SWROC Research on Organic Vegetable Production and Field Crops

Transcription

1 SWROC Research on Organic Vegetable Production and Field Crops PAULO PAGLIARI NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST SOIL SCIENTIST 1

2 RESEARCH PROJECTS High Tunnels Oat Fertility/Variety/Seeding Rate Cover Crops/Manure/Tillage 2

3 Organic Vegetable Production in High Tunnel 3

4 WHY USE HIGH TUNNELS? Extend the season Produce ready for harvest earlier and later in the season Extra income Less stress for plants Easier disease management Lower insect and weed pressure Wind, rain, and hail protection 4

5 Temperature F 2015 TEMPERATURE 100 HT Max HT Min Outside Max Outside Min May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov 5

6 2015 GROWING DEGREE DAYS (GDD) more GDD 6

7 WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES? Finding a nutrient source with balanced amount of nutrients Animal manure Manure compost Green manure A few others (OMRI approved sources) Disease and insect control Tomato bottom end rot Cucumber beetles Spider mites 7

8 SOIL FERTILITY Most common problem Salt build up (nitrogen, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus) Why? Soil nutrient levels in 2012 N Na K P ppm

9 Soil nutrient levels in 2012 N Na K P ppm Soil Test P and K Interpretation Category For Vegetable Nutrient Very Low Low Optimum High Very High ppm P < >75 K < >200 9

10 SWROC RESEARCH Soil health Can we remediate problematic soils? What other sources of nutrients can we use? Crop rotation Tomato, bell peppers, cucumber, potatoes, sweet potatoes Double cropping Table beets, cauliflower, broccolis, brussels sprouts 10

11 WHY POTATO AND SWEET POTATO? High demand for potatoes in July Sweet potato is a good nutrient scavenger Can use up a lot of the built up nutrients and still give good yields Early harvest could allow for double cropping 11

12 HIGH TUNNEL EXPERIMENTS Test different nutrient sources Beef manure compost Alfalfa tissue compost Turkey manure compost (Sustane ) No fertility (control) Test yield potential of all 9 crops Three years Funded by The Ceres Trust 12

13 Seedlings started in early March 13

14 BED PREPARATION 14

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16 CUCUMBER TRANSPLANT 16

17 CUCUMBER HARVEST Harvest from June 18 to August 4 17

18 CUCUMBER Alfalfa and beef manure compost had higher yield than Sustane and control Treatment lbs / 1000 sf # fruits / 1000 sf AC 3,815 a 9,500 a BC 4,014 a 8,400 b SS 2,500 b 5,800 d C 2,755 b 6,783 c 18

19 TOMATO TRANSPLANT 19

20 TOMATO HARVEST Harvest from July 7 to October 23 20

21 TOMATO No statistical differences between treatments Treatment lbs / 1000 sf # fruits / 1000 sf AC 7,658 17,433 BC 7,322 15,717 SS 7,521 16,733 C 7,819 17,667 21

22 PEPPERS TRANSPLANT 22

23 PEPPERS HARVEST Harvest from June 27 to October 23 23

24 PEPPERS Alfalfa and Beef Manure Compost yielded more than the control and Sustane Treatment lbs / 1000 sf # fruits / 1000 sf AC 5,010 a 22,967 a BC 4,615 a 22,033 a SS 4,134 b 19,900 b C 3,766 b 18,567 b 24

25 POTATO HARVEST Harvested on July 28 25

26 POTATOES (LBS / 1,000 SF) Trt Red Norland Yukon Gold AC 896 b 1,999 a BC 1,414 a 1,200 b SS 1,649 a 627 c C 1,034 b 870 c Grade A B C A: equal or greater than 2.5" diameter B: between " diameter C: tubers less than 1.75" (creamer) Yield 6,537 a 2,336 b 816 c 26

27 SWEET POTATO TRANSPLANT 27

28 SWEET POTATO HARVEST Harvested on July 28 28

29 SWEET POTATOES (LBS/1,000 SF) Trt Beuregards Georgia Jets AC 245 a 608 a BC 334 a 514 a SS 276 a 440 a C 301 a 526 a 1: diameter from 1.75 to 4 2: diameter from 1 to : less than 1 Grade Yield b 2 1,882 a c 29

30 DOUBLE CROPPING Planting beets and cauliflower July 30 30

31 DOUBLE CROPPING 31

32 BEETS HARVEST Beets Harvest October 14 32

33 BEETS No significant differences between treatments Treatment lbs / 1000 sf # fruits / 1000 sf AC 337 1,567 BC 342 1,983 SS 293 1,783 C 261 1,883 33

34 BROCCOLI HARVEST Broccoli Harvest September 29 October 23 34

35 BROCCOLI All treatments better than the control Treatment lbs / 1000 sf # fruits / 1000 sf AC 211 a 350 a BC 208 a 333 a SS 202 a 350 a C 137 b 267 b 35

36 Available N / Acre SOIL NITROGEN 2013 VS Spring 2013 Fall

37 Bray-1 P (ppm) SOIL PHOSPHORUS 2013 VS Spring 2013 Fall

38 Extractable K (ppm) SOIL POTASSIUM 2013 VS Spring 2013 Fall

39 Organic oat research 39

40 ORGANIC OAT RESEARCH 2014, 2015, Tack (early); Shelby (medium); Hi-Fi (late season) 3 and 4 bushels/ac Beef manure and beef manure compost N at 0, 45, 90, and 135 lbs/ac 2015 All same except Hi-Fi replaced by Deon 40

41 Study was set up in areas planted to soybean in the previous year Main objective generate data on organic oat for southwest MN farmers Nutrient needs Best source of N Most efficient seeding rates 41

42 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2014 YIELD: HI-FI 120 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 42

43 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2014 YIELD: TACK 120 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 43

44 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2014 YIELD: SHELBY 120 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 44

45 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2015 YIELD: DEON 150 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 45

46 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2015 YIELD: TACK 150 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 46

47 Organic Oats Yield (bu/acre) 2015 YIELD: SHELBY 150 Compost Manure Nitrogen Application Rate (lbs/acre) 47

48 SUMMARIES 3 bushel seeding is as good as 4 bushel seeding rate Between 45 to 90 lbs of N is enough for Oat following soybean Mid to late season varieties are best suited for southwest MN 48

49 Cover Crop Research at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center 49

50 WHY DO FARMERS USE COVER CROPS? 50

51 COVER CROPS CAN SERVE AS N-fixers Nutrient scavengers Weed suppressors Allelopathy Compaction alleviators Wind and water erosion control Biofumigation 51

52 LONG TERM SOIL QUALITY Improved aeration Increased organic matter Increased water holding capacity Increased water infiltration Decreased bulk density Less compaction and crusting problems 52

53 TILLAGE RADISH Fast growing Planting date Sensitive to winter temperatures Warmer and dryer seedbed Subsoil compaction Nutrient scavenger Weed suppression 53

54 PRODUCER CONCERNS 1. What are considered the best management practices for our area? Establishment Date of planting Fertility needs 2. How much nitrogen will be available for the following crop? Availability for the next crop Rapid decomposition 54

55 UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF OILSEED RADISH AND PERENNIAL COVER CROPS AS NUTRIENT SOURCES FOR FIELD CROPS 55

56 Objectives Main objectives: Assess the impact of oilseed radish cover crop mixtures on the availability of soil N to subsequent corn crop Determine manure effects on radish establishment Secondary objectives Determine N efficiency in a reduced tillage organic system Determine effectiveness of tillage radish as a winter soil cover 56

57 TREATMENTS Cover crops: Single species mixes: Red clover Tillage radish Multi-species: Annual: Tillage Radish, berseem clover and oats Perennial: Tillage Radish, berseem clover, and winter rye Manure Applied prior to cover crops planting (100#/A) No manure Tillage Incorporation of manure No incorporation of manure 57

58 lb/a lb/a lb/a COVER CROP BIOMASS- ABOVEGROUND planted Sept planted Aug planted Aug treatment Red clover Tillage Radish Grass crops Legume crop 58

59 lb/a lb/a lb/a COVER CROP BIOMASS- ABOVEGROUND planted Sept planted Aug planted Aug treatment Red clover Tillage Radish Grass crops Legume crop 59

60 MANURE NO MANURE FALL COVER- MANURE TR only TR BC - O TR BC - WR 60

61 TILLAGE NO TILL FALL COVER-TILLAGE TR only TR BC - O TR BC - WR 61

62 TILLAGE NO TILL FALL COVER-MEDIUM RED CLOVER Red Clover No cover crop 62

63 SOIL COVER FOLLOWING SMALL GRAIN Legume (red clover) interseed very consistent 92-96% living ground cover Average Living cover % treatments 63

64 SOIL COVER FOLLOWING SMALL GRAIN Total ground cover % 86-89% 75% 90.0 % Living cover Wheat residue 0.0 Average treatments 64

65 TILLAGE RADISH- BELOWGROUND Areas that were tilled had much larger taproots, than areas that were only drilled 65

66 bu/a CORN YIELD Average RC TR TR-BC-O TR-BC-WR No Treatment 66

67 No interseed bu/a RC interseed WHEAT HARVEST

68 CROPS? Conventional/ Organic Wheat Berseem $2.20/lb clover NA Medium red Winter Rye Tillage Radish Oats DO YOU REALLY NEED AN ORGANIC PREMIUM TO JUSTIFY USING COVER 2.00/lb 3.20/lb 28.00/50lb 39.50/50lb 3.00/lb 5.80/lb 9.00/bu 12.50/bu Seeding Cost/A info 120 lbs/a 10 lb/a $ lb/a $20.00 $ bu/a (60lb/A) $33.60 $ lb/a $30.00 $ bu/a $9.00 $12.50 Cover crops: Single species mixes: RC: $20.00/32.00 TR: $30.00/58.00 Multi-species: TR-BC-O: $61.00/92.00 TR-BC-WR: $85.60/

69 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES SARE: Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3 rd addition Download FREE at: Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops- Profitably-3rd-Edition Risk Management Guide for organic producters Moncada and Sheaffer s/organicriskmanagement.umn.edu/files/ris k_managment_publication.pdf 69

70 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Midwest Cover crops Field Guide, Midwest Cover Crops Council, Perdue Extension $5 CCFG.aspx Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations, SARE Rooms/Cover-Crops 70

71 EXTENSION AND OUTREACH SWROC has hosted an annual organic field day for over 10 years Fourthyear for the organic field school Season extension day for organic vegetable Extension Publications Organic Oat production Organic Vegetable production in High Tunnels 71

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74 THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING QUESTIONS? 74