Soil health monitoring conducted at SJV reduced disturbance and cover cropped fields!

As part of the USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant, Creating a no-till network in California, extensive baseline soil sampling has now been done at several San Joaquin Valley farms that are employing the soil health management practices of no-tillage, strip-tillage and/or cover crops.  These farms include sites at the diversified permanent and annual crop farm of Eddie Sajian  in Hanford, CA, the dairy silage fields of Rick Adams near Laton, CA, the grazing pasture lands of Paul Strojan in Farmington, CA, cotton fields at Bowles Farming in Los Banos, CA, and tomato acreage of Woolf Farming in Huron.  Determinations of soil carbon, aggregation, infiltration, and % residue cover have been done at each site and findings have been discussed with partner farmers for each location.  In addition, participating farmers have been encouraged to begin conducting their own ongoing monitoring by using the assay techniques shown here.  They were also provided with a PVC meter square quadrat to use in sampling surface biomass and a set of sieves as shown below that are used for determinations of soil aggregate stability.  

A unique - dare we say - "never before attempted in the region," effort to precede strip-tilled tomatoes with a mowed vigorous winter cover crop was conducted in one of the fieldsofWoolf Enterprises, a major tomato and other row crop farm just south of the small San Joaquin Valley town of Huron, CA in the spring of 2022. Several Woolf agronomists including Rick Blankenship and Shane Bickner, along with agronomy consultant,Cary Crum,of Agrotechnovation, oversaw the effort.  The cover crop was a short-season mix that ended up being largely dominated by triticale, was mowed by a flail mower that had been fitted with a horizontally mounted circular chopper to fill in a 'skip' area in the flails behind the center of the unit.  Then,an Orthman three-row 60" spacing strip-tiller followed the mowing ahead of tomato transplanting.  Two short video files are linked here that show the mower and the strip-tiller in action.  After this first year of trying the cover crop strip-till system, one agronomy manager at Woolf put it this way,

"There are a lot of extra management required, but worth the effort. The learning curve is steep and ridden with holes to fall into, but the soil changes behind the multispecies cover crops is impressive. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't tolerate some failure along the way. Less passes to get beautiful tomato beds behind it.

I'm not sure I've bought into the strip till on the flat tomato beds yet because of the necessary harvester adaptations or the strip till beds because of residue but I think with some more adaption we could make it work.

 I really like the multi species cover crop as a rotation partner when it's green chopped early."

More to come from this exciting, innovative work soon!

September 3, 2021

Michiel Bakker, the Vice President for Global Workplace Programs for GOOGLE, along with Douglas Gayeton, the creative leader for The Lexicon of Sustainability (https://www.thelexicon.org/ ), spent a full day on September 3, 2021 first visiting the NRI Project field in Five Points, CA and then the farms of John Diener right up the road, and of Phil Foster in Hollister, CA.  The purpose of their visit was to learn about and see efforts that are being made to realize conservation (or more recently, “regenerative”) agriculture systems here in California.  CASI's Jeff Mitchell coordinated the day's tour that also included retired Madera, CA organic farmer, Tom Willey.

While at the NRI study site, the group looked at several reduced disturbance pieces of equipment and also witnessed the increased aggregation of long-term no-till and cover cropped soils in the NRI field compared to that of standard tillage.

At Red Rock Ranch, the Five Points farm of Diener, the group along with John's son, Justin, talked about water issues that California is facing as well as efforts the Dieners are making to address water shortages.  They also learned what goes into the large organic tomato fields that they visited and learned about the minimum pass tillage practices that they use.

At Pinnacle Organically-Grown Produce, the Hollister, CA farm of Foster, the visitors saw a variety of Phil's innovations including his on-farm compost production techniques, his use of strip-tillage, and his development of the use of single-line cover crops that economize greatly on seed and water.  

A group of California farmers will share their experiences improving soil health in cotton production by growing cover crops, reducing tillage, applying compost and other practices during an online session at 11 a.m. Feb. 23.

The free webinar is part of an eight-episode series titled Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton Farmer Showcase, in which U.S. cotton farmers and soil health experts are livestreamed at 11 a.m. (PST) every Tuesday through March 23. The program targets cotton producers, consultants and others interested in cotton production and soil health.

Registration is required. To register for sessions, visit https://soilhealthinstitute.org/soil-health-training/farmer-showcase/.

Bales of harvested cotton await their turn at the gin. (Photo: Jeff Mitchell)

In the episode featuring the California farmers on Feb. 23, the panellists will discuss:

• Financial, regulatory and agronomic challenges of implementing soil health systems for cotton in the San Joaquin Valley
  
  
• Specific practices they are implementing and the outcomes
  
  
• Progress being made on more attractive pricing scenario negotiations underway with buyers to reward American cotton farmers for their sustainable production practices

Speakers are San Joaquin Valley cotton farmers John Teixeira, Cannon Michael, and Gary Martin; regenerative agriculture consultant Cary Crum; Sustainable Cotton's Marcia Gibbs; and Fibershed's Rebecca Burgess. 

UC's Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Center is sponsoring the showcase in conjunction with the Soil Health Institute, a non-profit organization charged with safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils. The Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton project provides farmer-focused education and training events delivered by Soil Health Institute scientists, partnering with local soil health technical specialists and farmer mentors who have implemented successful soil health management systems. The project aims to increase the adoption of soil health management systems among cotton producers while documenting environmental and economic benefits.

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton is supported by Wrangler^® brand, the VF Corporation Foundation and the Walmart Foundation. For more information about the project, visit https://soilhealthinstitute.org/soil-health-training/.

About the Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Center

CASI is a diverse assemblage of California farmers, private sector, university, governmental agency and other group members who work together to develop and implement conservation agriculture systems in California.  http://casi.ucanr.edu/

About the Soil Health Institute
The Soil Health Institute (www.soilhealthinstitute.org) is a non-profit whose mission is to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement. The Institute works with its many stakeholders to identify gaps in research and adoption; develop strategies, networks and funding to address those gaps; and ensure beneficial impact of those investments to agriculture, the environment and society.

About Delta F.A.R.M
Farmers Advocating Resource Management is an association of growers and landowners that strive to implement recognized agricultural practices which will conserve, restore, and enhance the environment of the Northwest Mississippi. For more information, visit https://deltafarm.org/.

About Wrangler^®
Wrangler^® apparel is available nationwide in mass market retailers, specialty stores, including work apparel chains, farm & fleet, and western stores, as well as through online and catalog retailers. To find a retailer or for more information on the Wrangler family of products, visit Wrangler.com or call 888.784.8571.

About VF Corporation
VF Corporation outfits consumers around the world with its diverse portfolio of iconic lifestyle brands, including Vans^®, The North Face^®, Timberland^®, Wrangler^® and Lee^®. Founded in 1899, VF is one of the world's largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies with socially and environmentally responsible operations spanning numerous geographies, product categories and distribution channels. VF is committed to delivering innovative products to consumers and creating long-term value for its customers and shareholders. For more information, visit www.vfc.com.

About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By leaning in where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 27 countries, employs more than 2 million associates and does business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs that work to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, address hunger and make healthier, more sustainably grown food a reality, and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org or connect on Twitter @Walmartorg.