Research and technical support for on-farm transition to organic soybean production

Transcription

1 Research and technical support for on-farm transition to organic soybean production Interim Report to Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers Association Project Lead: Martin Entz Project Manager: Joanne Thiessen Martens Graduate Student: Michelle Carkner University of Manitoba June 17, 2015 This project involves 1) practical on-farm research and 2) a farmer-based model for farming system design. The main steps in the proposed research are as follows: 1. Identify interested farmers This took place in summer and fall of Martin Entz and members of the Natural Systems Agriculture research team (Anne Kirk and Joanne Thiessen Martens) together with the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association and Growers International identified conventional farmers interested in shifting some of their farm to certified organic production. So far, we have managed to attract 13 farmers from 9 farming families to the project (see names below). Our original goal was 10 farmers. 2. Establish the baseline conditions: on-farm data collection Our goal was to include 10 farms where all or a portion of the farm is organic production. So far we have identified 9 farms and data on the whole farm is being collected starting in January, Farming system design for transition to organic production and beyond. We visited all 9 farm families during the winter of 2014/15 to collect baseline data. We then hosted a meeting where the farmers shared their baseline data with each other and we started an inventory of practices that would enable more effective transition to organic soybean (and dry bean) production as well as collecting their information on tried and true organic production methods. The meeting was held at the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm on March 5, Participating Farmers: - Sam, Anne and Bill Appleby: applebys@sardiusholsteins.com - Scott Beaton: scott_beaton@hotmail.com - Ivan Bugera: ifbugera@hotmail.com 1

2 - Dennis Desrochers: - Jeremiah Evans: - Andrew and Patty Harris: - Dennis Hoeppner: - James Kuhl: / Kristen Gray: - Jason Peters: 3.1 To begin, each farmer shared their baseline data (specific information not shown) 3.2 Summary of Soybean / Edible Bean Production Discussion Prior crop in rotation: - Prior crop should remove a large quantity of nutrients (especially N) soybeans will thrive in low-n conditions, while weeds will be suppressed o Wheat before soybean is good; even consider two cereals before soybean o Hemp before soybean is not good leaves a lot of nutrients behind; residue is a problem - Need to have low levels of crop residue to allow for in-crop tillage Variety selection: - Days to maturity may be most accurate predictor of whether a soybean variety will mature on time (better than Corn Heat Units (CHU) or maturity groups) - Manitoba generally 00 or 000 maturity groups are recommended - Tundra, SK0007 good for short-season areas; Prudence mid-season, Jari long-season - Follow-up on variety characteristics for specific end use: o Tofu / soy milk varieties Large seed size, clear hilum, high protein concentrations o Natto varieties small seed size, clear hilum, thin seed coat, high carbohydrate concentration - More info on soybean grades and quality: o o - All varieties available to organic growers in Manitoba appear to be suitable for tofu / soymilk Seeding arrangement (row crop vs. solid seeded) - Advantages of row-crop: o Allow for inter-row tillage row spacing is less important than the ability to till in between rows anywhere from 6 to 30 can work with the right equipment o May reduce infection with sclerotinia (white mold) due to better air flow in crop canopy 2

3 o May increase podding height, making harvest easier - Down side of inter-row tillage brings stones to the surface, throws soil onto row, making harvest more difficult o Option can roll soybeans up to V3 stage. Increase seeding rate to allow for some plant mortality. Roll on a warm afternoon, when plants are more flexible. - Requirement to make solid-seeding work field with few weeds! o Use stale seedbed approach (till early in spring and again just before seeding) o In-crop harrowing / rotary hoe o Cover crop of fall rye tilled before seeding (or mowed or rolled, but timing of termination is tricky) o Very high seeding rate do the math on the economics first! Seeding rate: - At least seeds/ac, whether row cropping or solid seeding o This allows for some plant mortality due to in-crop tillage (harrow, rotary hoe) - Increase seeding rate even more if you will be rolling beans after row-crop cultivation - Very high seeding rate (above seeds/ac) may result in improved yield and weed competition Seeding date: - Wait until soil is at least 10C - Cold wet conditions at seeding can damage soybean plants for life, so if the forecast is cold and wet, it may be worth waiting a few days Inoculation: - Always inoculate soybeans with the correct strain of inoculant - Check with your certifier about allowable products o Lots of liquid products allowed; fewer granular or peat-based products - General recommendation from industry is to double-inoculate the first time growing beans, but this group observed good nodulation and fixation with a single inoculation Weed control: - Tillage immediately prior to seeding is very effective, even if weeds have not yet emerged o Place a square of plexi-glass on the soil to stimulate weed germination can give you 1-2 days notice of what is going to germinate in the field - Pre-emergence harrowing (or rotary hoe) also very effective. o Timing needs to be good depends on soil conditions, moisture, etc. o Early harrowing is most effective, when weeds are at white thread stage (just about to emerge) 3

4 o Set harrow at 45 angle - Post-emergence harrowing also effective o Again, timing is important wait until 2-leaf stage o Can use medium tine harrow, set less aggressive (rather than light weeding harrow) o One aggressive pass does less crop damage than 2 less-aggressive passes - Row-crop cultivation o U of M does at least 2 row-crop cultivations o As close to the row as possible - Weed clipping (above crop canopy) o Use swather (with or without canvas) or haybine With canvas was able to bale wild oats off top of bean crop Without canvas will spread weed residue out Harvesting: - Soybean staining is an issue with soil or with green plant material (weeds, weed seeds) o May reduce grade to feed instead of food grade o Roll soybeans to reduce amount of soil going through combine - Swathing soybeans is an option o Allows weed biomass to dry down less staining, easier to combine - Set combine to remove weed seeds from field o seed will be cleaned anyway, it s better to prevent weed seeds from returning to weed seed bank - Soybeans are ready to harvest when seeds rattle inside the pods. 4

5 4. On-farm variety testing and weed management research. In addition to the design work, it will be important to conduct some actual field experimentation. This will help farmers and researchers understand the challenges and opportunities of organic soybean production in a real farm setting. This work has been led by MSc student, Michelle Carkner. In 2014, the experiments were conducted on 6 of the 9 farms involved in the study. 4.1 Soil nutrient status at the sites 4.2 Organic soybean yields St. Pierre bu/ac Weedy Variety Treatment (bu/ac) (bu/ac) Auriga Ayton Carman DH DH Gretna Jari Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK

6 SVX14T Toma Tundra Carman CarmanVariety Treatment Weedy (kg/ha) (kg/ha) Ratio Auriga Ayton Carman DH DH Gretna Jari Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK SVX14T Toma Tundra Elie Variety Treatment Weedy (kg/ha) (kg/ha) Ratio Auriga Ayton DH Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK SVX14T Tundra

7 Somerset Variety Treatment Weedy (bu/ac) (bu/ac) Auriga Ayton DH Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK SVX14T Tundra Woodmore Bu/ac Variety Treatment Weedy (bu/ac) (bu/ac) Auriga Ayton DH Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK SVX14T Tundra

8 Notre Dame Bu/ac (bu/ac) Variety Treatment Weedy (bu/ac) Auriga Ayton DH Krios Petrel Prudence Savanna SK SVX14T Tundra