Ag 101 Week 31

Five Common Pits Falls New Farmers Need to Avoid

Every time I hear the saying, “Help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” it makes me laugh. I have fallen at the most inopportune moments and have had my fair share of mishaps, so I’m pretty much laughing at myself.

One time-

My husband and I were attending Rodale’s Organic Pioneer Awards Banquet, and I fell down the port-a-potty steps during cocktail hour. Facing cocktail hour for everyone to see. I was meant at the bottom by the executive director at that time; he graciously helped me up. I sat through dinner with ripped pants. I didn’t use the restroom the rest of the evening. I was suffering from post-traumatic-port-a-potty stress disorder and informed my bladder it could deal with it no matter how long it had to wait till I could get home and use my bathroom.

I want to know whose decision it was to face the port-a-potty towards cocktail hour, anyway?!

We’ve all fallen. It’s life.

Here are some common pitfalls I’ve seen new and even some experienced farmers fall in or for-

Pitfall Number One-

Balancing ego with humility or vice versa

Have enough ego to make you content not arrogant

Have enough humility to make you human not timid

Nothing about soil or plants work on our time or according to our plan. We have to take on management strategies to accomplish what it is we want to produce. It’s management to the nth degree. Soil wants to be what soil is – that’s dictated by its parent material, not you. Plants want to grow and reproduce whether you planted them or not– that’s why they flower and fruit.

It has very little to do with us. Work with it or against it; it’s your choice.

Finding a balance between ego and humility results in confidence

Finding a balance between the soils capabilities, the plants requirements, and your management style is what makes you a prosperous farmer.

Pitfall Number Two-

Knowledge overload in a world plagued with information diarrhea

Seek well vetted proven sources

Invest in an agronomy textbook like The Nature and Properties of Soil by Brady and Weil. Buy an agronomy guide published by your local extension office for reference. And seek out successful farmers that you can look to for ideas and inspiration.

The best social media resource I have found is a platform called Agfuse.

https://agfuse.com/

Agronomy is science applied practically. It is the science of managing the soil, the crop, and management strategies. It’s not about the latest trend on social media or buzzwords being repeated at all the conferences.

Soil doesn't follow trends; markets do

Pitfall Number Three

Stopping at just the soil test

Ever hear that story about the guy digging for diamonds, and he stopped something like 2 feet short, and right below was the mother load? I’m pretty sure I have paraphrased and taken some editing privileges beyond what I should have, but you get the idea.

First, don’t stop one test short of getting the entire picture. Don’t waste time and money by only getting part of the information needed to make critical soil fertility decisions about your farm.

Things to include are-

pH

Organic Matter

Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)

Base Saturation

Macro Nutrients

Micro Nutrients

Two more key points to take into consideration:

-Using a local lab can ensure they have a better knowledge of soils particular to your region

-Staying consistent with the time of year samples are taken will provide a more accurate soil fertility program. Nutrient availability is often affected by soil temperature.

Want to read more about the six things every soil test should include, go to Week 24 at the following link

https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/6/11/ag-101-week-24

Second, don’t just stop at getting the test done either. Far too often I hear farmers say, “I got my soil test results, but have no idea what it means.”

Find someone with an agronomic background that can explain what all those numbers mean and how to use that information to your advantage on your farm. Going beyond just getting a soil test takes you from being an average grower to an exceptional grower. It could also mean the difference between ending up in the red or the black financially.

Pitfall Number Four

                                    Not having an outlet to sell your product

You have to be able to sell what you produce to make money.

Spend time researching what a good product to sell in your area is; not the newest variety that’s all the rage in the seed catalogs. Not that you shouldn’t try new things, do it judiciously.

Look to other farmers who have a presence at the local markets and emulate it with your produce and personality but don’t copy it.

Believe in your product so everyone else will.

I’m stopping right here. This is not my area of expertise. I’m not sure if you noticed but I can’t half market my own business. I honestly thought marketing consisted of my fantastic smile and business cards.  

I’m an agronomist. I understand soil, plants, and care enough for the people who grow them to keep doing this day in and day out.

If you need marketing help look to people, who have shown a proven track record.

Here’s a list of people I look to for advice and examples-

Bootstrap Farmer Business Network found on Facebook, Instagram, and a Podcast

Farmhouse Creative Marketing found on Facebook and Instagram

3 Cow Marketing found on Facebook and Instagram

Pitfall Number Five

                                    Trying to keep up with the Jone’s

You had a great first year at market, and now you have some cash. What do you do with it? Seek out sound financial advice and follow economic principles that keep you in business not going out of business. Even if it means you don’t have the latest and greatest all the Rockstar farmers have or seem to.

Each farm is unique, each farmer is even more unique, and no farms’ financials are the same.

If you can’t understand it, implement it, or pay for it; you probably shouldn’t do it.

Ag 101 Week 30

I Screwed Up –

And Lost Sight of My BMP's

It has once again been a busy week. I let writing a post go to the last minute. So, I went into my files and found a piece I had written a while back when I might have been frustrated and upset about a few things. Thinking it was kind of fitting, considering earlier this week I had seen some things on social media and had some conversations that frustrated me. I thought what the heck, why not add to what I already wrote and put it out there for everyone to read. I spent my Sunday afternoon editing and adding a few pictures. I may have included more terse remarks about the industry. There may be the possibility I even used the phrase ‘narcissist ego driven jackass.’ I realize that's a bit harsh on my part, sorry. And then, I hit the publish button. Oh yeah, when I do stuff, I do it.

Instantly I came to my senses and deleted it. I wish. Truth, my husband sat me down and explained somethings to me. Only then did I delete it.

I am extremely grateful for his wisdom and the fact he is willing to talk some sense into me on occasion. He helped me realize I was not following my own Best Management Practices; otherwise known as BMP's that I have established to run my business. Did it feel good to have some reckless abandon and let it all hang out so to speak? You bet! However, it serves no good for myself, my clients, or the people I would like to help. Nor would it help me achieve my ultimate goal. 

So late last night I had to come up with a new topic. I was pretty upset I had wasted a whole day for nothing and kept thinking if I had just stayed on course following the objectives I already set out for how I want to operate I would have avoided all that from happening. If I had followed BMP's,  I wouldn’t have had to get up early this morning to re-write the entire thing.

Am I human and screw up occasionally? Yes

However, it is much easier to get back on course when you have a set of guidelines or Best Management Practices to follow.

Farming is no different. It is far to easy to listen to the latest and greatest trends, getting off course from time to time. However, if you determine your BMP's , all your choices will have a base from which you operate and help guide you towards reaching your ultimate goal, even if you stray occasionally. 

Here are

five essential BMP’s important to consider in any farming operation-

Reduce Compaction – All this means is controlling the amount of traffic in a field or the area you are planting in. Compacted soil leads to poor drainage, inhibited root growth, and an overall decline in plant health and yield. Create walkways or roads to be efficient and help to reduce the number of passes you have to make through a permanent bed or a field. I’ve read statistics showing that 90% of a field can be compacted by normal field activities due to conventional tillage.  I know me just walking all over my garden can cause issues, but impacting anywhere up to 90%, that brings huge implications.

Incorporate Cover Crops – Cover crops are beneficial by for several reasons. They add organic matter, reduce erosion, help fix nitrogen, improve drainage and soil structure issues. They can also be used to suppress weeds and disease problems. Some may be able to be used as a cash crop as well.

The best resource I have found for information on cover cropping is at-

https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition

https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/mandan-nd/ngprl/docs/cover-crop-chart/

Manage Crop Rotations – It’s succession planting, and just like the rest of the BMP’s one can implement them on any scale. Use crops that make sense for your farming system, climate, and soil. The idea of crop rotations is as old as farming is, however with all the added complexities of modern farmer we seem to have gotten stuck in either no rotations or repeating the same rotations depending on your situation. Rotating through a diversified group of crops helps with soil nutrient management, insect and disease-related issues, weed issues, and has been shown to have a positive effect on the diversity and health of naturally occurring soil biology.

Nutrient Management- is the implementation of the 4R Principles I have covered in Weeks 6 and 14 here-

https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/2/5/ag-101-week-6

https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/3/28/ag-101-week-14

Managing nutrients will not only have a financial benefit not having to invest as much in inputs; the environmental implication will be beneficial as well.

The following are fundamental concepts to keep in consideration when developing soil fertility management strategies-

-Having a soil test done

-Determine recommended amounts of nutrients needed to produce the desired yields

-Take into account other nutrient sources such as cover crops and manures

-Take into account previous field history such as crops and previously applied amendments & fertilizers

-Keep records

Tillage – The best definition of tillage I have come across is; it is the mechanical modification of soil structure. Tillage can be used to suppress weeds, prep seedbeds, incorporate manure, amendments & fertilizers, and previous crop residue. However, it can be destructive to soil structure causing compaction, erosion, and overall soil health issues if not managed carefully. It is a management decision a farmer has to make based on their unique situation. No-till is not for everyone nor is conventional tillage.

Just as any business or organization has to have management strategies to follow keeping them on track, so does your farm.

Every farm has that fence row where everything has it's place

Ag 101 Week 29

C.E.C – The Rest of the Story

Last week I brought up points why I think clay is the misunderstood underdog of soil fertility. Ironically, later that week, I saw someone post on social media how they have to rip out an entire bed dedicated to growing cut flowers and what they said was, “…amend the soil within an inch of its life.” I’ll be honest; I wasn’t sure what they meant. So being the person I am, I reached out to them and offered some suggestions that would be cost-effective and hopefully spare anyone and any soil from coming within an inch of its life. As I was emailing back and forth with the grower, some things dawned on me.

First, I am not calling them out in any way shape or form to be malicious, mean-spirited or insult them in any way. They are not the first grower I’ve talked to that does not entirely understand soil fertility. For that, I look at the industry and wish so-called experts would do a better job at giving people the facts about soil fertility and not warm fuzzies to get them to buy or believe the stuff they don’t need or isn’t always accurate.

Second, most people think amending soil is as easy as adding organic matter, and all your issues are solved. Kind of like those little foam things you buy at the dollar store that when soaked in water explodes into a dinosaur. Or popping a pill and you are magically cured forever. Or paying someone a lot of money and being photoshopped to be a tall blond and you’re a 4’11’’ brunette.  Nothing about soil is instant, cured forever, or making it something it’s not. It is a constant endeavor called farming.

Soil fertility is starting with inherent baseline characteristics, determining the crop best suited to it and you, and the constant tinkering to get you, the soil, and the plants all working together.

This is where C.E.C, otherwise known as cation exchange capacity, comes in. CEC is the soil’s ability to hold onto cations, which are positively charged ions.  You often hear it referred to as the storehouse or reservoir where nutrients are being kept for a plant to access for use. I like to think of it as the pantry where soil microbes go to get the nutrients the plants need. On a weighted base, organic matter is a more dominant player than clay. However, it is the two that give rise to CEC.

You use CEC in conjunction with pH to tinker with cations and anions -ions with a negative charge- to create a soil environment the crop you want to grow with be sustainable, productive, and healthy. Do you add organic matter sometimes? Yes or no, depending on how much is already there and what your goals are.

The primary nutrients that are involved are calcium-Ca++, magnesium-Mg++, potassium-K+, sodium-Na+, and hydrogen-H+. There are others that need to be taken into consideration, but for the sake of not making this any more confusing, I’m not discussing them now.

As a side note, regularly, my dad points out the fact water is a universal solvent. It’s chemistry -pH mainly- must always be taken into consideration. It brings either hydrogen -H+- or hydroxyl -OH¯- ions making a soil or the water in the soil acidic or alkaline.  Acidic soil has more hydrogen and alkaline, having more hydroxyl ions.

Notice earlier, I listed the nutrients in order of strength.  You can use more prominent nutrients, like calcium, which has a double positive charge, to adjust the chemistry of the soil to achieve specific physical conditions. For more about soils' physical characteristics refer to Week 8 

https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/2/11/ag-101-week-8

The picture below is an excellent example of this. All though it may be hard to see it in the photo, the upper part of the field was harder for the farmer to work. It didn’t plow well. Nothing was growing well in it, and it was overall harder for the farmer to work. It lacked tilth. The lower part of the field was a different story. It was easier to work with, things grew relatively well, and overall was better ground to grow in.

When I looked at the soil test before going to the farm one field was lower in calcium than the other, both had the same level of organic matter and were the same soil type. The lower part had been fertilized differently for several years and was showing an imbalance of nutrients. All the upper portion needed to be was the appropriate calcium source and the following year started showing signs of becoming more productive and easier to work.  We tinkered until we got the soil, the crop, and the farmer working together again. However, it is a constant work in progress. It doesn’t happen instantly, there is no magic pill, and you can’t make it something it’s not.

Ag 101 Week 28

What’s the Most Chemically Active Fraction of Soil?

Clay

Soil Fertility is based on balancing/adjusting cation (+) and anions (-)

Usually, the organic matter gets all the attention, but you need clay. I think it's often underrated and misunderstood. 

Soil chemistry is mainly surface chemistry - its taking place at the interface between the particle and soil solution(water)

Clay has up to 8 million times more surface area than other soil particles such as coarse sand. A lump of clay weighing one pound can have as much total surface area as 50 football fields (How Soil Works, Paul Syltie, pg. 25) making it the life of the party because it's so big

No clay is created equal

It starts with the decomposition of micas, biotite, etc.

Which leads to Tetrahedral (Silica) & Octahedral (Aluminum) layers

          kaolinite 1:1, Montmorillonite 2:1,  Illite 2:1 it's technically in between  a 1:1 and a 2:1

Clay predominately has a negative charge due to isomorphic substitution, the replacement of similar size atoms resulting in a negative charge and exposed crystal edges, basically weathering

2:1 clays can swell causing them to be able to hold 10-12 times the cations that a 1:1 can

1:1 is fixed, making it better for use as a protectant on fruits, used in fungicides, etc.

The negative charge of clay, along with organic matter leads to the CEC or Cation Exchange Capacity of a soil - It’s potential to hold nutrients

It also leads to physical properties such as structure – compaction and drainage traits, also that sticky feel when it's wet

Heavy clay soil can be remedied with the addition of organic matter. Sand lacks structure and will only lead to a hot mess, otherwise known as cement 

Zeolite, Greensand, Kaolin (hydrated aluminum silicate) are like the red-headed step children that turned out to be Rockstar’s

Ag 101 Week 27

Six Steps to Planning a Dinner Party Cont'd - The Menu

      Soil Fertility 

This is the last part in the Six Steps to Planning a Dinner Party. I referred to it in earlier posts as The Menu. Well, this is the last part I'm going to talk about. Step six is to harvest, plant, and repeat. I also went out on a limb and recorded a video for this week. At the end of the post, I include the talking points I used to make the video. There is a lot of eye rolling, I look like I'm in a fishbowl and on drugs, and it lasts a whopping 29:45! At the 17:36 mark, I should have said biology instead of chemistry. But hey, it's my first time!

What is soil fertility? It is managing or balancing soil nutrients to improve crop production

1.     Agronomy is the management of soil and the crop you are growing in it. Its taking science and making it practical for the farmer to achieve fertile soil

2.     How you do it is based on the farmers' goals, management decisions, and limitations

Points to consider

1.     No farm – Soil or farmer is the same

2.     No one management style or decision is all-encompassing or is the end all be all 

3.     One agronomist’s definition of a fertile soil and how to achieve it may be entirely different from another’s – It has to be based on the farmers' goals

Three points to consider when planning the menu

1.     Finances

2.     Your limitations/resources

3.     What are your goals

My thoughts on a soil fertility program

1.     Spoke at length in Week 23 about what an agronomist should be asking about

2.     A program needs to be built based on the soils inherent properties, not the latest and greatest

3.     pH is the last thing I look at but the first thing I take into consideration

4.     A sound fertility program starts before the first crop goes in and ends when your done farming

5.     It is not complicated, or at least it shouldn’t be.

6.     No, I don’t write or talk at any more length then generalities because I wrote a free eBook and several posts about specific amendments. But most of all point 1 of points to consider

7.     There’s nothing new – Trust me I’m looking every day

8.     I will answer calls and emails all day long about yours, ask my family

Most important it all goes back to week 2 and the triangles