February/March 2021 Micronutrients: Effective Measurement and Use of Manganese Tightening the Nitrogen Cycle in Organic Agriculture Fundamentals of Hemp Nutrition Organic Almonds: Why and How from a Grower’s Perspective
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Volume 4: Issue: 1 (Photo courtesy Sperry Farms.)
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PUBLISHER: Jason Scott Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com EDITOR: Marni Katz ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Cecilia Parsons Email: article@jcsmarketinginc.com PRODUCTION: design@jcsmarketinginc.com Phone: 559.352.4456 Fax: 559.472.3113 Web: www.organicfarmingmag.com
IN THIS ISSUE 4
Transforming Agriculture to Mitigate Climate Change and Support Public Health
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & INDUSTRY SUPPORT Eryn Wingate,
Danita Cahill
Agronomist, Tri-Tech Ag Products Inc.
Contributing Writer
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Tightening the Nitrogen Cycle in Organic Agriculture
Taylor Chalstrom
Editorial Assistant Intern
Neal Kinsey
Kinsey Ag Services, Contributing Writer
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Lauren Snyder and Cristel Zoebisch
Fundamentals of Hemp Nutrition
Education and Research Program Manager Climate Policy Associate, Organic Farming Research Foundation
Pros and Cons of Growing Chestnuts
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Organic Almonds: Why and How from a Grower’s Perspective
UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ADVISORY BOARD Surendra Dara UCCE Entomology and Biologicals Advisor, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties Kevin Day County Director/UCCE Pomology Farm Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties
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Elizabeth Fichtner UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County
Centipedes and Millipedes in the Soil Food Web
Katherine Jarvis-Shean UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo Counties County
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Micronutrients: Effective Measurement and Use of Manganese
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Steven Koike Tri-Cal Diagnostics Jhalendra Rijal UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Stanislaus County Kris Tollerup UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Parlier Mohammad Yaghmour UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Kern County
The articles, research, industry updates, company profiles, and advertisements in this publication are the professional opinions of writers and advertisers. Organic Farmer does not assume any responsibility for the opinions given in the publication.
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By LAUREN SNYDER, Education and Research Program Manager, and CRISTEL ZOEBISCH, Climate Policy Associate, Organic Farming Research Foundation
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any of us spent most of 2020 sheltering at home, doing our part to curb the pandemic we are weathering as a global community. While there is solidarity in the fact that people around the world are modifying their lives to flatten the curve—wearing masks, socially distancing, and working remotely when possible—many of us are eagerly awaiting the vaccine that allows us to emerge from our shelters and breathe a sigh of relief. But, is a vaccine the ultimate solution to our public health crisis? While there is no denying we need to address the immediate threat of covid-19, this pandemic is itself a symptom of a challenge that will not be solved by modern medicine. That challenge is climate change, fueled by the loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. If we ignore this broader issue, we face a world where we will likely be challenged by one pandemic after another. Humans are disrupting natural systems and this is a primary factor in the spread of infectious diseases. As our planet warms and more natural 4
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habitats are lost, many species are expanding out of their natural ranges and moving towards the poles1. As a result, they come into contact with species they would not normally be interacting with, which creates opportunities for pathogens to infect novel hosts, including humans. We have seen these dynamics play out with Ebola, Zika, Hantavirus, and other diseases around the globe2,3. To reduce the risk of infectious disease spread, we need to address the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the human activities that threaten natural habitats and biodiversity.
and methane. Field operations and the production of synthetic fertilizers and other inputs are largely responsible for agricultural carbon dioxide emissions, and the use of synthetic fertilizers and livestock production are the main sources of agricultural nitrous oxide and methane emissions, respectively⁴,⁵,⁶. In the U.S., most livestock are raised in large confinement facilities, rather than on pasture where they have the potential to help build healthy soils that store, or sequester, carbon. Moreover, confined animal operations negatively impact air and water quality, and create prime conditions for infectious disease spread that could spill over to humans⁷.
Modern-day agriculture is a major contributor to climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change estimates that direct agricultural Agriculture is also the main driver greenhouse gas emissions account for of deforestation, the largest cause of over 10% of total anthropogenic (huhabitat loss worldwide⁸. In particular, man caused) greenhouse gas emissions⁴. large-scale beef production causes massive deforestation, particularly in Agricultural systems that rely on the tropics⁹. Forests, especially tropical synthetic inputs to compensate for low forests, store large amounts of carbon biodiversity contribute substantially to in the soil and in their biomass. When the emission of three key greenhouse a forest is destroyed, the potential for gases: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide carbon storage is lost, and if the forest
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is removed through burning, carbon stored in the vegetation is released to the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Land-use changes associated with the expansion of large-scale, industrial agricultural systems erode valuable biodiversity and result in simplified landscapes that are more susceptible to outbreaks of agricultural pests and diseases. To compensate, these simplified systems become increasingly reliant on synthetic inputs.
When a forest is destroyed, the potential for carbon storage is lost, and if the forest is removed through burning, carbon stored in the vegetation is released to the atmosphere, accelerating global warming (all photos courtesy Organic Farming Research Foundation.)
Being Part of the Solution
While agriculture is fueling climate change and habitat loss, it can be transformed to become part of the solution. By adopting a systems-based, ecological approach to producing food, agriculture can help reduce negative climate impacts, conserve biodiversity and support human health. Organic agriculture provides this ecological framework for food production and is grounded in measurable standards for biodiversity and soil health, which are the foundations of a healthy farming system, and ultimately a healthy society. By focusing on soil health building practices, organic agriculture has the potential to play a large role in mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon. Organic producers are prohibited from using synthetic fertilizers, the largest source of agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. By building healthy soils that host a diversity of beneficial organisms and support vigorous crop growth, organic producers enhance their system’s resilience to a changing climate. Healthy soils not only increase crop resilience to stressful conditions, they also play a critical role in regulating the global climate by converting organic residues into stable organic matter and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soil1⁰. To protect these vital services, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) Standards mandate the use of best conservation management practices such as diversified crop rotations,
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Continued from Page 5 intercropping and cover cropping to build soil organic carbon and protect soil health. Diversified crop rotations and intercrops add diversity to farming systems across space and time, which help break pest and disease cycles and increases the abundance and diversity of beneficial soil organisms11. Planting cover crop mixtures with deep root systems can reduce soil erosion and break up compacted soil, store carbon deep into the soil profile and increase the water holding capacity of soils, making the system more resilient to extreme weather events such as heavy rains or floods12. While each of these diversification practices individually helps pull carbon out of the atmosphere and builds resilience, the true potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation comes from combining these practices through diversification strategies such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry and integrated crop-livestock systems. For example, reintegrating crops and livestock using advanced
grazing management has the potential to sequester enough soil organic carbon to offset the associated enteric methane and manure greenhouse gas emissions13. There is also evidence that by improving forage quality, these systems can reduce methane emissions from livestock by almost a third. Managed rotational grazing systems also enhance nutrient cycling and reduce the need to import nutrients in the form of fertilizers or livestock feed. By building biodiversity into the farming system, best organic management practices also have the potential to support more abundant and diverse communities of animals compared to simplified, input-intensive farming systems. Implementing diversification practices such as wildflower strips, hedgerows and diversified crop rotations can enhance the abundance of wild insect species that support pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling and other important ecosystem services1⁴. Organic systems that incorporate high agrobiodiversity can also support wildlife-friendly approaches to farming where the goal is to integrate
wildlife conservation with production. By planting and preserving habitat for wildlife, such as hedgerows or riparian forest buffers, organic farms can serve as wildlife corridors that connect parcels of natural habitat and provide refuge from synthetic chemical inputs that may be present in the broader landscape.
The Path Forward
To protect public health, we need to adopt and promote sustainable food production practices that safeguard our natural systems and conserve biodiversity. Organic agriculture has great potential to sequester carbon, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience to a changing climate and protect biodiversity. To realize this potential, the public sector must significantly and rapidly increase its investment in organic research, extension and education, and prioritize research topics that help producers address the climate crisis by reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and adapting their operations to shifting weather patterns.
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Cover cropping builds soil organic carbon and protects soil health, and can also provide a food source for pollinators.
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Continued from Page 6 Some current policy proposals, for example, seek to pay farmers for sequestering carbon in their soils; however, to expand these programs, we need additional research on how much carbon is retained in organically managed soils and for how long. We also need to develop more accurate tools to fully understand organic agriculture’s climate mitigation potential. For example, different tools to measure soil carbon sequestration can yield different results on the same field. Furthermore, soil carbon is extremely variable across different soil types, depths, climate conditions and time periods. Even in apparently uniform fields, soil carbon content can vary by as much as fivefold1⁵. This is one aspect of climate mitigation within agriculture that needs more research so we can better evaluate the climate benefits of various agricultural practices. Additionally, both USDA and Congress can do more to promote the transition to organic production systems and improve access for organic producers to federal conservation programs. Many of these programs pay farmers and ranchers for implementing advanced grazing management systems, resource-conserving crop rotations and cover crops as well as for protecting wildlife habitat. These programs and the practices they support represent tried and true solutions that not only have climate benefits, but also protect our natural resources, improve air and water quality, and support biodiversity. Organic and conservation agriculture with their manifold environmental benefits can help farmers and ranchers build resilience into their operations, actively contribute to climate change mitigation and transform our food production system to one that benefits our health and the health of our planet. We cannot afford to stall action on climate change any longer. If we are to limit the likelihood of future pandemics and other catastrophic events driven by a changing climate, we must prioritize and support systems-based, ecological
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solutions that protect our food systems, the environment and public health.
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Pecl, G. T., et al. 2017. Biodiversity redistribution under climate change: Impacts on ecosystems and human well-being. Science. 355. Frumkin, H., J. Hess, G. Luber, J. Malilay, M. McGeehin. 2008. Climate change: the public health response. Am J Public Health. 98:435–445. Yang, Y. T., M. Sarfaty. 2016. Zika virus: A call to action for physicians in the era of climate change. Preventive Medicine Reports. 4: 444-446. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2014. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, Working Group III Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Burger, M., L. E. Jackson, E. J., Lundquist, D. T., Louie, R. L., Miller, D. E., Rolston, K. Scow. 2005. Microbial responses and nitrous oxide emissions during wetting and drying of organically and conventionally managed soil under tomatoes. Biol Fertil Soils. 42:109-18. Charles, A., P. Rochette, J. K. Whalen, D. A. Angers, M. H. Chantigny, N. Bertrand. 2017. Global nitrous oxide emission factors from agricultural soils after addition of organic amendments: A meta-analysis. Agric Ecosyst Environ. 236: 88-98. Hribar, C., and Schultz, M. 2010. Understanding concentrated animal feeding operations and their impact on communities. National Association of Local Boards of Health: Bowling Green, Ohio. Hosonuma, N., et al. 2012. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. Environ. Res. Lett. 7. Union of Concerned Scientists. 2016. Cattle, Cleared Forests, and Climate Change: Scoring America’s Top Brands on Their Deforestation-Free Beef Commitments and Practices. www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17253.
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10. Moebius-Clune, B.N., D. J. Moebius-Clune, B. K. Gugino, O. J. Idowu, R. R. Schindelbeck, A. J. Ristow, H. M. van Es, J. E. Thies, H. A. Shayler, M. B. McBride, D.W. Wolfe, G.S. Abawi. 2016. Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health: The Cornell Framework. Edition 3.1. Cornell University, Geneva, NY. 123 pp. 11. Lin, B. B. 2011. Resilience in agriculture through crop diversification: Adaptive management for environmental change. Bioscience. 61:183193. 12. Marshall, M.W., P. Williams, A. Mirzakhani Nafchi, J. M. Maja, J. Payero, J. Mueller, and A. Khalilian. 2016. Influence of Tillage and Deep Rooted Cool Season Cover Crops on Soil Properties, Pests, and Yield Responses in Cotton. Open Journal of Soil Science. 6: 149-158. 13. Manale, A., S. Hyberg, N. Key, S. Mooney, T. L. Napier, M. Ribaudo. 2016. Climate change and U.S. agriculture: opportunities for conservation to reduce and mitigate emissions and to support adaptation to rapid change. J. Soil & Water Conserv. 71: 69-81. 14. Kremen, C., and A. M. Merenlender. 2018. Landscapes that work for biodiversity and people. Science. 362. 15. Keith Paustian et al. “Quantifying carbon for agricultural soil management: from the current status toward a global soil information system,” Carbon Management 10 (2019). 10.1080/17583004.2019.1633231 (accessed January 22, 2020).
The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) is a non-profit foundation that works to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. OFRF cultivates organic research, education and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production.
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Reintegrating crops and livestock using advanced grazing management has the potential to sequester enough soil organic carbon to offset the associated enteric methane and manure greenhouse gas emissions from the animals.
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the Nitrogen Cycle How to meet crop nitrogen needs without adverse environmental impacts. By ERYN WINGATE, Agronomist, Tri-Tech Ag Products Inc.
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efore Haber and Bosch invented atmospheric nitrogen fixation, farmers used manure, compost, cover crops and crop rotations to keep their soils fertile. Farmers relied on biological processes to feed their crops, and limited nitrogen availability often compromised yields. Mineral N fertilizer revolutionized farming, bypassing microbial decomposition to directly feed the crop surplus levels of nitrogen. Virtually unlimited nitrogen availability produced drastically higher yields, but the excess N began polluting groundwater, rivers, wetlands and oceans. The green revolution demonstrated agricultural crops’ impressive yield potential and heightened consumers’ quality expectations. Modern organic practices seek to minimize nitrogen
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pollution while attaining yield and crop quality metrics comparable to conventionally produced crops. Carbon-based organic materials provide initial protection against nitrate leaching when first applied; however, once microbes convert organic N to nitrate, it leaches just as easily. Over-applying quickly mineralizing organic fertilizers negates any environmental benefit provided by organic amendments.
Keep it “Tight”
The most efficient, environmentally protective fields have “tight” nitrogen cycles, where nitrate levels remain low, yet crops grow vigorously with optimum N concentrations in leaves and petioles1. Since nitrogen fluxes between several biological and mineral pools, traditional soil nitrate testing does not
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always indicate nitrogen sufficiency or deficiency in organic production. In the best-case scenario, active microbial populations steadily release N to the crop, and healthy root systems quickly absorb nitrate and ammonium before it builds up in soil solution1. Nitrogen requirements are well understood for most agricultural crops, and N uptake curves usually help guide fertilizer application rates. In conventional production, growers can match the nitrogen uptake curve by adjusting nitrate and ammonium applications to meet the demand at different growth stages. Organic producers don’t have the luxury of matching the crop’s N requirement pound for pound with fertilizer. Organic amendments supply nitrogen in carbon-based forms that
must be processed by microbes before becoming available to plants. Bacteria break down amino acids, proteins and peptides, mineralizing organic nitrogen to form ammonium. Other microbes then quickly transform ammonium to nitrate through nitrification. Yield and crop quality largely depend on how closely nitrogen mineralization timing matches the crop’s N uptake curve.
Applied Amendments
While soil quality and environmental conditions influence mineralization, the type of organic amendment applied impacts nitrogen availability more than any other factor. Meticulous soil incubation studies conducted at UC Davis elucidate the nitrogen mineralization patterns driven by commonly used organic fertilizers. Dr. Patricia Lazicki and colleagues identified four
main amendment categories based on nitrogen mineralization potential6. Organic amendment categories include (1) yard trimmings compost, (2) manure composts, (3) granular fertilizers and (4) liquids, blood and feather meal and guano-based fertilizers6. Growers can apply material from one category or another to address different needs throughout the year. Fertilizers with high C:N ratios mineralize slowly compared to materials containing less carbon and more nitrogen. Lazicki et al. found that less than 5% of the total N in yard trimming compost mineralized after 84 days of soil incubation at moisture and temperature levels comparable to California field conditions. Green waste compost has a C:N ratio of roughly 20:1 and contains relatively little N compared to carbon.
Microbial growth increases in response to the carbon, but is limited by a short nitrogen supply. Microbes incorporate the nitrogen into their biomass, temporarily removing it from the plant-available pool. Manure- and animal-based amendments contain more nitrogen and have lower C:N ratios, so microbial growth slows due to limited carbon supply, leaving excess nitrogen available to plants. Soil incubation demonstrated 15% to 30% N mineralization for manure-based compost applications and 35% to 55% mineralization when granular organic fertilizers were used. Category 4, including organic liquid fertilizers, blood and feather meal and guano products, had the highest total
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Organic fertilizer applied before planting mineralizes before the crop begins taking up nitrogen. Nitrate levels released by microbes during the first six to eight weeks after planting leaches easily since the crop has not matured enough to absorb it (courtesy E. Wingate.)
Continued from Page 11 mineralization. 60% to 90% of nitrogen applied with the amendment was mineralized after 84 days. Almost all mineralization occurred in the first two to three weeks after application. Several other studies demonstrated similar mineralization rates for organic fertilizers2,3,⁴,⁵. Organic liquids and animal based products help meet the crop’s nitrogen requirement during rapid growth when the roots take up more nitrogen than baseline mineralization can supply. Adding moderate amounts of liquid organic fertilizer improves yield and crop quality, but excessive use can cause nitrate buildup and leaching. On the other end of the spectrum, applying green waste compost too close to planting can cause nitrogen immobilization and subsequent deficiency in the crop.
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Manage Microbes
Growers can tighten the nitrogen cycle by increasing organic matter, increasing microbial abundance and diversity, and maintaining optimum soil moisture. Soils with low baseline microbial activity are prone to nitrate spikes and crashes when fed organic amendments. The carbon and nitrogen influx can cause a temporary spike in microbial growth, immobilizing N as it is incorporated into microbial bodies. Later, when the microbes run out of food, their populations crash, releasing excess N to the crop. Increasing microbial biomass and diversity buffers the nitrogen supply. Large, robust soil ecosystems contain some populations that are growing and others that are dying. The continuous microbial turnover provides a steady nitrogen supply, reducing the likelihood of nitrogen spikes and crashes.
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Providing plenty of labile carbon and nitrogen can increase microbial biomass and stabilize nitrogen dynamics1. Growers can apply green waste compost pre-plant or in the fall prior to spring planting. The high C:N ratio will likely cause initial nitrogen immobilization followed by slow mineralization. Green waste compost contributes very little plant-available nitrogen during the first year after application, but it increases the microbial biomass necessary for steady nitrogen cycling. Cover crops and reduced tillage also increase organic matter and microbial growth. After feeding the microbes, growers can feed the crop with granular and liquid organic fertilizers that mineralize quickly. Low C:N ratio materials should be applied early in the season and during rapid growth. Apply liquid
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Continued from Page 12 organic fertilizers at moderate rates every 7 to 14 days during peak vegetative growth. Including a wide range of amendments in organic systems will increase microbial biomass and soil organic matter while providing plenty of plant-available nitrogen when crops need it the most. By carefully managing organic fertilizer use and fostering a robust microbial community, growers can provide all the environmental benefits organic farming offers without compromising crop yield or quality. Eryn Wingate is an agronomist with Tri-Tech Ag Products Inc. in Ventura County, Calif. Eryn creates nutrient management plans for fruit and vegetable growers to improve yield and crop quality while promoting soil health and environmental protection.
Sources
1.
Bowles TM, Hollander AD, Steenwerth K, Jackson LE (2015) Tightly-Coupled Plant-Soil Nitrogen Cycling: Comparison of Organic Farms across an Agricultural Landscape. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0131888. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0131888 2. Gaskell, M., & Smith, R. (2007). Nitrogen Sources for Organic Vegetable Crops, HortTechnology hortte, 17(4), 431-441. https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/17/4/article-p431.xml 3. Hadas, A. and L. Kautsky. (1994) Feather meal, a semi-slow release nitrogen fertilizer for organic farming. Fert. Res. 38: 165–170. 4. Hartz, T. K., & Johnstone, P. R. (2006). Nitrogen availability from high- nitrogen-containing organic fertilizers. HortTechnology, 16, 39–42. https://doi.org/10.21273/ HORTTECH.16.1.0039
5. Hartz, T. K., Smith, R., & Gaskell, M. (2010). Nitrogen availability from liquid organic fertilizers. HortTechnology, 20, 169–172. https://doi. org/10.21273/HORTTECH.20.1.169 6. Lazicki, P, Geisseler, D, Lloyd, M. (2020) Nitrogen mineralization from organic amendments is variable but predictable. J. Environ. Qual. 49: 483– 495. https://doi. org/10.1002/jeq2.20030
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Organic amendment categories based on nitrogen mineralization potential. Results show that microbial growth increases in response to carbon, but is limited by a short nitrogen supply (courtesy E. Wingate.)
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The professionals’ top choice coast to coast for all root and foliar applications.
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Fundamentals of Hemp Nutrition
Growers share insights on meeting the nutrient needs of hemp crops. By DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer
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ertilizer needs for hemp plants are similar to the needs of larger vegetable plants, such as tomatoes. As with other annuals, hemp plants require different nutritional needs during their various growth stages.
Ari Gamboa uses Clonex Rooting Gel™ to root cuttings (photo courtesy A. Gamboa.)
Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium
In the beginning stage of the life cycle, hemp plants need a dominant nitrogen source. The plants also need a good starter fertilizer rich in phosphorous and potassium, according to James Knox, owner of KLR Farms. KLR is a multi-state business that grows, breeds and produces feminized hemp seeds and plants. There are designer brands that Knox likes and uses. Mills Nutrients is one. “Mills offers a mineral based and an organic for certified organic growers,” Knox said. There is a bio-mineral line for various stages of a plant’s life. Their products are designed and bottled in Holland, but they have retailers sprinkled throughout the northwest, including many in California. BioAg is another brand that Knox uses. Located in Independence, Ore., BioAg specializes in fulvic acid. Knox especially likes Ful-Power®, a product which can be used as a foliar spray. It can also be used on clones and cuttings as a bare-root dip and to activate seeds. Ful-Power® is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).
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West Coast Horticulture is another fertilizer company that Knox uses and trusts. They supply liquid and dry organic fertilizers. The liquids are compatible with injector systems and drip irrigation and are processed from fermented plant materials and minerals. The liquid fertilizers contain bio-available forms
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DRAMM Corporation Manitowoc,WI USA
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Continued from Page 17 Use a dominant nitrogen fertilizer at the beginning of a hemp plant’s life cycle (photo courtesy A. Gamboa.)
of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. They also supply humic acid, microbial and bio-active compounds. West Coast’s products are compliant with the National Organic Program (NOP) and are registered as an Organic Input Material (OIM) with California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and listed with WSDA, ODA and OMRI.
Kelp Extract and Enzymes
Knox uses what he calls “high-value” kelp extracts. Nirtozime™ is a brand he mentions by name. It’s an organic biostimulant with growth hormones and micronutrients. As far as enzymes go, Knox favors one called Enzymes Komplete™. It’s not a fertilizer, but rather an enzymatic cleanser to clean and recondition the growing medium. It can also be used as a cleansing agent for tools and processing machines to prevent disease and encourage healing. The product comes from a company out of Canada.
Fish Fertilizer
Non-hydrolyzed processed fish has the oils removed for use in cosmetics and the proteins removed for animal feed, Knox said. “It’s fish emulsion. It’s garbage. Literally, you’re left with the garbage.” Use a high-quality fish fertilizer, Knox urged. “Make sure it’s cold-processed, hydrolyzed whole fish broken down by enzyme digestion.” This process keeps all of the bio-active ingredients intact. It also supplies complex carbohydrates for the microorganisms, he said. “All the amino acids are still intact. They are growth promoters – the overall general health additive. They are the building blocks of life.”
Silica
Silicon (silica)is an abundant mineral in many soils, but only the monosililic acid form is available to plants. High-quality silica can be used as a 18
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foliar feed or as an on-ground fertilizer, Knox said. For field growing, one of Knox’s favorite brands is Vitalize™ from Mills Nutrients. It’s a high-silicate nutrient that can be used throughout the life of the plant. Silica helps toughen plants, which assists with disease and pest resistance. “Silica helps regulate plant growth. It doesn’t allow plants to overgrow themselves, so they don’t get leggy and weak. The plant tissue itself is often literally harder for the pests to eat and chew,” Knox said. “Pests are a vector for disease.” Anywhere a pest pierces or chews a plant is a weakened spot for disease to enter. Also, the feces that insects leave behind can encourage mold and mildew problems. “Smart growers just simply cull those plants,” Knox said about any runts or seriously pest-infested plants.
Compost Tea
Knox has his own compost tea brewer. He uses an application of tea every one to two weeks for both indoor and outdoor growths. “You want to use bacterial-dominant, not fungal-dominant,” Knox said about the compost tea recipe he uses. “Bacterial-dominant is aggressive and works quickly for annual crops such as hemp. It breaks down the organic and non-organic matter by eating it and pooping it out.” Fungal-dominant teas take longer to work, which isn’t as beneficial to an annual crop.
Endomycorrhizae
Endomycorrhizae can be used in seedling mixes or to water in newly transplanted seedlings or cuttings. Knox likes VAM®, another BioAg product. It has seven species of granular
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Continued from Page 18 arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which aids in plant and root growth. It can be used in a variety of ways, including as a dry broadcast in outdoor grows, or added to water or other liquid for hydroponic, irrigation and hand-watering applications. Use it for seed treatments, cuttings and reinforcement after using compost tea. “It’s the industry’s best mycorrhizal,” Knox said. Knox, who grows under cover in Illinois, and outdoors and under cover in Oregon, uses all of the above fertilizers and amendments on his indoor crops.
Chicken Manure
“Designer brands aren’t always applicable to large scale growers,” Knox acknowledged. For plants grown outdoors on a larger scale, Knox suggests PotentGrow™. The company is headquartered out of Tan-
gent, Ore. The product that Knox uses is a 5-2-2 chicken manure pellet.
KLR Farms (klrfarms.com), is in his third year of growing hemp.
“It’s my favorite for outdoor production,” “I’ve been helping James (Knox) grow he said. “It’s a pellet that is broadcast in hemp seed the last three years,” Gamboa said. the field. Besides the boost in nitrogen, it has organic matter and offers benPrior to that, Gamboa spent six years eficial biology to soils. The microbial growing marijuana for the regulated fungal blooms overnight.” medical cannabis market. He’s grown Boosts cannabis and/or hemp crops in ColKnox uses more phosphorous during orado, Oregon and Wisconsin. Gamheavy growth periods and during tran- boa harvested 30,000 hemp plants in sition – when days grow shorter and Wisconsin this past fall. “We crushed trigger plants to flower. “When plants it!” he said about the harvest. are responding to light change,” Knox said. “Indoors, we trigger that with our When starting plants from cuttings, lights, of course.” Gamboa prefers Clonex Rooting Gel™. Along with rooting hormones, Clonex He gives his plants a boost of extra Rooting Gel™ also has minerals and potassium at the end of their life cycle, trace elements to feed new roots. right before harvest, when the plants are bulking and ripening. When transplanting hemp plants, Gamboa first dusts the planting hole Other Insights with Azos™, a nitrogen-fixing bacteriAri Gamboa, of ERB Company (erbum, to promote vegetative growth and holdings.com) and partnering with a healthy root system.
Mature plants just before harvest. These were grown in a 6.23-acre indoor facility in Illinois with 3,000 lights. The building is a hanger on a decommissioned Air Force base (photo courtesy J. Knox.)
As far as fertilizer during the growing season, “You just have to get a trusted nutrient,” Gamboa said. “As plants start flowering, drop the nitrogen and start raising the P and K.” At the end of the flowering cycle, and two weeks before harvest, Gamboa flushes the hemp roots with plain water. “It will shock them a little and add some color to the plants,” he said.
You want to use bacterial-dominant compost tea, not fungal-dominant.
– James Knox, KLR Farms Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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Western chestnut orchard (all photos by Danita Cahill.)
PROS CONS
of Growing Chestnuts Increased Awareness and Research is Needed to Increase Profitability By DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer
C
the mountain people’s food chain. It wasn’t only the loss of nuts as a food source for the human residents; it was a loss of food for the forest animals that depended on the high-carbohydrate fall nuts. The Appalachian people also depended on those animals as food for their tables.
hestnut trees once filled the forests in the Eastern U.S. In the fall, people looked forward to collecting the nuts that littered the forest floor. They roasted the chestnuts or used them to stuff their holiday turkeys. At the turn of the 20th century, the chestnut blight hit. No one is positive who imported the original blighted tree or seed from Japan, but the lethal fungal disease was first discovered in 1904 in New York City. By that time, nurserymen had shipped Asian chestnut trees all over the states. Within 50 years, the blight had forever altered the Eastern U.S. forests. What had once been an important forest tree was reduced to a multi-branched shrub that rarely produced nuts.
Living and farming in western states is a definite pro as far as growing chestnuts. California, Oregon and Washington are largely a chestnut blight-free environment. Growers here can even plant blight–susceptible European chestnut (C. sativa) and their hybrids (C. sativa x C. crenata), according to Michigan State University Extension.
The blight die-out especially affected the great chestnut forests of the Appalachian Mountains and the people that lived there. It caused a big problem in
Carol Porter is one such western grower. She got interested in growing chestnuts after reading an article about them in National Geographic. That was in
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Western Growers
February/March 2021
the 1980s when Oregon State University (OSU) was giving seminars trying to bring back the chestnut. When chestnuts didn’t catch on with enough growers, OSU’s chestnut research dwindled. But Porter stuck with it. She and her late husband, Bill, planted 12 acres of chestnut trees in a back area of their Sweet Home, Ore. property. They put in dripline with headers to each tree. For the first seven years, the Porters irrigated their trees. Once the taproot found water, Porter said, the trees no longer needed irrigation.
Pests and Diseases
Plant chestnuts in well-drained soils to prevent fungal root disease. Stay away from wet soils that are low in oxygen. If Phytophthora root rot takes hold, it affects the roots and crown of a tree (the area where roots and trunk meet.) The disease can be transported on nursery
stock or may already exist in soil from other trees. Chestnuts may die in wet soil, even without root rot. They simply do not do well in poorly drained soil. If your soil contains a lot of clay, amend it with copious amounts of compost and plant trees on mounds or slopes. To prevent sunscald, paint trucks with white paint. European shothole borer (Xyleborus dispar Fabricius), also known as the pear blight borer, is the main chestnut borer pest in the Pacific Northwest. The small, dark-brown beetles attack the bark of weakened branches. The larvae are white, legless and about 0.16 inches long. They overwinter as adults. When the many adult female beetles emerge during the first warm days of late winter or early spring, they leave behind holes in the bark that resemble buckshot damage. The male is flightless and stays behind in the tree. Although these beetles mostly attack injured, weakened and stressed plants, they may also attack healthy trees that grow near blocks of infected trees. To help prevent shothole borer infestation, avoid planting chestnuts near abandoned orchards, recent clearcuts or unhealthy forests. Protect against sunburn. Cut out damaged branches and burn them.
Carol Porter holds Nevada chestnuts.
Chestnuts on the ground at harvest time.
As far as chestnut nutrition needs go, do a soil analysis in the spring followed by a tissue test in July or August. If potash is needed, apply in fall so winter rains carry it down to the roots. Porter has had few issues with her chestnuts, except for animal pests. “I was kind of naïve,” Porter said. “I don’t remember anyone telling me that every creature likes the nuts.” Deer, elk, squirrels, turkeys and other birds devoured her chestnuts. She searched for a solution and was told by experts there were two things she could do: Build a tall fence to keep out at least the bigger animals and plant an
Continued on Page 26
Chestnuts ready to drop at harvest time.
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Carol Porter in her Sweet Home, Ore. chestnut orchard.
Continued from Page 25 orchard closer to the house where human activity would help keep animals at bay. Porter did both. Between 1994 and 1995, she planted a new orchard within view of her house and fenced it. She planted 173 trees on a 50 X 50-foot grid in the three-acre block. The trees began producing after seven to eight years, which was also when she quit irrigating them.
Marketing
Although Porter started out planting the colossal variety for their kernels and the Nevada variety as pollinators, she has discovered that she prefers Nevada. Colossal is a Japanese-European hybrid. Its nuts are large, but they tend to have several smallish kernels in each shell. Nevada is a medium-sized nut, with only one larger kernel inside. Porter said Nevada nuts are sweeter. The nuts she sells to the public equal 15 to 16 per pound in size. Porter and her late husband previously raised cattle in Colorado. In Sweet Home, Porter raises cattle and hogs. She feeds any small or split chestnuts to the livestock. At the local farmer’s market, she sells USDA beef and pork along with chestnuts. Porter has a liquor license, and sometimes she sells chestnut beer made by a Portland microbrewery that buys nuts from her. She connected with the brewer because he was looking for a gluten-free beer to offer customers along with the gluten-free menu items at his restaurant.
The most frustrating thing about growing chestnuts for Porter is the lack of public awareness about the nut – especially on the west coast. “People here don’t know what a chestnut is,” said Porter, who grew up outside of Boston, Mass. “It’s a wonderful food source. People just don’t know what to do with it. There’s a whole generation that doesn’t know.” In the Eastern U.S., chestnuts are still popular. In New York City, street vendors sell hot roasted chestnuts. Besides eating the nuts, people also keep them in their pockets to warm their hands, Porter said. She’s not sorry for sticking with chestnuts, although she does wish there was a bigger market for the nuts in the U.S., especially west of the Cascade Mountains. Porter sells a lot of nuts to people from Europe – some directly from her farm, but most through the farmer’s market. Porter is in the process of teaching her niece and nephew the ins and outs of farming since they want to take over the farming operation when she retires. They will manage the livestock as well as the chestnuts. Except for the lack of a booming west coast market, Porter is otherwise upbeat and positive about chestnuts. They have natural tannins in the wood, which helps keep the wood from rotting, she explains.
Porter and Randy Coleman of RC Farms in McMinnville, Ore. started West Coast Chestnut Growers Associa- “It’s a wonderful wood,” she said. tion. Around 30 growers from western “Makes wonderful split rail fencing.” states joined, but the members realized they needed to band together nationally Other positives? Their longevity. with other growers. They reorganized “Chestnuts can live 800 years or more,” into the non-profit organization Chest- Porter said. “They’re a fabulous tree.” nut Growers of America which attracted around 100 growers. Their goal is to promote chestnuts, share information Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at among growers and support research article@jcsmarketinginc.com and breeding work.
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By TAYLOR CHALSTROM, Editorial Assistant Intern
Cover crop can be established to promote both soil and pollinator health (all photos courtesy Sperry Farms.)
O
rganically grown almonds and organic nut products have become increasingly popular in the last decade and are a growing market segment, according to Josette Lewis, Almond Board of California’s Chief Scientific Officer. Still, just under 1% of almond acreage in California is organic. Many growers are exploring the idea of growing organic, but management details and financial incentives aren’t always available. In a presentation during The Almond Conference 2020 presented by Almond Board of California, participating growers and experts spoke about the “fine print” when it comes to organic almonds. 28
Organic Farmer
The participants included Geordy Wise, senior vice president of farming operations for Pacific Ag Management; Wes Sperry, CEO of Sperry Farms; and Amelie Gaudin with the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis.
ing with a lot of the same insects that they already deal with in conventional almonds.
“In Kern County, we have similar pest categories to conventional almonds,” Wise said. “Concerning mite control, Organic Management the key is to be on the early side and be Most growers would agree that managupfront about it. We’re very mindful of ing organic almonds is a different world our roads and dust, so we use road oil compared to conventional almonds. and sulfates to keep dust down which There are many things to consider in has been big for mite control. For NOW, order to maximize yields and ultimate- I think sanitization still works best for ly capture the premium associated with us.” organic products. “Pest management has been one of the Insect Pests Continued on Page 30 Many organic growers end up deal-
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Continued from Page 28 larger concerns on our organic farm,” a concern with this and it has happened Sperry said. “[In year one,] we used before. We’ve also gone with a wider organic fungal and bloom sprays that mower to help clean up more weeds in seemed to work well. On the NOW side, those rows.” we used mating disruption products that showed results that were on par Wise also uses unique methods for orwith or below our conventional nut ganic weed management. “We’ve used damage. I was really impressed with netting underneath the tree row that some of the products that are out there.” suppresses and keeps weeds down,” he said. “Weeds still grow out around the Weeds edges as well. The downside is the reWeed issues in organic almond manpairs; it’s very maintenance-driven. We agement, and all organic management, also use propane burners. It probably are one of the most difficult managetakes a good year to tear up everything ment challenges. Organic herbicides and burn it, but you can’t get behind are not abundant and costs for them on it. Every 10 to 14 days seems to be are still high; thus, growers have found working well for us for burning weeds.” other alternatives for their orchards while organic herbicide research conDifferent growers have different ways of tinues. dealing with weed pressures depending on orchard characteristics and weather “Regarding weed management, it’s been patterns, but Gaudin believes that cover one of the most challenging aspects crops can provide weed suppression of the organic journey so far,” Sperry during the winter by competing with said. “We made an investment into native vegetation. a propane burner to burn down the weeds in strips. Burning [drip] hoses is “We recognize that there are benefits Weed control using a propane burner at Sperry Farms.
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and tradeoffs as to what might work for different operations,” she said. Sperry explained the benefits and tradeoffs that his operation has experienced with cover crops. “The success with cover cropping for us really came down to timing,” he said. “We rely on those winter rains to help the cover crops. Since this year has shown little rain, it’s hampered our cover crops. Keeping whatever native vegetation is already there as well is beneficial for the soil. Don’t burn or mow it.” Wise felt differently about cover crop usage. “I just struggle with the cost of planting cover crops knowing that we’re not getting the rain right now,” he said. “We believe in native cover. The root systems of the weeds can even help with water penetration sometimes.” Soil Fertility Feeding the crop with a soil fertility program is another challenge. Sperry and Wise both expressed difficulties
implementing a fertility program in their organic operations. “These nitrogen-based organic fertilizers are really expensive,” Sperry said. “The nitrogen has been the biggest hurdle for us in a budget aspect. You get used to cheap fertilizers coming from conventional, but compared to organic there’s a big difference. You’ve got to be realistic and have a different mindset if you’re coming from conventional to organic. It’s been a learning curve.” Wise agreed nitrogen fertility is a particular challenge. “We started with composting using chicken manures for soil fertility, but it created some issues, so I’ll probably stay away from that in the future,” Wise said. “Many of the products we have found to work have shown some other smaller issues such as plugging lines. Nitrogen will be the limiting
“We found that taking a conventional factor; it’s just part of the game with organics, and you’ve got to be willing to block and isolating and transitioning it to organic was a good way to start,” make the commitment.” Sperry said. “You also have to find a Making the Jump certifier to work with and document Starting a new organic almond orchard, all the products and practices that you especially if transitioning from conwant to use. There’s a fair amount of paventional, can be daunting. There are perwork and communication with your many available tools and methods that certifier to be had. growers can utilize to get started, but, according to Gaudin, it’s going to take “It’s a long-term commitment, you some experimenting for the grower as likely won’t see profits for two to three well. harvests,” he continued. “I’m optimistic that when we get past this point, we’ll “The research with whole orchard start to see those premiums.” recycling and cover cropping are great ways for a grower to prepare an orchard “You have to be realistic about everyfor planting organic, but there is more thing,” Wise emphasized. “Your costs to it than individual practices,” she said. will increase and yields will probably “Experimenting with your own operabe reduced, but the market for them tion is going to be critical.” [organic almonds] is definitely there.” Sperry and Wise shared their own experiences with starting their organic orchards.
February/March 2021
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CENTIPEDES & MILLIPEDES in the Soil Food Web By DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer
M
yriapods or myriapoda, such as centipedes and millipedes, are an important part of the soil food web. The word ‘myriapods’ is Greek and translates to myriad (or many) feet. These two types of creepy crawlers work in tandem, but in different ways, to benefit the soil. Centipedes are the hunters, and millipedes the gatherers.
infiltrate the body and carry oxygen directly to cells.
Centipedes
Centipedes are the top predator in the soil food web. They have modified legs that work like the mouthpieces of spiders, except the mouth claws on centipedes are tipped with venom. Using these claws to hunt their prey make centipedes fierce predators. Most are fairly harmless to humans, although a bite from some types is painful, similar to a wasp sting.
The taxonomic hierarchy goes like this: 1) Animals 2) Invertebrates 3) Arthropods (which also includes insects, spiders, mites, lobsters and crabs) Centipedes help keep some pests in 4) Myriapods. check. They specialize in killing and Besides their many legs, other character- eating snails and grubs, a definite pro for the farmer. On the con side, centiistics of both centipedes and millipedes include: One pair of antennae; Two body pedes also eat earthworms and spiders. segments – a head and trunk; Segmented To keep things fair in the compost battleground, spiders, in turn, eat them. trunks; Simple eyes, Mandible (lower Centipedes are also a food source for jaw), maxillae (upper jaw); Respiratory large beetles, snakes, salamanders and exchange happens through a tracheal system — a series of branched tubes that opossums. 32
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Some species of centipedes can reach 12 inches in length, although most are .5 to 4 inches. They have poor eyesight. Some soil centipedes are even blind. They move through the soil like an earthworm by expanding their length forward and then contracting to bring the hind part of their body towards the head. This tunneling improves aeriation of soil, allowing water and nutrients to reach the roots of plants. Centipedes can be good mothers. Some species give live birth, others lay a clutch of 15 to 60 eggs. The maternal-type centipedes wrap their bodies around the eggs, licking them to protect them from fungi. They stay with the eggs, shielding them until they hatch. Although centi means one hundred, centipedes never develop exactly 100 legs. They always have an odd number of body segments, and with one set of
legs per segment, the math never adds up. Their legs can grow back if damaged. More body segments and legs are added with each molt.
Millipedes
Millipedes are the centipedes’ distant cousin. They consume organic materials and are considered shredders, or detritivores. They play an important role in breaking down plant and animal debris (detritus) and are excellent for the soil, eating up to 10 percent of the leaf litter in compost. Millipedes work in much the same way as earthworms, moving nutrients through the soil. Also like earthworms and soil centipedes, their tunneling aerates the soil and assists with water penetration. Millipedes also benefit other soil organisms, working together to turn mulch and debris into nutrient-rich soil. They recycle nutrients at a much higher rate than natural decomposition. Millipedes are more docile than centipedes. They move slower, and instead of biting as a defense, they roll up into a tight ball to protect themselves. They also secrete a nitrogen gas that is toxic to small insects such as ants. Generally harmless to humans, a millipede’s gaseous secretions might cause skin or eye irritation to sensitive people. Like centipedes, millipedes have poor eyesight and get around by feel with their antennae. They have a special group of hairs on the second and third pair of legs that they use as brushes to keep their antennae clean. Millipedes lay eggs. In some species, the mother − in others the father − protects the eggs. The hatchlings look like miniature adults, minus all the legs. Some species are legless at hatching. After the first molt, baby millipedes have three body segments and six sets of legs. It takes one to two years, sometimes longer, for a millipede to reach adulthood. Their average life span is 1 to 11 years. The African giant millipede can reach nearly a foot in size and is often kept as a pet. Most species are one to four inches long and dark brown to black in color.
Like centipedes, millipedes don’t live up to their name in number of legs. Milli means one thousand, but most millipedes have only 80 to 100 legs. No millipede species known to science has 1,000 legs. The one that comes the closest is Illacme plenipes, a rare millipede found only in Northern California.
A Specialized Millipede
For decades California’s Illacme plenipes was thought to be extinct. First discovered by government scientists in 1928, it wasn’t documented again until the mid-2000s when University of Arizona entomologist Paul Marek, then a doctorate student, found one. In the three-year period from 2005 to 2007, Marek and his team found 17 of the rare millipedes, as reported by National Geographic. All were clinging to the underside of sandstone boulders in a 2.8 square mile area outside of San Francisco.
The female of this little Silicon Valley creature sports up to 750 legs. Males have up to 550. Other unusual notes of interest about this highly adapted millipede are the claws on the ends of its legs – thought to assist in digging and traveling deep underground – and the long silken hairs on its back. The hairs likely help it cling to the underside of rocks and boulders. Even with its myriad of legs, this millipede is small – only 1.2 inches in length. For millipede aficionados, the rare and unusual Illacme plenipes is legend. There are two less familiar myriapods – the sauropods and symphylans. They are both small, even microscopic organisms, that live in the soil and play their own roles in the soil food web.
Continued on Page 33
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Continued from Page 33
Telling Centipedes and Millipedes Apart
Centipedes live in dark, damp places. This one was found under a large rock after a rainstorm.
Centipedes and millipedes sometimes look similar, but centipedes are flatter. They have round, flat heads and flattened bodies. They are the quicker of the two, undulating rapidly over rough terrain. Soil centipedes are often reddish orange in color but can range from translucent white to dark brown. Millipedes are cylinder-shaped with a rounded head and body. They have two pairs of legs per segment. One would think with all those extra legs they would be the faster of the two, but they are much slower, with their legs moving in a wave motion on either side. They are most active at night or after a rainfall.
Where do They Live?
Centipedes are fierce predators, specializing in insect larvae and are a top predator in the soil ecosystem.
DON’T FORGET THE SEASOL...
Myriapods are found around the world in grassland, farmland and forests and in every continent but Antarctica. They
are even found in deserts, which strikes as odd because they generally dwell in damp, dark places – under logs and rocks, underground or inside mulch or compost piles. Without the waxy substance that coats the exoskeleton bodies of many insects, millipedes and centipedes are prone to dehydration, so they need a moist environment to thrive. In agricultural soils, shredders such as millipedes can become pests if there isn’t enough dead plant material available. Without detritus available, they will eat live plant roots – adding another check in the compost pro column. There are at least 12,500 different species of myriapods. Scientists estimate they have creeped along the earth, contributing to soil health, for some 485 million years. Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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MICRONUTRIENTS: Effective Measurement and Use of Manganese
Part One: What soil tests and observation tell us about available manganese. By NEAL KINSEY, Kinsey Ag Services, Contributing Writer
Walnuts are very sensitive to manganese deficiency (photo by N. Kinsey.)
This article is the first in a two-part series on the micronutrient manganese. See the April/May issue of Organic Farmer for information on acting on lab results for manganese.
T
here is a great deal of confusion when it comes to correctly understanding the micronutrient manganese and what soil tests can reveal about it. So, perhaps the first question to be asked in this regard should be, “Does a soil test for manganese really reflect the amount of manganese that is actually there in an available form in each particular soil?” And how can you tell if the readout on a soil test is an actual indication of true manganese availability?
To arrive at such an answer, first consider that a multitude of experts maintain that an accurate soil test for manganese does not matter. One line of reasoning used is because there is so much already contained in every soil. The reasoning is that an average 36
Organic Farmer
acre of soil six and a half inches deep weighs about two million pounds. And of that 2 million pounds of weight per acre, manganese makes up from 100 to 10,000 pounds of that total weight per acre. Even more, depending upon which source is quoted, 150 bushels of corn requires .08 pounds of manganese, or about 1.25 ounces of manganese per acre. Since about any soil has 100 pounds of total manganese and most far more than that, why worry about ever needing to add manganese to any soil? Even though this is not the full story, too often it has been used as a good excuse. This is especially true for those who lack any reliable way to measure and convey the available manganese each soil contains. In other words, is the manganese that is there in a form that is useable by the crop?
February/March 2021
In order to grow the most nutritious foods, farmers and growers need to know if the actual amount of manganese contained in the soil is adequate to do so. And that measurement should be in the nutrient-available form that plants can take up and utilize. But as with many natural activities that take place in the soil, the increase happens at a slower pace than plant growth does, and, thus, it is not able to be measured in a relatively short period of time. In fact, it requires about a year from the time of application before the actual increase can be accurately seen on a soil analysis that correctly measures manganese availability. There is a way to determine whether a soil test is actually measuring nutrient-available manganese in each particular soil. For soils that have good aeration capabilities for optimizing biological activity, a soil test for
plant-available manganese should reflect an approximate pound for pound increase in the measured level when any proper form is applied to the soil.
Evaluating Soil Tests
Here is a good way to evaluate how accurate a soil test is in reporting actual useable soil manganese. If it has been at least 12 months since the manganese was applied, on soils that have an adequate amount of aeration, the manganese on the test should show an approximate pound for pound increase.
to maximize biological activity. This allows all types of soil organisms that need that aeration to digest and convert nutrients that are present there into the most available forms the plants can take up and utilize.
is a sure way to determine the depth of aeration in any given soil. To determine the amount of air and the depth it can penetrate downward in the soil (called the aerobic zone,) find and pull an old wooden fence post.
How much aeration is required for adequate biological activity to provide needed soil-available manganese? There are some simple ways to provide a good answer on each property. Realize that the answer will be different from one type of soil to another, and also note that biological activity is closely tied to the soil properties that provide a sufficient amount of air in different soils.
The depth to which that post has rotted from the top down into the soil is the depth to which air can adequately penetrate there. This will determine the maximum depth to which any particular soil can provide sufficient air for maximizing microbial activity.
In other words, if 50 pounds of a good plant-available pure manganese sulfate has been applied, the soil should show an available manganese increase of 14 pounds per acre or 7 ppm (since on soils weighing approximately 2 million pounds per acre, the number of pounds applied divided by two equals parts per million.)
There are at least two possible considerations for immediately measuring potential biological activity on your own property that could be used here to “study nature” instead of a book or article or comments on the internet.
The aerobic zone is the top few inches of soil that tends to have enough air
The first method may not be as convenient to accomplish as the second, but it
Keep in mind that all plants will feed by choice from the aerobic zone, as deep as a fencepost will rot in that soil, when the opportunity to do so is sufficiently provided. Another way to check for adequate soil aeration right on the farm requires the use of a soil probe that has one side cut away for observation purposes.
Continued on Page 38
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Continued from Page 37 To correctly accomplish this test, it is first necessary to find a place where the soil has not been compacted in some way. In other words, find a soil that would only have normal or natural settlement, something without wheel traffic or pugging of the soil by heavy livestock traffic under wet conditions, etc. Push the probe down deep enough so that at least six or seven inches of soil is visible in the probe. Lay the probe flat on the ground. Now, take your thumb and, beginning at the top, press gently and directly down on the column of soil. Notice how soft or how hard to the touch it feels. In most soils that are not worked wet or somehow compacted, the first half inch of soil can easily be pressed down. It is soft to the touch. But after that, many soils provide sharp resistance to the pressure from your thumb. Such soils are lacking the proper aeration needed
to optimize biological activity in that soil. And it is not until you can press your thumb against the soil without feeling resistance to a depth of four to five inches that the soil tends to have sufficient aeration throughout the aerobic zone (which will generally measure at least 6 to less than 8 inches deep.) Once you have this type of soil, which contains the ideal characteristics for proper physical structure, then you have a soil that is well suited for correctly testing for available soil manganese. This is not to say that only soils with proper aeration should be treated for a manganese deficiency. But it does mean that soils may not appear to be building up levels from manganese applications under those circumstances.
Apply the Correct Form
Another possible reason for a lack of response from manganese applications is the form that is applied. Many fertilizer dealers believe they are doing the farmer a service by offering man-
ganese oxysulfate because it costs less than straight manganese sulfate. Even though you can purchase 28% manganese oxysulfate and it may be cheaper, it lacks the effectiveness of 28% manganese sulfate. You cannot use the oxysulfate form to increase measurable available manganese levels in a manganese deficient soil. Pure manganese sulfate is the best form to use in order to build levels in the soil. Most soils will only show a correct response to its use twelve months or more after an application. Even then, there are certain soils that require several treatments to reach the minimum level. Many of the heavy yellow clay soils are in this category. Any soils subject to water logging should also be suspect.
Ensure Reliable Measurement
There are even some soils that are so unusually tight in their natural form that until the physical structure is corrected, a maintenance application will be required every three or so years just
Stainless steel soil probes, like the one seen here, can be used to extract soil from the ground to check for aeration and moisture content. (photo courtesy Kinsey Agricultural Services.)
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to maintain a minimum required level there. The point here is that to assure successful management of manganese levels, some reliable form of measurement is needed. A big test to evaluate the reliability of a manganese analysis is what kind of measured response the test reflects from the actual amount of manganese that is applied based on the analysis of the material that is used. For manganese, the proper measurement should reflect an approximate pound for pound response after twelve months or more from the time it is applied. There are specific parameters to be considered when using the guidelines for manganese from the Albrecht system of soil testing. Other tests may imply they can copy the Albrecht System of Soil Fertility, but there is one test anyone can do to prove whether that is the actual case. This is important because
reported test numbers for manganese are usually much lower than the actual numbers recorded when using the Albrecht system. This often means farmers and growers whose consultants are used to using other tests will be told they have adequate manganese when the Albrecht system is actually showing the soil is still deficient. Since reported numbers for soil manganese content can vary widely according to how the test is conducted, desired levels should be based on coordinating field experience and optimum crop response. Using verification based on 80 years of field testing the Albrecht analysis for manganese can identify deficient, adequate, excellent and excessive levels in the soil. Anything less than adequate is going to begin to cause problems. This is not trying to cast doubt on any consistently reliable test for manganese availability in the soil. It is only meant
February/March 2021
to point out that the numbers given as deficient, sufficient and excellent may be completely different and usually are on tests from another soil testing laboratory. For that reason, be sure that you or your consultant would know what levels are actually reflected on those tests. And most of all, do not try to arbitrarily apply the guidelines outlined here as reflecting actual soil needs based on numbers provided on other tests. See next month’s issue of Organic Farmer for further guidelines about applying manganese to correct deficiencies. Neal Kinsey is owner and President of Kinsey Agricultural Services, a consulting firm that specializes in restoring and maintaining balanced soil fertility. For more information please call (573) 6833880 or go to www.kinseyag.com. Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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