Perennial Cover Cropping Colin Seis

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Justin Alexander
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1 Perennial Cover Cropping Colin Seis 2015 Annual SANTFA conference

2 Winona Myself and son Nick Granite soil, Ph acres (840 Ha) 650 mm annual Rainfall 300 km NW of Sydney Central Tablelands NSW

3 Cattle trading Winona Enterprises acres of Crops Wheat, oats, cereal rye Merino Sheep wool & meat production. Working Kelpie Dogs Merino Stud ram sales Native Grass Seed

4 My Great Grandparents, Nicholas and Catherine Seis were some of the original pioneer/settlers in the district in Produced merino sheep and wool Started growing wheat in 1868

5 Due to poor sheep and wool prices, wheat production expanded on Winona in the 1930s. Growing wheat was very profitable in the 1930s

6 Within 20 years major damage to soil and grasslands had occurred Ploughing and sowing wheat destroyed Winona s grassland and contributed to soil health decline, erosion and salinity Same paddock 5 years later

7 My father (Harry Seis) fixed many of the erosion and pasture problems in 1940s Filled erosion gullies Re-sowed pastures with introduced clover, rye grass Began an innovative fertilizer program for pastures and crops. Started to use shorter fallow periods to avoid soil erosion.

8 Industrialized, high input, farming methods From 1950 to 1978 on Winona All sown to introduced pasture (clover ryegrass, etc and regularly re-sown) Pasture annually fertilized with 125kg/ha Ploughing and cultivating to sow crops (high rates of fertilizer & pesticides) Set stock grazing This high input system was very productive during this era

9 Winona became weedy and unproductive. Over time, industrialized agriculture was doing serious ecological damage to Winona These high input methods were costing us over $80,000 annually (2014 values)

10 High input, Industrialized Agriculture started to crash on Winona during the 1970s Fertilizer costs became too high Cost of sowing pasture became too high. Rainfall no longer infiltrated Soil lost structure Soil became acid Salinity problems Trees dying We were going broke

11 How and why did I change?? During the 1970s the cost of production was becoming too high and it was more difficult to be profitable BUT!

12 Major bushfire destroyed Winona 1979 Winona Homestead 1979 Winona Shearing Shed sheep killed All buildings destroyed 50 k of fencing burned No money

13 Because of the fire I had no money and few livestock I decided to grow more crops. Ploughing, scarifying and 3 workings created: Poor structured soil. Acid soil. Declining Soil Carbon. Crop disease. Like my fathers era, this method eventually failed

14 In 1985 I started to zero till crops. Weed control with Roundup in November. 3-4 more herbicide applications pre sowing. Herbicide applications in- crop 60 kg/ha DAP at sowing. Urea added in crop Crop yields good at first. I had replaced the plough with the boom spray Things started to go wrong, Declining yields, crop disease, insect attack.

15 How did I fix the problems? The agronomic advice in 1990 was: Increase fertiliser rates to over 100 kg/ha of DAP Add more Urea in crop. Use fungicides Insecticides. Better weed control with more herbicides.

16 I did not accept the advice. It did not add up financially. The increased amount of N required at sowing required split application and seeder modifications. I thought there was something seriously wrong if fertiliser had to be increased to a point where it became toxic to the plant. How did I solve these problems??

18 Pasture Cropping was invented and developed in 1993 by Colin Seis and Daryl Cluff.

19 Pasture Cropping is Perennial Cover Cropping

20 Cost of sowing annual cover crops Why not Annual Cover Cropping? Perennial Cover Cropping suited my mixed farming enterprises. Annual Cover crops sometimes struggle through our summer.

21 Pasture Cropping is a land management technique where annual crops are zero - tilled into dormant perennial grass or grassland. Without killing the perennial grass.

22 Why haven't crops been planted into perennial grass before? It was known that annual plants will compete with each other. (wheat & annual grass) It was assumed that perennial plants would also be incompatible with cereal crops. Crop disease No one had looked at how nature worked in a grassland (Warm season and cool season plants are compatible)

Weeds are managed by creating large quantities of thick litter by using good grazing

23 Zero till sowing of crops into perennial pasture. Never Plough. Pasture Cropping Never kill perennial species. Weeds are managed by creating large quantities of thick litter by using good grazing management of livestock. Weeds are also managed with very careful management of selective herbicides. Pasture Cropping is perennial cover cropping

24 February 2010 Pasture Cropping Perennial grassland

25 Pasture Pasture Cropping Pasture Cropping Cropping Harvesting native grass seed March 2010

26 Sowing Oats May 2010 Pasture Cropping After mulching with sheep and/or Cattle, zero-till the crop into litter and mulch of dormant warm season perennial grass.

27 Sow crop into litter Pasture Cropping No herbicide is required with this much litter

28 Emerging Crop Pasture Cropping

29 10 th September 2010 Pasture Cropping The crop can be grazed by animals

30 Pasture Cropping 14 th October 2010

31 Pasture Cropping Harvest the crop with emerging perennial grass beneath

32 Graze grassland after the crop is harvested

33 Native grass seed can be harvested after the cereal crop is harvested Seed is sold for re-vegetation, and in the future, sold for human consumption

34 Over a 12 month period the paddock has produced 1. Native grass seed 2. Grazing of grassland pre sowing the crop 3. Grazing of the crop 4. Grain from the crop 5. Grazing of grassland after harvest (sheep & cattle) 6. Native grass seed Reduced fertilizer (reduced by 70%) No insecticide No fungicide No ploughing

35 There are no warm season (summer) grass species in South Australia ///

36 There are no warm season (summer) grass in Western Australia either/// They sowed warm season grass like Gatton panic, Rhodes grass, Digit, and summer growing perennial legumes like Siratro. Then zero tilled crops (pasture crop) into them.

37 Pasture Cropping Trials 2008 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry WA Barley Pasture Cropped into Gatton Panic & Rhodes Grass. Control (No- till total weed control. No perennials.) Yield 2.81 t/ha Pasture Cropped into Gatton panic Yield 2.85 t/ha Pasture Cropped into Rhodes grass. Yield 2.55t/ha Pasture Cropped into Siratro (perennial legume,) Yield 2.93 David Ferris

38 Pasture Cropping Trials Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry WA Grazing through summer is improved. Pasture dry matter yield (6 weeks after harvest) Control - Zero pasture dry matter Gatton panic ton /ha Rhodes grass ton/ha Siratro (perennial legume,).25 ton/ha David Ferris

39 Pasture Cropping report 2014 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry W.A. Caring for our Country project. Analysis based on 2012 results (decile 1 year) showed that three years of pasture followed by one year of pasture cropping out performed conventional crop/annual pasture rotations by around $60/ha or $15/ha/yr (Hagan et al. 2014).

40 Pasture Cropping report 2014 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry W.A. Caring for our Country project. Pasture Cropping appears to offer flexibility to switch between crop and livestock production, and greater stability in income across years relative to annual-pasture/annual-crop rotations.

Pasture Cropping (Pasture - Wheat Intercropping) Research by The Land Institute Kansas USA J Glover, J Duggan, L Jackson Comparing Pasture Cropping, No-till, & Hay production.

41 Pasture Cropping (Pasture - Wheat Intercropping) Research by The Land Institute Kansas USA J Glover, J Duggan, L Jackson Comparing Pasture Cropping, No-till, & Hay production. Some of the Results were: Pasture Cropping grain yields were 20% less Pasture Cropping produced more hay Pasture Cropping improved soil health Pasture Cropping increased perennial plant diversity Pasture Cropping was more profitable. Pasture Cropping: $82/ac, No till: $50/ac, Hay: minus $29/ac

42 Perennial grass diversity improves soil health, increases soil microbes, soil structure, soil carbon and capture and cycles nutrients. Over time this will: Control crop disease Allow a reduction in fertiliser Increase insect diversity (control insect attack) Increase ground cover (control weeds)

43 What were the results on Winona? Grow crops of similar yield to Zero Till (oats 2-4 ton/ha) Improved perennial pasture production (now a perennial grassland) Run more sheep Plus More///

44 On Winona no insecticide has been used for over 20 years. We have no insect attack in crops and pasture. How??

Insecticides are not selective, they also kill predators like spiders and wasps that will

45 1. On Winona there is now 600% more insects and 125% more insect diversity. 2. Insect attack of crops and pastures can be controlled by having more insects. 2. Insecticides are not selective, they also kill predators like spiders and wasps that will control insects naturally. Insects 3. Insecticides will ultimately lead to more insects and more insecticides.

46 On Winona no perennial grass pasture has been re-sown for 30 years. How?

Pasture Cropping has been shown to improve existing pastures and restore grasslands Pasture Cropping does this by stimulating perennial grass recruitment

47 Pasture Cropping has been shown to improve existing pastures and restore grasslands Pasture Cropping does this by stimulating perennial grass recruitment from seed in the soil. How? Small soil disturbance while planting Root Exudates from the crop Improvement in soil health. Micro-climate created by the crop

48 Crop Fertilizer reduced by 70% Now use 35kg DAP/ha no urea No fertiliser used on pasture for over 30 years How??

49 Winona s soil now has 204% more organic carbon. Has sequestered 46.7 t /Ha of carbon (172 ton/ha of CO2.) Holds almost 200% more water. (360,000 lt /Ha) Winona Soil Neighbor soil All of the soil nutrients including trace elements have increased by an average of 172% Ph has changed from Pp

50 Fertiliser does not have to come from a bag Myrorrhizal Fungi supply P, N trace elements and water Protozoa and nematodes eat bacteria & fungi which supplies N and other nutrients Free living N fixing bacteria supply Nitrogen (up to 40kg/ha)

51 No fungicide used on Winona for over 20 years No crop or pasture disease How??

52 Having healthy soil with large numbers and large diversity of soil microbes will control plant and crop disease Soil microbe tests on Winona have shown Total fungi increase 862% Total bacteria increase 350% Total protozoa increase 640% Total nematode increase over 1000%

53 Is it profitable?

54 Winona annual costs (2013 costs) From (high chemical & pesticide agriculture) Annual cropping expenses $40, ac: Pasture fertilizer $51,000 Annual sheep Vet costs $12000 Annual pasture establishment $5000 Annual cost $107,000 From ( pasture cropping & time control grazing) Annual cropping expenses $20, ac: No pasture fertilizer $0 Annual sheep Vet costs $7000 Annual pasture establishment $0 Annual Cost $27,000 Annual saving $80,000 annually

55 Is it productive?

56 Compared to previous high input Annual income is higher Crop yields are similar. agriculture Winona is running more sheep and cattle Harvest and sell over 1000 Kg of native grass seed annually Soil organic carbon levels are increasing Soil Phosphorus, calcium, ph, magnesium and trace elements are increasing (available and total) With over $80,000 less inputs and less labor

57 Agriculture, and sound ecological practices should function together

58 By managing agriculture and sound ecological principals together, we can improve: Profit Soil Carbon & water holding capacity. Nutrient availability & cycling. Plant and animal diversity. Plant and animal disease. Soil health.

59 Agriculture can be more profitable, & environmentally regenerative. But: Agricultural practices need to function closer to how Nature had it originally designed

Profitable regenerative Agriculture. Colin Seis

Profitable regenerative Agriculture Colin Seis Winona Myself and son Nick 2000 acres (840 Ha) Granite soil, Ph 4.5-5.0, 650 ml av. Rainfall Central Tablelands NSW 4000 Merino sheep 500 acres of pasture