozzle packages and soil quality development practices will promote water infiltration.”
No-till farming and the use of cover crops have been shown at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center to enhance soil quality. When the tour returned to the center’s research plots, they viewed a 12-year study where plots have been maintained to compare the long-term effects of standard tillage techniques with no-till or minimum tillage systems, and both tillage methods combined with off-season cover crops.
The soil differences are dramatic.
Using clear canisters for a demonstration, Natural Resources Conservation Service soil conservationist Genett Carstensen poured a cup of water onto soil collected from a tilled plot and onto soil from a no-till plot managed with cover crops. The standard till soil repelled the liquid, which pooled at the top of the container; the no-till soil readily absorbed the water.
“This is what soil quality is,” Carstensen said.
She further demonstrated the soil quality differences by placing dirt clods from the two types of plots in canisters of water. The no-till clod maintained its composure; the clod from the tilled plot began dissolving immediately.
“The no-till clod has glued itself together with dead matter and dead microbes,” she said. “The standard till soil is going to erode and water is going to carry it off.”
At another research field, Steven Kaffka, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, is leading a study of what he calls “energy beets,” formerly known as sugar beets. The trial compares beet production under overhead irrigation and buried drip irrigation. Kaffka believes energy beets will be another competitive crop for California farmers because they can be used to produce ethanol, which will allow farmers to help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate change goals.
The field day also included a glimpse of future research at the northeast corner of the West Side REC where industry donors have teamed up with UC to create a facility for state-of-the-art overhead irrigation study. Reinke Inc. donated a center pivot system, Senninger Irrigation donated nozzles, and Rain for Rent created an infrastructure that gets water and power to the research plot.
Replicated plots will be pie shaped and different treatments can be applied to each segment with the use of multiple sets of drop hoses. Studies will begin immediately to research deficit irrigation of alfalfa, corn, sorghum and cotton.
“Because of the water situation in California, deficit irrigation is going to be something we will need to know a whole lot more about, for better or for worse,” said Bob Hutmacher, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciecnes at UC Davis and director of the West Side Research and Extension Center.
View a two-minute video snapshot of the field day and farm tour:
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Dino Giacomazzi, the fourth generation to run the operation, said cows have been producing milk and the land producing feed every single day of the ensuing 120 years.
In order to maintain the family business in times of mounting environmental pressures and tightening economics, Giacomazzi became a leader in developing completely new production paradigms for dairy industry feed production in the San Joaquin Valley.
Last year, he received the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award for California, and last week he hosted a luncheon at his rural Kings County dairy to raise awareness of efforts being made around the San Joaquin Valley to boost agricultural sustainability.
“I want this to be about all the work being done here. I am accepting this award on behalf of a whole industry of people,” Giacomazzi said. “Every farmer I know is a conservation agriculturist. That’s just called doing business.”
In California, the Leopold Conservation Award is presented by the Sand County Foundation, California Farm Bureau Federation, and Sustainable Conservation. The recognition, said Karen Sweet of the Sand County Foundation, “honors ethical and scientifically sound practices that benefit us all, and inspires other landowners as an example.”
Giacomazzi, a founding member of UC’s Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI) Center, for years has evaluated equipment, planting configurations and fertilization approaches in silage production. He worked closely with other dairy operators to build a reservoir of knowledge and experience that is accelerating the development and implementation of conservation tillage practices, said Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and chair of CASI.
“Dino’s a person of tremendous vision for seeing a better way and for, as he is fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln, ‘thinking anew and acting anew,’” Mitchell said. “He’s a rather unique example of someone who has had the courage to disenthrall himself of dogma and create something new.”
In the spring of 2005, Giacomazzi initiated a demonstration evaluation of strip-till corn planting in a 28-acre field as part of an Environmental Quality Incentives Program contract he had received from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2006, he hosted a public field day to share what he learned about strip-till implements, planters and configurations, an event Mitchell considers the best public field day of his Extension career. Giacomazzi has traveled to Davis to address agriculture students, accepted speaking engagements -such as the keynote address at the launch of CASI last year - and hosted numerous agricultural tours on his farm.
“Dino is a leader,” Mitchell said. “He has opened a lot of eyes to what can be, to how agricultural systems can be improved, to both make money and to be good for the environment.”
Recognizing Mitchell's distinct character and energy, Giacomazzi said he could think of no more fitting way to honor him than with a customized "Jeff Mitchell Award," which he said Mitchell would hold "in perpetuity."
Another founding member of CASI, Ron Harben, former field officer for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, also spoke at the event.
“Jeff’s enthusiasm is contagious,” Harben said, “but it’s solidly backed up with knowledge, experience and the real desire to bring sustainability – both economic and environmental – to agriculture.”
Mitchell travels in the Valley extensively, visits farms from Kern County to as far north as the Intermountain area on the border with Oregon, and takes two or three trips from his Fresno County headquarters to Davis each week for meetings, teaching classes and working with graduate students.
“His Toyota Prius has nearly half a million miles on it,” Harben said.
During his presentation at the celebration, Mitchell also called attention to the Giacomazzi Dairy’s weathered water tower.
“Think about that. There is something quite profound here,” he said. “There is no better example of sustainability. This is where sustainability is happening. This is the real thing.”
The Sand County Foundation, its major partners, California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation, and its other sponsors, S. J. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Farm Credit, are accepting nominations for the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award until July 12. Nominations of agriculturalists and foresters may be submitted at the Leopold Conservation Award website, http://www.leopoldconservationaward.org.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC scientists presented recent additions to the growing body of research on conservation tillage in California at the second annual Twilight Conservation Tillage and Cropping Systems field day Sept. 8, demonstrating progress in agricultural systems that will help farmers cut production costs, reduce soil disturbance and save water.
UC scientists and their partner farmers are conducting research that address the current needs of the San Joaquin Valley agricultural industry and research that is looking to the future by anticipating changes that may need to be negotiated in coming decades.
During the field day at UC's West Side Research and Extension Center in Five Points, Calif., participants visited two primary research areas. The first is the longest-standing conservation ag system study in California, where a cotton/tomato rotation has been farmed for 12 years running. The plots include standard tillage with and without cover crops and conservation tillage with and without cover crops.
“This might be the most-visited research field in California,” said Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension vegetable crops specialist and chair of the CT workgroup. “Many students and scientists have conducted research here.”
For example, scientists have been able to quantify significant improvements in soil quality with the use of cover crops and conservation tillage. UC Davis soil biochemist Will Horwath reported that conservation tillage combined with an off-season cover crop has increased the soil carbon content close to five tons per hectare.
“Is that significant?” Horwath asks. “Yes. In 10 years, we have almost doubled the soil carbon content.”
Because of the valley’s dry, hot climate, the native soils are typically very low in carbon, which is a characteristic of low soil quality. Carbon in the soil acts as a glue, helping reduce wind erosion.
“There are more than 17,000 center pivots in the state of Nebraska, and it is estimated that there are somewhere between 300 and 500 pivots currently in use in California, the No. 1 ag state in the nation,” Mitchell said. “This situation is changing rapidly.”
Overhead irrigation is efficient, automated, allows for diverse cropping and, with soil residues from conservation tillage, permits uniform infiltration.
Four users of overhead irrigation shared their experiences with overhead irrigation at the field day. West side farmer John Deiner said mechanized irrigation has significantly reduced labor input in his agronomic crops while boosting crop yields.
“Our corn grew two to three feet taller under the pivot,” he said.
Will Taylor of King City grows potatoes for In and Out Burger under center pivots. He said his yields are 20 percent higher when using the overhead irrigation system.
“Once you overcome challenges,” Taylor said, “they’re awesome.”
He demonstrated their ease of use by bringing along his 9-year-old son Liam, whom he said can already manage the machine.
Darryl Cordova of Denair uses overhead irrigation in a hilly area on the east side of the valley.
“What used to take three guys six hours of moving pipe is now done with a push of a button on my cell phone,” Cordova said.
Scott Schmidt, who farms across the street from the West Side Research and Extension Center, said he has learned how to successfully use overhead irrigation and conservation tillage from the “school of hard knocks.”
“Most of the problems have been self-inflicted wounds,” Schmidt said. But now, he calls the system “flawless.” “We have seven pivots that I operate remotely from my phone.”
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Dec. 14, 2010
What I would like to do with you briefly this morning is take a minute to tell the story of the Conservation Tillage and Cropping Systems Workgroup, - who we are, what we’ve done, and why you should believe us. We’re now at a time within the workgroup that a number of very strong and clear benefits of conservation tillage have been demonstrated and documented and there have also been numerous successful examples of CT working in a variety of Central Valley cropping systems. Our workgroup has had a clear role in helping to develop, chronicle and get information on various aspects of CT out to broader spheres of influence, and I’d like to take stock in some of our recent efforts in this regard.
Since the workgroup was formed back in 1998, there have been undeniably a number of important changes in tillage management in California. Prior to that time, we have documented through rather extensive interviews with several truly “old timer” workgroup members, tillage practices had not changed much during the previous 60 or so years.
It was in the mid-90’s and early 2000s when not only were new, revolutionary minimum tillage implements being introduced, but also research was underway documenting the performance of CT systems in California, and farmers were themselves beginning to develop systems that reduced tillage even more.
The “Case for CT” in California has gotten considerably stronger in recent years due to progress both from research as well as from farmer innovation. Today, peer-reviewed publications have documented the following clear benefits of CT in California:
- Cutting costs
- Reducing dust emissions
- Cutting fuel use
- Increasing soil carbon
In addition, very recent work now being prepared for publication, has shown that residues in CT systems can reduce about ½ inch of evaporation per week relative to bare ground, and that when highly efficient irrigation, such as overhead mechanized center pivot irrigation is used with CT, water savings on the order of 35 percent for wheat and also savings for corn compared to furrow irrigation can be achieved.
Workgroup farmer pioneers have also themselves demonstrated more severe forms of CT – no-till and strip-till can be possible and profitable in California for the dairy silage production sector and for tomato production systems.
The knowledge and experience bases for CT in California are thus rapidly expanding and farmers such as Dino Giacomazzi are being recognized for their contributions to the development of increasingly sustainable food and feed production systems.
During this time, there has been a rise in contributions from several domains of the private sector and also increased introductions of CT equipment in California.
To continue to be responsive and relevant to the emerging demands for information on the range of CT systems being developed over these years, our workgroup has done a number of things to enhance its effectiveness.
In 2008, it developed a Strategic Plan that identified four key long-term goals and it set specific, concrete adoption goals for the coming years.
It has recognized the sheer importance of electronic information dissemination vehicles, and thus, in 2010, under the expert work of Jeannette Warnert, it has completely renovated its website.
This website now has a number of features that we are hoping will be useful to folks seeking information on CT and we’re also constantly working to add features such as an interactive “CT farmer to farmer forum” and a tab for K-12 resources.
In 2010, through two grants that support the Workgroup, we are now working with a number of farmer partners on farm demonstration evaluations of CT and cover cropping systems for tomatoes.
We were also one of the founding members of CASA - the Conservation Agriculture Systems Alliance - a tremendously important group of very progressive farmer association leaders in conservation agriculture in North America.
Our involvement in CASA and the more local Central Valley Multi-commodity Project allows us to provide input on and receive information on efforts that are underway aimed at developing mechanisms and programs enabling farmers to receive credit and payment for their conservation systems.
An additional outcome that was achieved in 2010 was the partnership our workgroup has established with the California Overhead Irrigation Alliance, a group of farmer, private sector, and public agency folks who have come together to develop and extend information on overhead irrigation.
The so-called “Case for CT in CA” is thus, being made.
Benefits from CT production systems are being seen and realized each and every day.
The challenge ahead is to collectively find and work on ways to increase the adoption of these profitable and resource-conserving CT systems even more and to do this efficiently and effectively.
To better help us do this, we’re in the process of developing a number of instruments and activities aimed at surveying barriers to CT adoption and eventually using information from this effort to better guide us in developing our workgroup programs.
We have recently met with a statistician up at UC Davis and have also created collaborations with the John Muir Institute of the Environment at Davis to initiate this survey of barriers to adoption program, which we hope will not only guide our workgroup, but also it may help agencies such as the NRCS itself in their conservation planning efforts.
We have made good progress this past year, but we have much yet to do.
We are going to need a greater and better level of commitment and contribution from all of us in the workgroup to accomplish these goals.
The challenges are truly large, but we must focus and dedicate ourselves to achieving solid, lasting impacts.
Together, we can do it!
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An article about silage corn production using conservation tillage was one of Progressive Forage Grower's Top 10 most well-read online articles in 2010, the magazine announced.
Written by UC Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist Jeff Mitchell, the article featured vignettes about four California dairy farms where conservation tillage is being applied.
- Michael and Adam Crowell of Bar-Vee Dairy in Turlock, California, have been no-tilling their winter small grain, twin-row corn and sorghum sudan for five years.
- Ezequiel Correia Jr. and Sr. of Correia Family Dairy just north of Santa Nella, California, began strip-tilling their silage corn in 2009.
- Dino Giacomazzi, a dairyman in Hanford, California, in Kings County, has been strip-tilling silage since 2005.
- Tom Barcellos of Barcellos Farms in Tipton, California, has been in the no-till and strip-till business longer and more consistently than just about any other dairy silage producer in the entire SJV.
In addition, the article outlined "common points" employed by all of the producers, such as advanced planning, laying out appropriately-spaced, shallow irrigation berms, and selecting and adjusting proper strip-till equipment for specific field conditions.
