Creating a Framework To Evaluate Your Cover Crop Options; a California Central Coast perspective

Transcription

1 Creating a Framework To Evaluate Your Cover Crop Options; a California Central Coast perspective Presentation by Drew Mather, Conservation Planner, USDA-NRCS Soil Health Management Workshop, San Jose, CA

2 Topics to cover: Benefits Species selection Recommended cover cropping practices Examples Equipment and labor required Cost analysis.

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5 Context Questions for You: 1. What is your PRIMARY GOAL using a cover crop? 2. What is the BEST TIME & PLACE for me to use a cover crop? 3. What are my limitations?

6 More Questions for You: 1. What is your PRIMARY GOAL using a cover crop? Boost nutrient levels in the soil? Slow erosion? Enhance habitat for beneficial insects? Increase soil organic matter? Increase water infiltration rates?

7 More Questions for You: 2. What is the BEST TIME & PLACE for me to use a cover crop? How will my cover crop be terminated? When will my cover crop be terminated? How will this fit in with my cash crop production schedule? Can I cover crop DURING cash crop cycles (ie. Furrow cover cropping?

8 More Questions for You: 3. What are my limitations? Can I accept that there is no perfect mix? Do I have physical, biological, or chemical limitations in my soils planting these mixes? What pest pressures do I have that may be affected by planting these mixes? Can I accept that the benefits of cover cropping may take many years to see?

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10 CO 2 (400 ppm, 2017, highest in 800,000 years) Sugar Organic Matter

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12 How do seed companies organize the seed? Grains Oats, Barley, Triticale, Sudangrass Big Annual Legumes Bell Beans, Peas, Vetch, Cowpeas Small Annual Legumes Crimson Clover, Rose Clover, Subterranean Clover, Berseem, Medics, etc. Annual Grasses Annual Ryegrass, Blando Bromegrass, Zorro Fescue, etc. Perennial Legumes N. Z. White Dutch Clover, Strawberry Clover, Trefoil, Alfalfa Perennial Grasses Creeping Red Fescue, Perennial Ryegrass, Hard Fescue, Purple Needlegrass

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15 EXAMPLE: Erosion Control Mix Contains: 35% Annual Ryegrass 15% Blando Brome 15% Rose Clover 15% Crimson Clover 20% Gala Brome Recommended seeding rate: 30 lbs per acre, with higher rates recommended on sloped ground. How big is the area you are wanting to prevent erosion?

16 EXAMPLE: Erosion Control Mix How and when are you going to seed this mix? Drill or Broadcast Seeder? October before the rains? November in between the rains? December in the rains?

17 EXAMPLE: Erosion Control Mix How and when are you going to terminate your plants? Flail or Rotary Mower? Hand tools? Discing? March before the plants flower? April while the plants are flowering? May after the plants set seed?

18 EXAMPLE: Erosion Control Mix Area to be seeded: 2 acres How and when to seed?: Broadcast/Drilled? October/Nov/Dec? How much seed?: 30 lbs/ac 60 lbs, total. How and when to terminate? Discer/Mower/Chemicals? Early or late spring?

19 Seeding Equipment: To drill To broadcast

20 Seeding Equipment: To drill To broadcast

21 Seeding Equipment: To drill

22 Seeding Equipment: To drill Pros: Good seed to soil contact High precision of seed placement Cons: Heavy and expensive

23 Seeding Equipment: To broadcast Pros: Less expensive than drills Handles fine seed well Cons: Wind issues, difficult to calibrate

24 Termination Equipment: To Flail Mow To Rotary Mow

25 Termination Equipment: To Flail Pros: Give the most height control Superior at shredding biomass Cons: More expensive (including more maintenance & fuel)

26 Termination Equipment: To Rotary Pros: Less expensive than Flail mowers & work well in low growing crops Cons: Require more passes in high growing vegetation

27 How much is this going to cost?

28 How much is this going to cost? Labor cost: highly variable, $10-30 per hour on up for hired labor needed to plant, monitor, and terminate Equipment cost: Seeders: highly variable, no-till drills vary between $ a day to rent (Check out Goldridge RCD) Mowers: highly variable cost (Flail mower, $200 per day to rent)

29 How much is this going to cost? Equipment cost: Discing Highly variable, but typically discing 1 acre 2x takes approximately 35 minutes. $53 per acre (2017 prices, UCCE study, incl fuel & labor) Tractor rentals are typically based on horsepower per hour (0.25 to 0.50 per HP) 100 HP tractor x $0.50 per HP x 0.58 hrs = $29 per acre TOTAL APPROXIMATE DISCING COST = $53 + $29 or $82

30 How much is this going to cost? Seed cost: $100 Equipment cost: Seeding $150 Labor cost: Seeding $30 (2 hours at $15 per hr) Equipment cost: Mowing $200 Labor cost: Mowing $30 (2 hours at $15 per hr) Equipment cost: Discing $82 Labor cost: Discing N/A incl in $82 above $592 per acre to plant and terminate a cover crop

31 A few examples Cost studies (UCCE/NRCS 2003) Annual cover crop: $ per acre (seedbed prep, planting, irrigating, chopping brush 1x, mow 1 x before discing, discing 3x) Cost studies (Klonsky et al. 1992) Annual cover crop: $92 per acre (seedbed prep, planting, irrigating, chopping brush 1x, mow 1 x before discing, discing 3x)

32 How much is this going to cost? Depends on your context (acres vs sq ft) Larger farms (100 s to 1000 s of acres) doing extensive cost analysis typically figure between $20-30 per acre (seed cost, labor cost, equipment cost) to plant a cover crop. Smaller farms (10 s of acres), these figures per acre could be vastly different. NRCS Standard Payment rates for cover crop in 2017 were approximately $60 per acre (40 acre typical farm scenario)

33 Some examples: Walnut Orchard, Hollister, CA September

34 Same walnut orchard, Hollister, CA February

35 Same walnut orchard Hollister, CA March

36 Same walnut orchard, looking down at the ground (pre mowing (upper left), and post mowing (upper right)

37 Same walnut orchard, Hollister, CA March After mowing

38 Same walnut orchard, Hollister, CA March Tree rows hard to mow due to irrigation system.

39 Steeper sloped cover crop example in Gilroy, CA Poppies & other wildflowers added to an erosion control mix

40 Steeper sloped cover crop example in Saratoga, CA Erosion control mix

41 December Planting, Hollister, CA Oats, Vetch, Pea January Clipping

42 Furrow Cover Crops in Peppers Gilroy, CA Triticale 1-2% slope Used to help slow erosion.

43 Furrow Cover Crops in Peppers Gilroy, CA Triticale After chemical Treatment w/ herbicide.

44 No single cover crop management strategy will be appropriate and effective for all conditions. From the publication: Managing Cover Crops Profitably Handbook Series Book 9 Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture THIRD EDITION

45 Take as much care in selecting and managing cover crops as you would a cash crop. From Page 3 of the publication: Managing Cover Crops Profitably Handbook Series Book 9 Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture THIRD EDITION

46 talk to others who are experienced with that cover crop. From Page 3 of the publication: Managing Cover Crops Profitably Handbook Series Book 9 Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture THIRD EDITION

47 Think of this book as a tool chest, not a cookbook. You won t find the one simple recipe to meet your farming goals. You will find the tools to select and manage the best cover crops for the unique needs of your farm.. From Page 7 of the publication: Managing Cover Crops Profitably Handbook Series Book 9 Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, THIRD EDITION

48 Arrive at a solution. Don t impose it. From Toby Hemenway s book: Gaia s Garden, 2 nd edition

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50 THANK YOU for your attention today Please me at: Please call me at: Please visit me at: 2337 Technology Parkway, Suite C, Hollister, CA Special thanks to Karen Lowell, Ph.D, NRCS Area Agronomist, for assistance with slides and cover crop framework discussions