From The Desk of Gary Zimmer

Transcription

1 From The Ground Up Volume 2 Issue 2 August 2014 From The Desk of Gary Zimmer Field Day is coming up soon; the third Tuesday in August this year is the 19th. Also this year we are back to doing a one day, all day event. Field Day is a celebration of biological agriculture and also a time to show you our farm and farming practices. Otter Creek Organic Farm, my family s farm, has been in operation since the early 90 s fertilizer. I was trying to demonstrate that with manure, starter fertilizer, and cover crops, the need for nitrogen would be minimized. This was 20 years ago, we weren t organic then, and our yields were bushels of corn per acre. Applying minimal herbicides, no insecticides, and using minimal tillage, it was, for the time, very successful. Another trial we tried was to take soil tests and add whatever was missing by doing the numbers calculations, and we learned a great deal from that. One other demonstration plot was a corn bean rotation with different calcium additions from different sources: high calcium lime, gypsum, and Bio-Cal. This trial we continued for fertilizers, and again we learned a lot. We came up with ideas and developed plans for growing super quality biological fertilizer balances and programs. With balanced fertility and healthy soils, there was no need for insecticides. I have never seen an economic loss from insect damage in those 20 years. which means we had to switch a few inputs like fertilizers and give up some tools, like the minimal amounts of herbicides we were then using, and the occasional antibiotics for the cows were gone. Paper work and rewards for making those changes. Today we farm about 1000 acres, milk about 200 cows, and do some cash cropping as well. Ours is a biological/ organic farm which means we do everything we can to get the soils healthy and mineralized creating an ideal home for soil life, feeding them, balancing their diet with types of feed and minerals as carefully we feed our cows.

2 every acre by using tools such as cover crops, tight rotations, compost, manures, soil correctives, increased crop fertilizers and controlled tillage. hay, bushel corn, 60 bushel beans. There are many ways to farm, but soil health and minerals are common to all. The question is how do we measure soil health and what is it that we measure? How do we measure our progress and what can we Field Day 1. Alfalfa: 2. Corn: from wide row to narrow; both liquids and dry crop fertilizers. Silage corns and grains along with sweet corn. Check out our new cultivator which I believe will make organic row crops easier to grow and more successful with better weed control. 3. Cover crop plot: all the latest types of plants to give the results needed when and where, with crops to be grown. 4. Vegetable production: buses will transport visitors to see a nearby vegetable farming operation on several acres, and gearing up to do a large scale local organic farm business with automation and scale in mind. 5. Dairy: The Otter Creek dairy herd, how we feed and manage on a high forage diet, from calves to heifers to dry cows to the milking herd. Our consultants and livestock nutrition specialists will be there to answer your questions, along with Gary Zimmer s daughter Sadie, who has taken over herd management. She can give you all the practical daily things we do for healthy, productive cows. 6. Nutrient management: How nutrients are managed on the farm; use of compost and manure; fertilizer and soil corrective uses. 7. Farm Stats: I hope to see you on Tuesday, Aug. 19. Gary F. Zimmer

3 Time To Start Thinking About Cover Crops by Jeff Gunderson, Staff Agronomist As wheat harvest begins in the Midwest it s time to start thinking about cover crops. The window between wheat or corn silage harvest and the end of the season can be a favorable time to establish a cover crop, but it is important to plan ahead and consider your options before moving forward. weeds, protect the soil from wind and water erosion, and enhance soil quality. crop there are a number of things to consider, one of the most important being what you are trying to accomplish with your cover crop. Selection depends on manure and a cover crop to hold on to that manure. Many growers will be looking terminated easily in the fall or spring. and will winterkill. Tillage radish can help to break up compacted layers. Sorghum-sudangrass can be a good choice for producers looking for emergency forage or to simply hold on to the nutrients coming from manure grains and/or legumes along with radishes may have utility; however, remember that timing of establishment is commonly seen in advertisements. Midwestern BioAg is proud to be able to provide our customers with Cover Crop Solutions cover crop seed. CCS TM includes Tillage Radish quickly in the spring, releasing nutrients. o Seed 3-10 weeks before a killing frost. Drill at 25 lb/ac or broadcast at 30 lb/acre. TM contains Tillage Radish as well, but in this case with triticale and crimson spring, providing early season erosion control and stimulating biological activity earlier due to the when planted alone. TM includes Tillage Radish along with a large amount of biomass quickly and can can be grazed, baled or cut for silage. Sunn hemp is a tropical

4 Are You Ready For Corn Silage? by Jordan Johnson, Staff Nutritionist Summer is moving right along and it isn t too early to start thinking about corn silage harvest. It sounds pretty obvious but you only get one opportunity to get your corn silage harvest right each year. Some labs would say that number might even be a bit generous Whole kernels passing undigested through cows could mean a particle length and how well the corn is crushed. Properly chopped corn silage should result in about 10-15% of TOP TEN Corn Silage Harvest Recommendations 1. Put it up at the right time. 2. Put up the right amount. 3. Put up the right hybrid. 4. Adequately chop and process silage. 5. Fill the silo quickly. 7. Use Fermentation Plus Inoculant. 9. Manage the face of the silo when feeding. 10. Be safe. Silage harvest days can be incredibly long. A Corn Silage Processing Score package or CSPS is a test package available along with your regular corn silage analysis. For less than the cost of 100lbs of milk, your silage will be accessed as optimum, average or inadequately processed. With the potential for a 4lb/hd/ day difference in milk production between inadequately processed silage and optimal, this package can pay for itself very quickly. Another great method to evaluate your processor is to toss a few handfuls of freshly chopped corn into a bucket of water, remove the the best and worst performers in a variety of trials. The highest-yielding hybrid averaged 3.2 tons/acre more dry matter than the lowest -producing one, a 39% difference. The average difference in milk per acre was about 11,500 lbs between the highest- and lowest-yielding hybrids. L-CBF Product Line: The Focus of 2014 Field Research by Abby Schulte, Marketing Coordinator As part of our product evaluation research this year, the Midwestern BioAg research team is managing plot trials at several locations around southern Wisconsin related to the performance of the L-CBF product line. Staff Agronomist-Jeff Gunderson, Intern-Kyle Dionne and VP of Education, Training and Outreach-Leilani Zimmer-Durand are all working together to evaluate L-CBF product performance along with Midwestern BioAg s dry fertilizer blends. Placement and timing of application are the focus of the trials being done this year. Kyle Dionne is managing the plots on a day-to-day basis, taking alfalfa clippings, evaluating root development and tissue testing at each research site. Midwestern BioAg also has several corn hybrid variety trials throughout the state and is even looking at a few other potential product offerings. RootSurge as a pop-up fertilizer on corn and soybeans. The RootSurge product contains several microbes that increased plant performance throughout the growing season. Staff Agronomist Jeff Gunderson notes that the RootSurge with L-CBF will stimulate biological activity, enhance early season root growth and and help to address

5 Midwestern BioAg is once again assessing the effectiveness of foliar forage quality are being measured on the alfalfa ground with rates of 5 gpa and 10 gpa being applied after each cutting on stubble and on regrowth are showing the best responses, but it is too early to say anything concrete. In soybeans we are looking at the effect of timely applications of L-CBF on yield; more to come on this at the end of the year. southern Wisconsin. Each farm is visited on a weekly basis and data is recorded to get the most information possible from each plot. The BioAg Learning Center also has plots where trials are currently being done that you will have the Field Day 2014: Products, Principles & Practices of Biological Farming By Mary Pohlman, Communications Specialist From corn to cover crops to cows to cabbage, Midwestern BioAg s 23rd annual Field Day will offer learning opportunities for every farmer and producer. Wagon tours will take visitors around the Learning Center to see the soil under our feet at the soil pit, then view The Tuesday, Aug. 19 event is returning to a full day format, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the BioAg Learning between Dodgeville and Lone Rock in Southwestern Wisconsin. Educational presentations on a variety of hot topics in agriculture will be ongoing throughout the day. Visitors can also take a farm tour, view demonstration plots, a soil pit, and ask questions at the information booth. Gary Zimmer, farmer, author, president and founder of Midwestern BioAg will sum up the day s activities with closing remarks at 3:30 p.m. The Field Day, says Gary Zimmer, is not only a celebration of biological farming, but a place to meet and visit with others, a chance to learn and see our farming methods and tools. There will be learning farmers. The products, practices and principles we use Zimmer and other BioAg consultants and staff will be and tours. Our day will start with a welcome by Zimmer at 10 a.m. Sessions and tours will begin at 10:30 and continue into the afternoon: Crop production: See no-till and rolled soybeans, plus sweet corn. Will also discuss weed control on an organic transportation to nearby location. Vegetable production, with MBA specialty crop consultant Allen Philo, will visit the nearby start-up three transportation. Cover crops demonstration plot will present the opportunity to view a selection of soil building/soil cover crops. 45 minute session. Forages: Alfalfa production, including foliar applications. 45 minute session. Liquid Carbon Based Fertilizer: Learn the advantages of Midwestern BioAg s L-CBF TerraFed, our Dairy nutrition and raising young stock at Otter Creek Organic Farm, including pastures. Healthy productive cows are the goal at Otter Creek, the Zimmer family s award winning organic dairy. The MBA booth, in the main tent, will feature livestock management, soil management, seed, precision agriculture, and specialty crop management. A catered hot lunch will be served.

6 Put Cover Crops to Work for You Midwestern BioAg offers a full line-up of Cover Crop Solutions Products. Want to see Cover Crops in action? Our Field Day will feature 10 different cover Cover crops improve soil fertility, add biodiversity, improve soil structure, increase yields, reduce compaction and increase water retention. Want to learn more about how cover crops will benefit your operation? Contact your Midwestern BioAg consultant today or give us a call at Blackhawk Drive Blue Mounds, WI Midwestern BioAg, Inc Blackhawk Drive Blue Mounds, WI Field Day will be held August 19th, 2014 at the BioAg Learning Center 6600 Hwy 130 Avoca, WI 10:00am-3:30pm