News from the Farm Vol 13
This week in the news, our resident farmer asks the question: "Grain fed or Grass fed? Which is better?" We posted it to our Facebook page to get your feedback, so check it out here!https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DW9GCg6Zm/
We also had a guest post from Kevin Elmy about tillage:
Tillage seems to be a major part of most producers production practices. Weed control, warming the soil, and managing residues are usually reasons why tillage is used. BUT, did you know the consequences of over tilling?
Weeds grow in response to our management. Most weeds are early successional plants meaning they are triggered by excess soil nitrates, low calcium fluxes and over active soil bacteria (low fungal:bacterial ratio). Perennial weeds like thistle, dandelion, and quack grass are more about compaction and low calcium availability in the soil. Tillage does not fix any of these long term. Tillage promotes bacterial growth and damages fungi. As the bacteria grow they need carbon. If we do not have a growing plant releasing root exudates, the bacteria then feed on our soil organic matter. This compacts our soil, reduces calcium availability, and produces more soil nitrate.
Having early season active soil biology will warm up the soil quicker than what tillage will. This means having plants that are either overwintering or having residue that starts rotting in the spring. These plants need to be green at freeze up.
Excess straw post harvest can be managed a few ways. Having a green plant growing in the fall will balance the carbon:nitrogen ratio of the residue that will break down the straw quicker. Post harvest fungal dominated compost extract sprayed on the residue will also help. Ruminant livestock integration will use the straw as a feed source and will break down the residue.
All tillage is not bad. Some soils respond positively to occasional tillage. Aerating the soil is a good thing, as long as we are putting more carbon into the soil than we are burning off. Dr. Christine Jones suggested any pass of tillage requires adding a carbon source; feed pellets, humates, seed, proper wood chips, or imported straw/hay from another field.
Consider how much tillage you do on the farm. How can we minimize it? We need to understand what triggers weeds and how to manage not to trigger them to grow.
Check out the link below to see all this plus a post about Shift working with OPAM, a certifier, and a fantastic recipe that Dan made using grass fed beef and garden veg! If you've got a great recipe or a pic of your garden, send it our way and we'll share it on Facebook!
Read the newsletter: https://shiftorganics.ca/so/2bQ2RSTrg?languageTag=en
Did you get here from Facebook? Want to get newsletters to your inbox? Subscribe now!
Is there a topic that you'd like us to explore? Are there thoughts you'd like to share or someone you think would be a good guest poster for the news? Let us know! Send your feedback and thoughts to info@shiftorganics.ca
