The Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society promotes an agriculture that
builds healthy land, people, communities and quality of life, for present and
future generations.
NSAS is a non-profit membership organization. Annual membership costs $25,
which includes a year's subscription to the NSAS newsletter. For more
information about NSAS or the information in this newsletter, please contact:
NSAS, PO Box 736, Hartington, NE 68739; 402-254-2289. Fax: 402-254-6930.
E-mail: criscarusi@aol.com.
The NSAS newsletter is published quarterly. We welcome articles, letters,
poetry and other contributions, which should be sent to the above address.
Articles appearing in this newsletter may be reproduced; please credit the
authors and the NSAS newsletter. This newsletter is supported in part by
grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the US Environmental Protection
Agency.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Part 1:
Capturing the Most Basic Nutrient: Sunlight
Mulch Keeps Life Simple
NSAS Board Elects New Officers
Farming From the Neck Up
Growing Dryland Wheat Without Ammonium Nitrate
Balancing Animal Rations for Nutrient Management
Prevent Agricultural Pollution with Nutrient Management "Yardsticks"
Part 2:
Garden Brings Agriculture to the City
Women's Group Enhances Members' Quality of Life
Taking Stock of the '96 Farm Bill
Cooperation Makes for a Fun, Successful Market, part 2
Resources
Poetry
Capturing the Most Basic Nutrient: Sunlight
by Wyatt Fraas, Center for Rural Affairs
Most discussions of nutrients for crop or grazing lands begin and end with
the mineral elements, like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Livestock
discussions also include vitamins and amino acids. Water is another critical
nutrient for growth, reproduction and maintenance. But sunlight is the most
basic nutrient of all. Plants depend on sunlight to photosynthesize their
food. Livestock depend on plants, or animals that eat plants, for
nourishment.
At the most basic level, farmers and ranchers turn sunlight energy into
products to use or sell. Plants convert sunlight into food and fiber for
animals and people. Farmers can sell or eat the plants, or they can harvest
them to feed livestock. Allan Savory of the Center for Holistic Resource
Management describes this process in the above graphic.
Unfortunately, solar energy is lost at each of these steps. About 6% of the
energy that hits a plant can be turned into more plant material. Only about
10% of the plant's energy is available as food for plant-eaters. The rest is
lost to decay, or is used by the plant. Only about 10% of the energy in those
plant eaters is available to predators. The rest is lost as heat, or through
body maintenance and decay. Only about 10% of the energy in the predators is
available to humans and other critters who feed on meat-eating animals like
fish, poultry, and bears. This energy forfeited at each conversion is truly
lost - neither we nor other living organisms can make use of it. Fortunately,
this energy flow is constantly replenished by sunlight.
How do we improve our collection of solar energy? Farmers and ranchers
control the time when plants convert sunlight to plant material. A mix of
'warm' and 'cool' season grasses in a pasture, for example, will convert
sunlight throughout the growing season. Young leaves are slightly more
efficient at photosynthesis than older leaves.
Producers decide how much land area is covered by sunlight-trapping plants.
Crop planting density directly affects the number of plants in a field that
are converting sunlight energy into useful forms. Cover crops make use of
otherwise bare ground between rows, during fallow periods, or before and
after crop growing seasons.
Farmers and ranchers also control the volume of plant leaves that trap
sunlight. Leaf area varies with the type of plant, as well as the planting
density. Tall plants with broad leaves will intercept more sunlight than
short plants with narrow leaves.
Tallgrass prairie provides a natural example of how time, area and volume
interact to capture a maximum of sunlight energy. A wide variety of plants,
including grasses, legumes, forbs and trees, grow from the spring thaw
through the hot dry summer, until the fall freeze. Some of these plants
remain green throughout the winter.
On the native prairie, patches of soil are sometimes bare of green leaves.
Annual plants use these spaces between perennial plants in the spring and
fall, while a canopy of taller plants' leaves covers those spots in the
summer. Not too long ago, bison and other grazers periodically fed on and
then avoided parts of the prairie. Modern management-intensive graziers
mimic this pattern to maintain nutritious, fast-growing pastures.
Technology can enhance the land's ability to capture sunlight.
Fertilization can make plants healthier, bigger, or more numerous. Pest
controls can keep plants healthy, and irrigation can extend the growing
season into dry periods.
But technology costs money, which can only be recovered through increased
plant production. When wealth is generated from on-farm resources, it can be
measured in "solar dollars." Plant production supported by outside resources,
such as petroleum energy, is subsidized by non-renewable "mineral dollars."
Mineral dollars have brought many material gains, but our dependence on
mineral resources has resulted in air and water pollution, wildlife losses,
and social inequities, among other problems.
Allan Savory proposes that generating wealth from sunlight is the smartest
choice we can make: "...we can generate income from human creativity, labor,
and constant sources of energy such as geothermal heat, wind, tides, falling
water, and most of all the sun....
"A characteristic of wealth derived from this combination is that it tends
to not damage our life support system or to endanger mankind.... A further
characteristic is that it is the only form of wealth that can actually feed
people."
Quotes from Holistic Resource Management, Allan Savory, 1988, Island Press
Mulch Keeps Life Simple
by Thomas N. Tomas
One of the best ways to recycle organic matter is to use it as mulch. Mulch
will protect the soil from erosion, control weeds and conserve moisture.
One of the most common mulch materials available to the gardener is grass
clippings. If they are dried out like hay, they can be applied liberally to
the soil around established plants. If the clippings are fresh, they should
be applied to a thickness of one to two inches. If you apply them too
thickly, they may heat up and damage your plants. I like to apply about an
inch and a half in June, and another layer later in the summer if the first
layer rots down enough to allow weeds to germinate.
Now is the best time to mulch warm season crops like tomatoes, squash,
peppers, cucumbers and melons because the soil has warmed up and they are
starting to bush or vine out. First cultivate the soil to eliminate any
established weeds. If the mulching is thorough, you should not have to weed
again this summer. If you are like me, you will have enough to do harvesting
your vegetables without weeding.
If herbicides or other pesticides have been applied to the lawn, it is best
not to mulch the clippings from two mowings after application. The pesticides
may damage garden crops or contaminate them with residues. Wheat straw may
also carry herbicide residue, as standing wheat is often sprayed to control
weeds prior to harvest. Check with the farmer who supplies your straw to be
sure that herbicides have not been used on the crop. Alfalfa hay or prairie
hay are excellent mulch materials and are not likely to have had any
herbicide problems.
The mulch will not only keep down weeds, cool the soil and conserve
moisture, but will build organic matter in the soil as it decomposes. It will
encourage earthworms and other beneficial insects to build up your soil. It
also provides excellent habitat for spiders and ground beetles, which can
control many problem insects.
Try a little mulch this summer. It will make life simpler for you and
encourage more life in your soil.
NSAS Board Elects New Officers
The NSAS Board of Directors elected three new officers and welcomed five new
members during its April meeting.
Tom Larson was elected NSAS President, replacing outgoing board member
Lowell Schroeder. Tom Tomas will serve as Vice President, replacing Warren
Sahs. John Ellis will replace Tom Larson as Secretary, and Tim Powell will
continue in his position as Treasurer. Marvin Lange was selected to represent
NSAS on the Nebraska IMPACT Project's Management Team.
New NSAS board members are:
John Ellis, York. John farms southwest of York, Nebraska. His operation
includes raised bed vegetable production. He sells his products directly to
consumers through farmers markets, roadside stands and Community Supported
Agriculture subscriptions.
Darlene Fletcher, Avoca. Darlene and her husband have farmed together for 36
years, and together started Fletcher Agri-Service. For 10 years, Darlene has
managed this business, which provides plant protection products, plant
nutrients, custom application and seed. Darlene is in favor of conservation,
water protection, recycling, and compliance with regulations, to create a
safe environment for her customers and neighbors.
Troy Kash-Brown, Lincoln. Troy has farmed with his grandparents off and on
for the past eight years. He currently works full time as a fire fighter in
Lincoln. For a long time, he has been interested in finding ways to
economically and ecologically profit from farming.
Carl Kemper, Crete. Carl and his wife farm 80 acres, and are converting from
commercial production to a sustainable crop rotation without chemicals. He
encourages wildlife on his farm by planting trees and grasses. He raises and
processes Kemper's Original Red Nebraska Popcorn.
Morton Stelling, Lincoln. Mort serves as trustee and farm manager for the
Althouse Family Trust. The trust owns a 270 acre cash grain farm in western
Cass County. Located on highly erodible land, soil is conserved with
waterways, terraces, tiles and risers, as well as buffer strips, filter
strips and wildlife habitat improvement areas - all planted in native
vegetation. No-till farming practices are followed to conserve soil and
water.
Farming From the Neck Up
by Tom Larson
Since the theme of this NSAS newsletter is nutrient management, I thought
I'd add my 5 cents' worth on the subject.
Sustainable farming practices are a bit different from the way I used to
farm. Years ago I would watch my neighbors, talk to the seed dealer and
speak to the folks at the local co-op to obtain the advice I needed to get a
good crop. I found myself in the same boat as my neighbors, so to speak -
narrow profit margins, rigid compliance to various government programs, and
general frustration with the mix of inputs that performed well some years but
not others.
I started planting soybeans in some fields and really liked what they did
for the soil and the next year's crop. I didn't need a college education to
see that monoculture is not the way that mother nature does things.
Diversity in plants and animals is abundant throughout any ecosystem. It
looked like a good example to follow.
Sustainable farming practices require more information and knowledge than
traditional practices. Where do you get this information? Do we want to
turn the clock back 100 years and farm that way? No, not really . . . but we
can take some of the concepts and practices, apply modern techniques and come
up with something that fits our present situation and lifestyle.
I believe that every person should spend some time and money on themselves
each year to buy a book or two, take a day off to go see a different type of
ag operation, or just "recharge" their spiritual batteries.
It is your distinct pleasure to pick and choose the farming system that fits
your goals and lifestyle as we enter this era of reduced government
involvement. NSAS members and mentors, county Extension Educators, ATTRA (a
free information service for low input and sustainable agricultural
practices), and various publications all have something for farmers who want
to manage their farms and nutrients "from the neck up." Give NSAS a call if
you want to know more about any of these resources.
Growing Dryland Wheat Without Ammonium Nitrate
by Jane Sooby
Most wheat farmers in western Nebraska rely on nitrogen fertilizer to
nourish their crops. Mark Jones uses a different approach. Growing mainly
wheat, amaranth, and millet, he uses legumes as the primary source of
nitrogen. A certified organic farmer with 20 years of experience, Jones
farms 1200 dryland acres on the farm that he grew up on north of Lodgepole,
Nebraska. He lives with his wife Marcy and their two daughters in Oshkosh.
Jones bucks conventional wisdom in this dry area by interseeding yellow
sweetclover into his amaranth crop, leaving the clover through the winter,
discing it in around mid-May, and planting wheat into the clover ground.
Many farmers in the region will not use a legume in rotation with wheat
because they don't feel there is adequate moisture to support both crops.
Jones estimates that he receives a 30 lb/acre N benefit from the clover and
averages a 40 bushel/acre wheat yield, well above the regional average for
summer-fallowed wheat.
Last fall, Jones planted Austrian winter peas into wheat stubble. He will
harvest the peas for seed this year and also expects a carryover nitrogen
benefit. "Microbes eat first," said Jones. "They will take all the nitrogen
out if you just give them straw." By focusing more on the carbon-to-nitrogen
ratio of residues, Jones hopes to get better stubble breakdown and a greater
nutrient benefit from it.
Jones is committed to chemical-free farming and uses a variety of strategies
to supply nutrients to his crops, including rotations and application of
organic amendments. Knowing that plant growth is "limited by the least
available nutrient," he thinks it's important to "give them as much of a
balanced diet as you can." When planting amaranth in late spring, Jones
applies 1 1/2 gal/acre humic acid, 3 gal/acre fish emulsion, and 10-20
lbs/acre rock phosphate placed in the row. The humic acid stimulates
microbial activity and nutrient release. The fish emulsion contributes some
nitrogen but mainly provides an assortment of trace elements.
A large compost pile ripens alongside one of Jones's fields. It includes
fish guts from a fish farm in nearby Lisco, manure, and amaranth cleanings.
With this combination of nitrogen and carbon sources, Jones should end up
with high quality compost. He plans to apply this compost to trouble spots
of Canadian thistle and bindweed. Jones feels that decomposition has gone
wrong in those weedy areas and that compost will balance it out. "They
(weeds) don't like to grow in balanced soil."
Jones's success shows that there is room for legumes in the dryland winter
wheat cropping system, despite concerns about moisture loss.
Balancing Animal Rations for Nutrient Management
by Victoria Mundy, Extension Educator
For once, it might be possible to please everyone. Good animal production
and environmental protection can both be achieved with ration balancing for
nutrient management.
When an animal of any species takes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), only
a portion of the nutrients is used within the animal's body for growth and
maintenance. Some N and P go into milk, wool, or other products.
Much N and P ends up in manure. Sometimes crop fields can become overloaded
with N and P when large amounts of manure are applied to land.
Fortunately, you can control the amount of N and P that animals excrete by
balancing their rations. And in many cases, rations that precisely meet
animal requirements for production will also minimize N and P excretion. In
other words, it is not necessary to trade production for the sake of reducing
N and P in the environment!
There are two major strategies for reducing N and P excretion: To help
animals use N and P in feed more efficiently, and to reduce the amount of N
and P fed.
The first step in these strategies is to set reasonable production goals. If
animals are fed for higher production levels than they can reach, extra
nutrients will simply be excreted. This is expensive as well as
environmentally hazardous. Grouping animals according to their production
levels will allow more precise matching of rations to production potential.
The next step is to know the animals and to know the feeds. Nutritionists at
the university or feed dealers will be able to supply much more in-depth
information about feeds and animals than this article can.
Phosphorus. Animals are able to extract only part of the P from the feeds
and supplements they eat. The amount they extract is "biologically
available." Of course, the amount they do not extract is "unavailable" - and
will be excreted without being used.
Providing feedstuffs which are high in available P helps animals make more
efficient use of P in the feeds. So, less total P can be fed than if animals
are given feedstuffs low in available P.
Test feedstuffs, including forages, for their nutrient content and find out
which feed sources will provide readily-available nutrients to your animals.
You may be able to cut back on some supplements - which will reduce nutrient
excretion and also expense.
Nitrogen. Avoid excessive protein feeding; it is expensive and causes high
N excretion. Setting reasonable production goals and knowing animal protein
requirements at different production levels is critical in feeding
appropriate protein levels.
Know animal requirements for different amino acids. Feeding high-quality
protein supplements which are well-balanced in amino acids will lower the
total amount of protein required in a diet, particularly for swine. The use
of poorly-balanced protein supplements can cause overfeeding of several amino
acids in an attempt to meet animal requirements for one or two amino acids.
For ruminants, particularly dairy cows, consider protein "fractions" in
feeds - some feeds contain protein which bacteria break down in the rumen.
Cows also need protein which bacteria cannot degrade. If cows do not have
sufficient non-degradable protein, they need more total protein.
To reduce total crude protein in the diet and improve milk production,
supplement highly degradable protein sources with ones that are not so
degradable.
Ration balancing for nutrient management requires a great deal of thought.
But keeping high production and profits while maintaining a clean environment
is well worth the trouble!
Cromwell, G.L. 1995. Nutrient Management from Feed to Field. Presented at the
World Pork Expo, Des Moines, Iowa, June 9-10, 1995.
Grant, R.J. 1996. Feeding Dairy Cows to Reduce N, P, and K Excretion into the
Environment. Presented at Area Dairy Days, Nebraska, March 4-8, 1996.
Prevent Agricultural Pollution with Nutrient Management "Yardsticks"
by Mark Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Nutrient run-off from farms, parks, golf courses, lawns, and roadsides is a
major source of contamination in drinking water and wildlife habitats.
Reducing the flow of these pollutants into waterways will help small towns
and cities to meet current and future health standards without an enormous
investment in water treatment facilities. Fish and game habitat can be
protected.
Farmers can do a great deal to help clean up water, and they can save money
at the same time. A number of farm organizations and research institutions
are developing on-farm tools to help farmers reduce nutrient run-off. One
such tool is the nutrient management "yardstick" developed in the
Netherlands, where water quality is a critical issue.
The nutrient yardstick is a simple record-keeping tool. Farmers record all
nutrients brought onto their farms: feed, purchased fertilizer, rain,
nitrogen from legumes, animals bought. At the end of the season, they
determine the quantity of nutrients that left the farm by way of marketed
crops and livestock, or dead animals.
The difference between the amount of nutrients coming in and going out is
the amount of nutrients which were "lost" to the environment - and could
cause contamination problems. Lost nutrients mean lost dollars, too.
Farmers decide how much they want to reduce the loss of nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium from their operations, not only for environmental benefits, but
for saving money. They may choose different farming practices which will
reduce nutrient loss. At the end of the season, farmers can use the yardstick
to measure their progress toward their goals.
Farmers throughout the Netherlands have used the nutrient yardstick for over
six years, with remarkable results. Water companies who supply drinking water
to towns and cities have begun to pay farmers a bonus for achieving
reductions in nutrient loss. This is an unprecedented sharing of the costs
and benefits of sound agricultural practices.
The yardstick approach is voluntary and based on farmer-initiated decisions.
It is a dependable tool which provides benchmark information and measures
progress toward both environmental and economic goals. Yardsticks can be the
basis for rewarding farmers for pollution prevention efforts.
In the United States, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy has
begun experimenting with nutrient yardsticks in Minnesota, and will soon have
demonstration projects in other midwestern states. If you would like more
information about nutrient yardsticks, please contact Mark Ritchie, Emily
Green or Jim Kleinschmit at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,
1313 5th St. SE, Suite 303, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Tel: 612-379-5980; fax:
612-379-5982; e-mail: water@mtn.org.