Organic Farmer - December 2021 / January 2022

JAN 5, 2022

December 2021 / January 2022 See page 25

Integrating Chicken and Vegetable Production in Organic Farming JAN 12, 2022

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JAN 13-14, 2022

Considering Soil Compaction Problems for Maximizing Organic Production Managing Arthropod Pests in Organic Vegetable Crops Insect Ranching: Are Mealworms the Food of the Future?

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Volume 4: Issue: 6 (Photo by Claire Weissbluth)

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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

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10

14

Integrating Chicken and Vegetable Production in Organic Farming Considering Soil Compaction Problems for Maximizing Organic Production

18 22

Efficacy of Biological Fungicides in Managing Gray Mold in Strawberry

32 36

Growing Clean Hemp for a Sustainable Environment

Joseph R. Heckman

UCCE Bay Area Urban Ph.D., Soil Fertility Extension Specialist, Ag Advisor Rutgers University Contributing Writer

Taylor Chalstrom Assistant Editor

Surendra K. Dara UCCE Entomology and Biologicals Advisor

Faye Duan

Graduate Student Researcher, UC Davis

Neal Kinsey

Kinsey Ag Services

Dave Peck

Manzanita Berry Farms, Santa Maria

Peter Ruddock

California Policy and Implementation Director, COOK Alliance

UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ADVISORY BOARD

18

Soil Nitrogen Fertility for Organic Sweet Corn Production New Urban Ag Ordinance Cultivates Growing Food Together

Rob Bennaton Danita Cahill

Managing Arthropod Pests in Organic Vegetable Crops Insect Ranching: Are Mealworms the Food of the Future?

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & INDUSTRY SUPPORT

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 Elizabeth Fichtner UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County Katherine Jarvis-Shean UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo Counties

36 December 2021/January 2022

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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Integrating Chicken and Vegetable Production in Organic Farming

By FAYE DUAN | Graduate Student Researcher, UC Davis

C

hicken and tomatoes are a tasty farming”, these systems duo beloved by many in popular are relatively rare in North dishes like chicken tikka masala and America today. Integrated chicken cacciatore. This combination, farms have the potential to delightful in the culinary sense, is also help organic farmers create the subject of a recent integrated farming a more resource-efficient experiment. This fall, researchers at UC “closed-loop” system. For Davis harvested the first crop of tomavegetable farmers looktoes from a 1-acre experimental field ing to start an integrated and successfully processed the second system, chickens require flock of 130 broiler chickens. This acre is the lowest startup costs as part of a tri-state experiment also taking compared with other livestock. This place at University of Kentucky and Iowa type of diversified production may be State University. Funded by the Organespecially promising given the growing ic Research and Extension Initiative consumer demand for more sustainably grant from USDA, this research aims and humanely produced chicken. to produce science-based learnings and best practices for organic agricultural However, there are many beliefs that systems that integrate rotational produc- remain unconfirmed and questions tion of crop and poultry together on the that remain unanswered by scientific same land. research when it comes to integrating poultry production into vegetable Potential of Integrated Production cropping. For instance, at what extent While the idea of chickens alongside does manure deposited by poultry on crops evokes an image of “traditional the farm reduce the need for off-farm

Potential benefits

Potential drawbacks

Control insect pests

Reduce beneficial insect populations

Improve chicken welfare and nutrition

Outdoor flocks face higher exposure to wildlife disease vectors and greater inefficiency in converting feed to carcass weight

Reduce reliance on off-farm soil fertility inputs

Increased risk of Salmonella contamination of vegetables due to poultry production

Reduced costs, more diversified income and more efficient land use for producers

Increased costs, uncertainty and learning curve for producers

Table 1. Some potential benefits and drawbacks of integrated poultry-vegetable production.

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Organic Farmer

December 2021/January 2022

soil fertility inputs? What benefits can we observe when crop residue is used to supplement the diets of the chickens?

What stocking rate is the most advantageous in these systems? What types of crops and breeds of chicken work the best in such integrated systems across the country? And is it feasible to squeeze in a successful yield of broiler production into the transition window between different crop seasons? Finally, can all this be done effectively from a food safety perspective and economically from both a farmer and consumer level?

Study Design

To better understand and evaluate the potential to integrate poultry with crop farming from multiple perspectives, the research objectives focused on evaluating growth yields, quality of agricultural outputs, food safety risks, agroecological impacts on soil and pests, and economic feasibility of such systems.

In this experiment, broilers were raised on pasture starting at around 4 weeks

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Continued from Page 4 of age to graze on crop residue. In the California iteration of this experiment, we raised two flocks per year in between rotations of vegetable crops in the summer and cover crops in the winter (Figure 1a, see page 7). Rather than remaining in a fixed location, the pastured broilers are stocked in mobile chicken coops, commonly referred to as “chicken tractors”, which are moved to a fresh plot of land every day for rotational grazing. Four subplots distributed across the field are grazed by chickens after tomatoes are harvested in the fall (treatment A), and another four subplots are grazed by chickens before the cover crop is terminated in the spring (treatment B).

The impact of introducing chickens through the two treatments is being compared to a third control treatment of only cover crops and vegetables (treatment C), while the impacts of rotational grazing on poultry welfare and meat production are compared to an indoor control flock.

Collaborating researchers in Iowa and Kentucky are also collecting weed and insect diversity data to better understand the impacts on crop pests and how poultry affect the integrated farmland. Additional studies on animal welfare for the chickens as well as cultivar trials on the success of different vegetables like broccoli, butternut squash and spinach tested in combination with poultry are being conducted.

Challenges Identified and Lessons Learned

As the study is still underway, we cannot make any conclusions without testing and re-testing experimental results to confirm their repeatability and statistical significance across more than one growing season. So far, based on prelimiary data, we’ve collected a great deal of initial learnings on our integrated systems.

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Organic Farmer

Figure 2. A mobile chicken coop, commonly called a “chicken tractor”, houses the broilers while allowing for rotational grazing. Each chicken tractor is 50 square feet in area and is stocked with 29 birds in the California experiment.

Soil Fertility Organic farmers know that soil amendments, such as chicken manure, release nitrogen slowly to crops over time. Factors related to timing of application, precipitation and temperature affect how soil microbes process organic material to ultimately impact the soil quality. In California, although our tomato crop received sufficient subsurface drip irrigation, we suffered low yield and tomato end rot across the treatments. This was due to the fact that our experimental plot was previously conventionally managed and very nutrient depleted, an issue which we attempted to manage by applying organic

December 2021/January 2022

compost and liquid fertilizer to the entire field to supplement the manure deposited by the chickens. In addition, severe drought during and after the period of manure deposition may have hindered soil microbial activity and, in turn, retarded the decomposition of our cover crop residue and chicken manure into the soil.

Meat Production Additional data remains to be collected on subsequent flocks and statistical analysis on the findings have yet to be conducted before conclusions can be drawn. Preliminary results from meat quality analysis indicate that the pas-

ture-raised chicken yielded less drumstick meat than the indoor control and breast meat was darker and less yellow in color. They also yielded redder thigh meat and less moist breast meat than the indoor chicken when cooked. So far, broilers in California that grazed on cover crops in the spring reached a higher average market weight relative to indoor control, while broilers grazed on tomato crop residue in the fall reached a lower average market weight relative to the indoor control.

Food Safety No presence of Salmonella has been detected thus far in the soil nor on the poultry produced in the California experiment. Collaborators in Iowa and Kentucky report that persistence of Salmonella associated with the poultry producing soil has not been observed to persist into the harvest period. While these results are promising, it should

Figure 1a. Seasonal timing of integrated production in the California research station experiment.

be noted that Salmonella are relatively common in poultry. Ideally, best practices can be identified that reduce the risk of Salmonella persisting in the soil environment while crops are grown

following chicken grazing.

To Be Continued….

Many other anecdotal findings have

Continued on Page 8

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Continued from Page 7 emerged: In Iowa, a farmer collaborating with researchers to conduct their own on-farm iteration of the experiment has noted positive results from the poultry treatment on their spinach crop; our collaborating researchers also found evidence that chickens are eating the insects in their fields, and will proceed to investigate whether those consumed are beneficial or harmful insects in their agricultural system.

In California, we are realizing the impact the design of the chicken tractors has on labor demands. Our 5 x 10 ft-wide wheeled coop was more difficult to move in a tomato production system with raised beds and loose soil as compared to a relatively more even and firm ground in a pasture. It seems apparent that engineering considerations such as wheel type, coop material and coop weight will influence the user adoption of poultry and crop integrations. Careful timing and planning is yet another labor consideration when it comes to transitioning successfully between cropping and poultry husbandry that we encountered. Eagerly, we await to gather more information in the next year until additional conclusions to our research questions can be drawn after the study concludes in 2022.

Samples Collected

Analysis

Soil

Changes in soil macro and micronutrient and other chemical and physical properties; impacts on soil microbial activity

Boot cover swabs

Presence or absence of Salmonella

Tomato fruit yield and quality

In the soil quality and therefore vegetable production as a result of chicken manure fertigation

Cover crop biomass

Crop growth as a result of chicken fertigation

Chicken meat and tissue

Meat yield, quality (color, fat, and moisture content etc.), and Salmonella presence on poultry, compared between pastured and indoor chickens

Percent cover of tomato plants

Crop growth as a result of chicken fertigation

Input Costs

Cost-effectiveness of integrated production

Table 2. A non-exhaustive list of the data being collected and analyzed for the integrated poultry-vegetable farming study.

Additional Resources Nair, A. & Bilenky, M., (2019) “Integrating Vegetable and Poultry Production for Sustainable Organic Cropping Systems”, Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms Progress Reports 2018(1).

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Figure 1b. Diagram of experimental treatments applied on the one-acre field located at the UC Davis Research Ranch.

December 2021/January 2022

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CONSIDERING SOIL COMPACTION PROBLEMS FOR MAXIMIZING ORGANIC PRODUCTION

By NEAL KINSEY | Kinsey Ag Services

One way to physically break up a claypan or plow layer is by use of some type of deep tillage implement, such as a subsoiler or chisel plow.

S

oil compaction can be a far greater limitation, even on organic farms and gardens, than many growers tend to suspect. To optimize production capabilities on any type of land, building up needed nutrients and eliminating compaction must both be considered as essential with the effectiveness of each being dependent upon the other. Though many who are concerned with compaction never associate that the nutrient levels matter, this article will help focus on why such should be the case.

Reasons for Compaction

An old rule of thumb is that when there is 300 pounds of pressure per square inch of soil, it is so hard that plant roots will have difficulty penetrating it. Compaction is closely associated with the formation of a hardpan, claypan, plow pan or plow layer, which hinders root penetration. But even impediments to the movement of water through the soil can cause compaction problems. When conditions are present in any soil which causes even slight resistance to water movement, that signals the beginning of problems with too much soil compaction.

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Dr. Al Trouse, who worked at the National Tillage Machinery Laboratory in Auburn, Ala., used to illustrate compaction problems by using soil pits which he would dig in cornfields. He would then use a trowel and a brush to show where any type of compression had caused resistance in that soil. Not only could he pick out the problems made by a moldboard plow, or a disk, or a chisel plow, he showed where even the press wheel of the planter left its imprint by visibly compacting the soil.

In the most serious situations, the use of a soil penetrometer, soil compaction tester, tiling rod or soil probe can help identify if, when and where compaction problems exist in each field or area in question. When a soil has enough moisture present to keep it sufficiently wet, including the soil compaction layer, roots can more easily penetrate that soil. But so can whatever instrument you choose to use to determine to what extent any compaction may exist. On the other hand, when the soil is extremely dry, it becomes much harder for the roots to break through any compaction layer, and the same is true for the use of any tools used for

December 2021/January 2022

trying to measure it. So, it is best to test for compaction problems under normal growing conditions.

Working soil when it is too wet presses out needed pore space. That required porosity would normally most benefit the crop by helping provide the proper amounts of needed air and water for use by the plants growing there. The best approach is to find and eliminate any form of compaction by working the soil when it is dry enough to tolerate such treatment without adversely compacting it in some way.

Though not a good idea, at times, crops planted in fields that are worked wet seem to do better than those where growers waited for the right conditions to plant, but then got worse results.

When the compaction layer stays moist for long enough that roots can penetrate and get through it when there is sufficient moisture, then any additional water and nutrients provided below the layer will aid the crop, and as such, may provide a short-term advantage.

When the soil is so tight that water is not able to move freely through the top-

soil and into the subsoil, this is not only causing the loss of whatever moisture that should have gotten into that soil, but the distribution of plant nutrients is also affected. Such cases can often be detected by the inordinate accumulation of specific soil nutrients where this problem exists.

When the levels of sodium, sulfur and/ or boron continue to accumulate in a soil, this tends to indicate there is some type of a compaction problem. Each of these elements, when being applied either alone or in some type of combination, are found to be consistently high in compacted soils. This causes an impediment to water movement and an accumulation of those elements that would normally move with the water.

Fixing Compaction

Once a compaction layer has been detected, what is the best way to deal with it? Too often, the solution is given via a set of generalities that do not apply in every case. The goal is to break up any impediment or compaction layer in the soil and prevent its return for as long as possible.

That goal may be accomplished in one of three ways. You can physically break up a claypan or plow layer by use of some type of deep tillage implement, such as a subsoiler or chisel plow.

Another method, which has long been used by farmers, ranchers and growers, is considered as more of a biological approach for dealing with compaction using deep-rooted legumes, such as alfalfa or sweet clover, whose root systems can penetrate hardpan layers that other plants cannot. Finally, there are various forms of soil conditioners that employ the use of soil chemistry to help water and plant roots break through a hardpan.

Any of these three methods will work if the rules for their use are correctly understood and followed. For certified organic growers, the use of soil chemistry may be questionable due to finding properly certified materials that can help eliminate a plow pan at 9 to 12 inches deep. There are a number of products that claim to provide such

benefits, but few who manufacture and sell them seem willing to expend the time and money even to dig pits and show what can consistently be expected from use of such products.

These materials have special merit in certain circumstances. For example, a golf course would not normally be able to use a deep ripper or grow alfalfa for several seasons to deal with a compaction problem. Use of a material that can soften the soil as a topsoil application may be the only consideration for solving the problem.

Working as a consultant in a company that does not sell products, we find that some materials work well in one type of situation but not necessarily in others, depending on the specific circumstances. All of those differences cannot be dealt with in an article of this length.

Often, those looking for answers are most interested in a quick fix and not the time and expense it requires to determine the truth of each situation and get the job done right.

every case. For example, determine the depth of the compaction layer and plan to go just deep enough to break it up.

The goal is to allow plant roots to get through that tighter soil to gain the use of moisture and nutrients below it.

Once the depth is determined, then select what implement will be used. In many cases, a chisel plow can do all that is needed. Whether a deep ripper or a chisel plow is used, these additional rules should be considered.

Use narrow shanks and set them at least 30 to 40 inches apart, and no matter how many or how few that may be, always assure that the speed through the field can be at least 4.5 miles per hour. The goal is to shatter the soil just deep enough to eliminate the compacted layer. If you go deeper and keep doing the same things that have been done in the past, the next compaction

Continued on Page 12

The use of legumes for breaking up a compaction layer should be straightforward enough for those who are able to incorporate them into their crop rotation. Just consider that those who must use heavy equipment for planting or harvesting will generally find that compaction problems will become an issue about every three years, especially for those who feel they must get on fields before they have sufficiently dried first.

The use of a subsoiler or chisel plow to physically control compaction has some general guidelines that would apply in December 2021/January 2022

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Working soil when it is too wet presses out needed pore space. That required porosity would normally most benefit the crop by helping provide the proper amounts of needed air and water for use by the plants growing there.

Continued from Page 11 layer will be at the new depth to which you ripped that soil.

Next, be sure your soil has a sufficient level of calcium before trying to deal with a hardpan or plow pan. On the soil test we use, that should be at least a 60% base saturation of calcium. If less than that and you rip the soil in the autumn under otherwise ideal circumstances, with adequate winter rainfall, that soil will run right back together by spring and be just as tight as it was before because it did not shatter properly.

A word of caution here: For spring crops, it is usually best to subsoil in the autumn to allow time for the soil to settle, otherwise there can be so much porosity that it dries out and loses moisture that could otherwise be used for the crop. The same would be true when more than one trip is made at a time. The problem is that the soil dries out too quickly.

One client whose farm was extremely sandy experimented with using a chisel plow to subsoil as compared to the use of a moldboard plow in both fall and spring on a farm that had no irrigation.

He saw his crops had the least moisture stress where he used the chisel as a subsoiler in the autumn, but they did better where he used the moldboard plow for spring tillage. Using the chisel as a subsoiler in the spring did not allow the soil to settle sufficiently. This resulted in too much air space, and the soil and crop suffered from an excessive loss of needed moisture.

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Be sure the soil has sufficiently dried so that when you pull through the field, the soil is shattered just as deep halfway between the shanks as it is right where they are ripping. If there is not a sufficient level of calcium, the soils will not shatter as they should. To be sure, take a soil compaction tester, a tiling rod or a soil probe and test the depth halfway between each set of shanks.

If the subsoiling was done properly, that soil halfway between the shanks should be shattered to the same depth as where the shanks ran. If the soil is too wet, it will not shatter, but will smear the soil on each side where the shanks were pulled through. When the soil has less than 60% base saturation of calcium or when it is too dry, the soil halfway between where the shanks run will not shatter as deeply as it does where the shanks ran.

Nutrition Factors in, Too

What else is needed to keep the soil open to maximize porosity and eliminate the conditions that tend to cause compaction? Correcting the calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium base saturation percentages are always necessary to achieve the best results in correctly dealing with compacted soils.

sodium, salts and chlorides. If using salty water and the sodium is high but not the chlorides, this indicates the soil should be sufficiently porous to allow releasing and leaching out of any unneeded sodium once the base saturation of calcium is 60% or higher.

In soils where the chlorides are low, but the sodium that remains is attached to the soil colloids, it indicates the need for increased porosity before it is possible to leach any excess sodium out of that soil. That is why building soil fertility and reducing compaction are both requirements that organic growers need to deal with because only then is it possible to remove the detrimental effects of soils with an extreme excess of one or more nutrients.

When the fertility of the soil is sufficiently supplied, including the correct proportions of calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium, and any compaction layer is eliminated, this makes it possible for organic growers to deal with excesses and the detrimental effects they will have on the soil and the crops to be grown there.

Neal Kinsey is owner and President of Kinsey Agricultural Services, a consulting firm that specializes in restoring and maintaining balanced soil fertility for attaining excellent yields while growing highly nutritious food and feed crops on the land. Please call (573) 683-3880 or see www.kinseyag.com for more information.

For example, in desert soils that are affected by excessive salt levels, compaction can be contributing to the problem.

When there is a high level of sodium chloride in the water, this may or may not be the problem. The way to tell is by first measuring how much is present in Comments about this article? We want the water. Then test the soil by running to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com a complete soil analysis, including

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IMAGINATION

INNOVATION

SCIENCE IN ACTION

Managing Arthropod Pests in Organic Vegetable Crops

By TAYLOR CHALSTROM | Assistant Editor

O

rganic and conventional vegefactors all need to be taken into considtable crops have similar pests. eration in order to develop an integratCommon pest species of vegetaed pest management (IPM) plan for an bles include coleoptera (e.g. click beetle, organic field.

Colorado potato beetle); diptera (e.g. cabbage maggot, leafminers); hemipIPM of Utmost Importance tera (e.g. aphids, psyllids); lepidoptera Surendra Dara, an entomology and (e.g. Diamondback moth, leafrollers); biologicals farm advisor for San Luis thysanoptera (e.g. thrips); and acariObispo and Santa Barbara counties, na (e.g. spider mites, bulb mites) as said that while both organic and conwell as symphylans and spotted snake ventional vegetables use similar manmillipedes. These pests have different agement techniques and that IPM is methods of damaging vegetable plants, important for all systems, a good IPM including but not limited to chewing, plan is even more crucial in organic boring, rasping/scraping and piercing production. and sucking. They prefer to feed on surfaces or bored plant tissues (leaves, “In organic crop production, the choice roots, stems or fruits), mines, rolls, of pesticides can be limited, leading folds, etc. to their repeated use and potential resistance problems,” he said. “Cultural, Control options for arthropod pests mechanical, microbial, biological and in vegetables are based on multiple behavioral control options are critical factors, including pest biology, feeding components of IPM and complement behavior/habitat, mode of action of the control with pesticide applications.” pesticide option, prevention/curative and environmental conditions. These Cultural Options 14

Organic Farmer

December 2021/January 2022

Dara outlined multiple cultural options that growers have at their fingertips, including the use of resistant host plants, sanitation and modification of agronomic practices, in a University of California webinar. Starting with clean material, managing alternative/ weed hosts, removing and destroying infested plants and managing crop residue are all facets of good sanitation in the field, he said. Planting time, plant density, crop rotation, trap crops and mixed cropping as well as good nutrient and irrigation management can also play a role.

Biological Options A biological approach can be especially important in an organic setting.

Biologicals include natural enemies, microbial control agents and biostimulants.

Continued on Page 16

JAN 13-14, 2022

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Multiple management options, including behavioral options like this wing trap in Brussels sprouts, are key to an integrated pest management approach in both organic and conventional vegetable production.

Diamondback moth feeding damage on cauliflower. Infestations of the pest are growing in some areas in both organic and conventional fields, according to UCCE’s Surendra Dara (all photos by S. Dara.)

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“[Biologicals] play a significant role in IPM in improving crop health, providing natural control, reducing the reliance on synthetic or other pesticides, minimizing environmental and human risk, and promoting sustainable food production,” Dara said.

One PCA at a Santa Maria-based produce operation also noted the importance of biologicals. “It is important to have some biological control present,” she said. “We try to promote beneficials by planting cilantro or alyssum in the field; when the pest pressure is high, this is less effective, but it does help some.”

Chemical Options If pesticides need to be used on an organic vegetable field, Dara recommends botanical pesticides, microbial or microbial metabolite-based pesticides, and/or pesticides containing diatomaceous earth, fatty acids and minerals.

Pesticides will need to be chosen based on arthropod behavior and habitat (i.e. chewing vs. sucking insects, surface feeders vs. borers/miners/rollers, underground vs. aboveground, life stage of insect, etc.) Active ingredients for pesticides with organic labels in-

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Organic Farmer

IN ORGANIC CROP PRODUCTION, THE CHOICE OF PESTICIDES CAN BE LIMITED, LEADING TO THEIR REPEATED USE AND POTENTIAL RESISTANCE PROBLEMS.

“

clude pyrethrins, spynosyns, avermectins, azadirachtin and botanical extracts/oils.

Mechanical Options Dara recommends use of row covers, screens, sticky tapes and reflective material as well as ultraviolet light.

Behavioral Options Depending on the type of arthropod species, Dara recommends baits/traps and mating disruption.

In a recent study on diamondback moth (DBM) management in Brussels sprouts, Dara examined the efficacy of a sprayable pheromone to evaluate the potential enhancement that mating disruption could provide in an IPM program. What he found was that mating disruption (in this case, CheckMate DBM-F), when combined with larval-suppressing pesticide applications, “will significantly enhance the current IPM practices by reducing pest populations, contributing to insecticide resistance management and reducing

December 2021/January 2022

“

Continued from Page 14

– SURENDRA DARA, UCCE

pest management costs,” according to Dara in the March/April 2021 edition of Progressive Crop Consultant.

Organic vs. Conventional

Except for using the products that do not have organic registration, Dara said organic and conventional vegetable production systems use the same strategies for pest management. He also said that there aren’t any new pests specific to organic vegetables at the moment, but DBM infestations are growing in some areas in both organic and conventional fields.

The Santa Maria-based PCA noted that more acreage is sometimes required depending on losses that certain organic crops can experience. “Sometimes when the population gets really bad, we actually do nothing as far as pesticides go because it’s just impossible to control it,” she said.

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INSECT RANCHING Are Mealworms the Food of the Future?

By DANITA CAHILL | Contributing Writer

Dried mealworms supply protein to commercially raised poultry, swine and fish (all photos by D. Cahill)

T

he mealworm beetle was once mental stages, before reaching a final known only as a pest that ruined length of 2.5 cm to 3 cm. Adults are stored grains, but the lowly mealshorter in length, about 1.25 cm to worm is currently having its moment in 1.8 cm. Adult beetles live for several the positive spotlight as a high-protein months. The females lay around 500 sustainable food source. Not only are eggs in their lifetime. mealworms fed to backyard chickens, wild birds and pets, such as reptiles and In the wild, mealworms eat vegetacaptive birds, but they are also a protein tion, dead insects and their own skin source fed to commercially raised swine, casings from all those developmental poultry and farmed fish. molts. In captivity, mealworms eat food waste.

Humans eat farmed fish, and the parts that we don’t eat, the fish byproduct, Mealworm Business Model are dried and crushed into fishmeal One northwest company, Beta Hatch, and fed to swine and poultry as well in collaboration with Indiana Unias back to farmed fish. Fishmeal is versity, is taking the future of mealalso used as a fertilizer to grow fruits, worms a step further with a genetic vegetables and nuts. So, the mealworm breeding program to produce bigger, already plays a role in our food supply better bugs. The new Beta Hatch flagchain. ship hatchery in Cashmere, Wash. is in the final stages of construction.

As with mealworms, fishmeal is a high-protein food source, but it may “It’s the largest facility for mealworm contain heavy metals or other confarming in North America,” said Aitaminants. When organic farmers mee Rudolph, Beta Hatch vice president raise mealworms, they can control the of business development. “We are curinsects’ feed and environment to elimi- rently in the process of amplifying our nate chemicals and contaminants. mealworm population and insects have begun moving into their new grow Mealworms aren’t actually a worm rooms. We expect to be online and at at all. They are the larvae of Tenebrio full capacity in March 2022.” molitor, a species of darkling beetle.

The beetle has four life stages: egg, By 2023, Beta Hatch expects to start larva, pupa and adult beetle. The larvae contracting with a network of insect go through several instar, or developranchers.

18

Organic Farmer

December 2021/January 2022

Mealworms are part of the four- to five-billion-dollar annual animal food market.

“We are using a hub-and-spoke approach to production and expansion,” Rudolph said. “The facility in Cashmere is designed to operate as a hatchery. Eggs will be shipped to insect ranches. These ranches will be co-located with feedstocks for the insects, finished feed producers, end users for the frass or other key steps in the supply chain. In this way, we can further reduce the environmental impact of food production.”

Beta Hatch’s flagship hatchery is

Continued on Page 20

The professionals’ top choice coast to coast for all root and foliar applications.

Continued from Page 18 designed to support at least a dozen ranches and is already looking at ways to expand. Besides dried mealworms, Beta Hatch also sells frass. The mealworms’ frass (insect excrement) is a 2-3-2 fertilizer and soil amendment certified organic by USDA. It’s also OMRI listed.

Raising Mealworms

Mealworms are raised in a sustainable way. Besides eating agricultural waste byproducts, mealworms require minimal water and grow at 500 times the acre yield of soy, according to Beta Hatch’s website (soy produces an average of 50 bushels per acre.)

“The larval stage is when we use the mealworms for feed. It’s also the life stage which produces frass, a natural fertilizer,” Rudolph said. “We have this beautiful, circular system in which the insects eat byproducts from industries like fruit harvesting and grain processing. The entire insect is then utilized as a feed ingredient with feed production mirroring the way it works in nature.

“Insect ranching can be a steady source of revenue,” Rudolph pointed out. “You don’t have seasonality with mealworms.

It’s a year-round predictable income to complement a diverse crop portfolio.”

Food Revolution

Humans eat the chickens, swine and fish that have been fed mealworms, but what if we skipped the middleman and went straight to eating the grubs?

Many other cultures already eat insects.

The act of humans consuming insects even has a name: entomophagy. In Brazil, queen ants take flight during October and November. The ants have a minty flavor and are often dipped in chocolate. In China, bee larvae are available as an appetizer. Chinese street vendors sell assorted insects skewered on sticks. In Denmark, ginger root and blended grasshoppers are mixed with apple juice for a special drink. In Ghana, up to 60% of the protein in rural Africans’ diet comes from insects;

20

Organic Farmer

Mealworms are a popular treat for backyard chickens, pet birds and reptiles.

Darkling beetle (grown mealworm).

termites are an important survival food.

Japanese chefs whip up fancy dishes using fried silk moth pupae and fried grasshoppers. Insects in Mexico can satisfy a sweet tooth, either fried and dipped in chocolate or added to candy.

Some Mexican cooks soak ant eggs in butter before serving them up. In Thailand bars, customers can snack on stirfried crickets, grasshoppers and grubs while enjoying their favorite alcoholic beverage. In the U.S., there’s a California-based company called Hotlix, which offers insect novelty edibles, such as suckers with scorpions embedded inside and snack-size packages of fried mealworms and crickets in assorted flavors, including bacon and cheddar, Mexican spice and salt and vinegar.

For those interested in growing a sustainable protein source in their home or office, Livin Farms based out of Austria

December 2021/January 2022

and Hong Kong supplies desktop mealworm hives. The hive looks somethings like a plastic tote with drawers. Mealworms are raised inside the drawer compartments, fed daily and harvested weekly.

Mealworms are over 50% protein and about 25% fat and can live on food scraps, such as those the home gardener might toss into their compost bin or feed to their backyard hens.

Scraps such as fruits and vegetables, and grains such as oats and bread, will keep mealworms growing and thriving in the Livin Farms mealworm hives.

Worms in the hives shouldn’t be fed greasy or spicy foods, liquid foods, such as soup, or anything rotten or moldy.

Dry and moist foods must be balanced to keep smells at bay.

Optimum temperature for mealworms in captivity is around 82 degrees F.

Plastic Eaters

In 2015, it was discovered that mealworms will eat two types of plastics: polystyrene, such as Styrofoam coffee cups, containers and packing materials, and polyethylene, which is the most widely used type of plastic found in many items from bottles to bags.

Mealworm stages of development.

They need around 60% humidity. After harvesting the worms when they are about 3 cm long, they can be humanely killed by freezing them. They are then ready to fry, bake or grind into protein powder for human consumption.

Besides being high in protein, insects have a minimal impact on the environment. The question is: Will Americans ever be able to get past the ‘ick’ factor and willingly eat insects as anything other than a novelty? Only time will tell.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

The mealworms’ penchant for poly is not an instant fix to the earth’s plastics problem, unfortunately, since it takes 3,000 to 4,000 mealworms about a week to devour a single Styrofoam coffee cup. Besides the mass quantities of larvae it would take to digest enough plastics to really help, there’s also the problem of the chemicals within the plastics. Do those chemicals stay inside the mealworms?

As far as a flame retardant that’s manufactured into some of the poly, the mealworms defecate that out, leaving none in their guts. So, at least in theory, those worms could be fed to livestock without the fear of chemicals transferring to humans. Researchers found that half of the plastics that the worms ate were excreted as carbon dioxide, the gas used by plants to produce carbohydrates during photosynthesis, and some were excreted as partially digested plastic particles.

That leads to further concerns about microplastics in our food chain.

Scientist have isolated the powerful bacteria in the mealworms’ guts that breaks down the plastics and have successfully grown it in the lab. It takes a larger quantity of the bacteria outside of the mealworms than it takes the mealworms themselves to break down the same amount of plastics. But researching and understanding the mealworms’ biology may lead to future ways to deal with the plastics that humans have introduced into the environment.

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Although removal of infected plant material and debris can reduce the source of inoculum in the field, regular fungicide applications are typically necessary for managing botrytis fruit rot (all photos by S.K. Dara.)

BIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING BOTRYTIS FRUIT ROT IN STRAWBERRY

By SURENDRA K. DARA | UCCE Entomology and Biologicals Advisor and DAVE PECK | Manzanita Berry Farms, Santa Maria

B

otrytis fruit rot or gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea is a common fungal disease of strawberry and other crops damaging flowers and fruits. This pathogen has more than 200 plant species as hosts producing several cell-wall-degrading enzymes, toxins and other compounds and causing the host to induced programmed cell death (Williamson et al. 2007). As a result, soft rot of aerial plant parts in live plants and postharvest decay of fruits, flowers and vegetables occurs.

Pathogen survives in the plant debris and soil and can be present in the plant tissues before flowers form. Infection is common on developing or ripe fruits as brown lesions. Lesions typically appear under the calyxes but can be seen on other areas of the fruit. As the disease progresses, a layer of gray spores forms on the infected surface.

Severe infection in flowers results in the 22

Organic Farmer

failure of fruit development. Cool and moist conditions favor botrytis fruit rot development. Sprinkler irrigation, rains or certain agricultural practices can contribute to the dispersal of fungal spores.

Although removal of infected plant material and debris can reduce the source of inoculum in the field, regular fungicide applications are typically necessary for managing botrytis fruit rot. Since fruiting occurs continuously for several months and fungicides are regularly applied, botrytis resistance to fungicides is not uncommon. Applying fungicides only when necessary, avoiding continuous use of fungicides from the same mode of action group and exploring the potential of biological fungicides to reduce the risk of resistance development are some of the strategies for effective botrytis fruit rot manage-

December 2021/January 2022

ment. In addition to several synthetic fungicides, several biological fungicides continue to be introduced into the market offering various options for the growers. Earlier field studies evaluated the potential of various biological fungicides and strategies for using them with synthetic fungicides against botrytis and other fruit rots in strawberry (Dara 2019; Dara 2020). This study was conducted to evaluate some new and soon-to-be-released fungicides in fall-planted strawberry to support the growers, ag input industry and to promote sustainable disease management through biological and synthetic pesticides.

Methodology

This study was conducted on a conventional strawberry field at Manzanita Berry Farms, Santa Maria in strawberry variety 3024 planted in October

2020. Treatments included fungicides containing captan and cyprodinil + fludioxinil as synthetic standards along with a variety of biological fungicides of microbial, botanical and animal sources at various rates and different combinations and rotations. Products and active ingredients evaluated in this study included captan 38.75%, cyprodinil 37.5% + fludioxinil 25%, potassium carbonate 58.04% + thyme oil 1.75%, botanical extract 100 g AI/L, giant knotweed extract 5%, protein 15-20%, cinnamon oil 15% + garlic oil 20%, caprylic acid 41.7% + capric acid 28.3%, Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain AFS009 50%, Bacillus subtilis strain

AFS032321 100%, P. chlororaphis strain AFS009 44.5% + azoxystrobin 5.75%, Banda de Lupinus albus doce – BLAD (a polypeptide from sweet lupine) 20% with chitosan 2.3% or pinene (polyterpenes) polymers, petrolatum, alkyl amine ethxylate (spreader/sticker) 100%, thyme oil 20% and a thyme oil blend.

Excluding the untreated control, the rest of the 24 treatments can be divided into synthetic fungicides, a fungicide with synthetic + biological active ingredients (a formulation with two application rates), synthetic fungicides alternated with biological fungicides and

various kinds of biological fungicides (Table 1). Treatments were applied at a 7- to 10-day interval between April 22 and May 17, 2021. Berries for pre-treatment disease evaluation were harvested on April 19, 2021. Each treatment had a 5.67’ x 15’ plot replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. Strawberries were harvested three days before the first treatment and three to four days after each treatment for disease evaluation. On each sampling date, marketable-quality berries were harvested from random plants

Continued on Page 24

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December 2021/January 2022

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23

Table 1 Category

Synthetic Synthetic+ Biological Synthetic rotated with Biological

Biological

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1st spray Untreated control Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 48 oz Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 80 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Protein 48 oz Cinnamon oil+garlic oil 1% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.2% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.35% Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain AFS009 18 80 oz Banda de Lupinus albus doce – BLAD 43 fl 19 oz 20 BLAD 43 fl oz + Chitosan 30 fl oz 21 BLAD 43 fl oz + Pinene polymers … 8 fl oz 22 Bacillus subtilis strain AFS032321 48 oz P. chlororaphis strain 23 AFS009+azoxystrobin 44.8 oz 24 Thyme oil 128 fl oz 25 Thyme oil blend 40 fl oz

Treatments and rates per acre 2nd spray 3rd spray Untreated control Untreated control Captan 80 fl oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz None Cyprodinil+fludioxinil Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 48 oz Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 48 oz Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 80 oz Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 80 oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Botanical extract 27.4 fl oz

4th spray Untreated control Captan 80 fl oz None None Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 48 oz Potassium carbonate+thyme oil 80 oz Botanical extract 27.4 fl oz

Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Botanical extract 27.4 fl oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Giant knot weed extract 64 fl oz Protein 48 oz Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Protein 48 oz Cinnamon oil+garlic oil 1% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.2% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.35% Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain AFS009 80 oz Banda de Lupinus albus doce – BLAD 43 fl oz BLAD 43 fl oz + Chitosan 30 fl oz

Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Giant knot weed extract 64 fl oz Cyprodinil+fludioxinil 14 oz Captan Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Protein 48 oz Cinnamon oil+garlic oil 1% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.2% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.35% Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain AFS009 80 oz Banda de Lupinus albus doce – BLAD 43 fl oz BLAD 43 fl oz + Chitosan 30 fl oz

Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Botanical extract 27.4 fl oz Giant knot weed extract 64 fl oz Giant knot weed extract 64 fl oz Protein 48 oz Botanical extract 41.1 fl oz Protein 48 oz Cinnamon oil+garlic oil 1% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.2% Caprylic acid+capric acid 0.35% Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain AFS009 80 oz Banda de Lupinus albus doce – BLAD 43 fl oz BLAD 43 fl oz + Chitosan 30 fl oz

BLAD 43 fl oz + Pinene polymers … 8 fl oz Bacillus subtilis strain AFS032321 48 oz P. chlororaphis strain AFS009+azoxystrobin 44.8 oz Thyme oil 128 fl oz Thyme oil blend 40 fl oz

BLAD 43 fl oz + Pinene polymers … 8 fl oz Bacillus subtilis strain AFS032321 48 oz P. chlororaphis strain AFS009+azoxystrobin 44.8 oz Thyme oil 128 fl oz Thyme oil blend 40 fl oz

BLAD 43 fl oz + Pinene polymers … 8 fl oz Bacillus subtilis strain AFS032321 48 oz P. chlororaphis strain AFS009+azoxystrobin 44.8 oz Thyme oil 128 fl oz Thyme oil blend 40 fl oz

Continued from Page 23

Pre-treatment Botrytis infection 3 DAH

5%

0%

1 2 3 8 22 23 4 5 9 6 10 25 7 24 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Botrytis infection after 1 spray 3 DAH

Organic Farmer

3 DAH

December 2021/January 2022

U Sw TC Sw itch itc h NS Swit c NS TKI- h TK 14I-1 L 4 Sw -H it Sw ch it Sw ch itc Sw h it Sw ch itc S h A2 witc 26 h 13 EX -H Ga P14 r Da goil Da rt 0. rt 2 P Pr H 0.3 Pr roBl oBla ow 5 oB ad d le lad V Ve r V+ + Ki rde Nu pla Fil nt Ag m ric Th P ell E F s eia AS un T end -E hy o XP m Th e ym e

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Continued on Page 26 24

3 DAH

10%

Infected Berries

Percent infection data were arcsine-transformed before subjecting to the analysis of variance using Statistix software. Significant means were separated using the least significant difference test.

Pre-treatment infection was very low and occurred only in some treatments with no statistical difference (P > 0.05). Infection levels increased for the rest of the study period.

Infected Berries

within each plot during a 30-second period and incubated in paper bags at outdoor temperatures under shade. Number of berries with botrytis infection were counted on three and five days after harvest (DAH) and percent infection was calculated. This is a different protocol than previous years’ studies where disease rating was made on a 0 to 4 scale. Treatments were applied with a backpack sprayer equipped with hollow cone nozzle using 90 gpa spray volume at 45 PSI. Water was sprayed in the untreated control plots. A surfactant with methyl esters of C16-C18 fatty acids was used at 0.125% for treatments that contained protein P. chlororaphis alone and in combination with azoxystrobin, B. subtilis, thyme oil and thyme oil blend.

Research authorization was obtained for some products and crop destruction was implemented for products that did not have California registration.

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Botrytis infection after III spray

Pre-treatment infection was very low and occurred only in some treatments with no statistical difference (P > 0.05). Infection levels increased for the rest of the study period. There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) among treatments for disease levels three or five days after the first spray application. Differences were significant (P = 0.0131) in disease five DAH after the second spray application where 13 treatments from all categories had significantly lower infection than the untreated control. After the third spray application, infection levels were significantly lower in eight treatments in three DAH observations (P = 0.0395) and 10 treatments in five DAH observations (P = 0.0005) compared to the untreated control. There were no statistical differences (P > 0.05) among treatments for observations after the fourth spray application or for the average of four applications. However, there were numerical differences where infection levels were lower in several treatments than the untreated control plots.

In general, the efficacy of both synthetic and biological fungicides varied throughout the study period among the treatments. When the average for post-treatment observations was considered, infection was numerically lower in all treatments regardless of the fungicide category. Since the rates, rotations and combinations were all experimental, additional studies can help determine optimal use strategies for these active ingredients. Multiple biological fungicide treatments either alone or in rotation with synthetic fungicides appeared to be as effective as synthetic fungicides. These biological fungicides can be an important part of integrated disease management, especially for the botrytis fruit rot that has frequent resistance problems.

Thanks to AgBiome, AgroSpheres, Biotalys, NovaSource, Sym-Agro, Syngenta, and Westbridge for funding and Chris Martinez for his technical assistance.

26

Organic Farmer

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Botrytis infection after four spray applications 3 DAH

3 DAH

50% Infected Berries

Continued from Page 24

Infected Berries

3 DAH

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Multiple biological fungicide treatments either alone or in rotation with synthetic fungicides appeared to be as effective as synthetic fungicides.

References Dara, S. K. 2019. Five shades of gray mold control in strawberry: evaluating chemical, organic oil, botanical, bacterial, and fungal active ingredients. UCANR eJournal of Entomology and Biologicals. https://ucanr.edu/ blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=30729 Dara, S. K. 2020. Evaluating biological fungicides against botrytis and other fruit rots in strawberry. UCANR

December 2021/January 2022

eJournal of Entomology and Biologicals. https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/ postdetail.cfm?postnum=43633 Williamson, B., B. Tudzynski, P. Tudzynski, and J.A.L. van Kan. 2007.

Botrytis cinerea: the cause of grey mold disease. Mol. Plant Pathol. 8: 561-580.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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SOIL NITROGEN FERTILITY FOR ORGANIC SWEET CORN PRODUCTION

By JOSEPH R. HECKMAN | Ph.D., Soil Fertility Extension Specialist, Rutgers University

To sample for the “End-of-Season Stalk N Test”, collect stalk segments at 6 and 14 inches above the ground (all photos courtesy J. Heckman.)

S

weet corn is a heavy feeder on soil nitrogen (N). A full-season sweet corn variety may uptake about 125 lbs. N per acre in the stover, and about 50 lbs. N is removed by harvest of marketable ears. Thus, before organic growers crop a field to sweet corn, they should build up the capacity of the soil to supply N.

Because there are no cheap and readily available approved N sources for supplying supplemental N during the early growing season, it is important to design an organic farm plan that will minimize the need to apply sidedress N fertilizer for production of organic sweet corn. Crop rotations, legume cover crops, manures and compost are commonly used organic methods and inputs to achieve a goal of soil N sufficiency.

Help the Crop Early On

At the time of planting, a small amount of an organic fertilizer may be placed near the seed row. This strategic placement is intended to get the crop off to an early start when the root system is limited.

Once the corn plants are about six inches tall, it is the beginning of a very rapid vegetative growth phase where the crop has a high daily uptake demand for N. The peak uptake rate for N may exceed 3 lbs. N per acre per day. During this critical period of rapid growth, the soil under organic farming management must have the capacity to supply sufficient N to match the needs of the crop.

One way to access the soil N availability 28

Organic Farmer

Collect stalk samples on same day as harvest of the sweet corn crop.

at this critical growth stage is to test the soil for nitrate-N in the surface 12 inches of soil. This soil test method is commonly referred to as the Pre-Sidedress Soil Nitrate Test (PSNT). The concept behind the test was first developed on grain and silage corn, but research has demonstrated that this soil test can be applied effectively to sweet corn and a wider range of annual vegetable crops such as cabbage.

The PSNT is a soil test where the soil sampling is performed during the early growing season. It is most useful in fields where one might expect, based on good soil building cultural practices, that the soil can be predicted to supply sufficient N to take the crop to maturity. Thus, the purpose of this early season soil test for N is to make predictions about projected N availability for the remainder of the growing season.

If the PSNT soil test finds a 25-ppm-orhigher level of nitrate-N in the soil, the field is considered adequate and no supplemental or sidedress N fertilizer would be recommended. When growers test and find this level of available soil N early in

December 2021/January 2022

the growing season, it gives confidence to growers that their N fertility program is on target.

On the other hand, if the PSNT soil test finds less than 25 ppm of nitrate-N in the soil, the field is considered deficient and sidedress N fertilizer would be recommended. Hopefully this is not a common occurrence for organic sweet corn growers, but if it happens, they may sidedress with pelleted poultry manure or some other approved N fertilizer.

Conceptually, the PSNT soil test is a good diagnostic tool use for organic crop production. Under good organic farming management, the PSNT is useful to measure and hopefully confirm that the soil has the capacity to supply sufficient N and produce a good crop yield of sweet corn. This gives the organic grower confidence in their soil building and cultural management practices.

On low-organic-matter-content soils and where farming systems neglect to

Continued on Page 30

Continued from Page 28 use soil fertility building practices as well as where there is not a strong focus on building up a healthy biological capacity to supply N to crops, it is generally a waste of time to use the PSNT soil test.

This is because such fields will almost invariably have low soil test values as measured by the PSNT, and this can be predicted without performing a PSNT soil test.

In most cases under good organic farming management, the PSNT soil test should find 25 ppm or above for nitrate nitrogen. As previously stated, if the PSNT soil test finds less than 25 ppm, the grower can still apply some supplemental N fertilizer. A situation where N deficient soils might be found is where a heavy leaching rain washes available N from the soil before the PSNT soil sample was collected.

Occasionally, an organic grower might, when using the PSNT soil test, find exceptionally high levels (greater than 50 ppm) of nitrate-N. In this hopefully rare instance, this may be interpreted as a sign that the organic grower used a combination of manures, composts and legume rotations to supply excess N. The grower can learn from this experience and adjust their soil fertility building program accordingly in future growing seasons.

Carrying Out a PSNT Soil Test

Details on how to carry out the PSNT soil test are available by web search for a fact sheet at Rutgers New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station: “Soil Nitrate Testing as a Guide to Nitrogen Management for Vegetable Crops”.

Briefly, for sweet corn, soil samples are collected when plants are about six inches tall by collecting soil cores between the rows. The soil sample probe for this special test needs to be able to collect the soil sample cores from the 0- to 12-inch depth (note that this is a deeper sampling depth than for a traditional soil fertility test.) Collect about 15 cores from the field area of interest. The soil sample needs to be dried shortly after collection to stop soil metabolism which could otherwise change nitrate-N concentrations. Soil samples can be dried quickly in an oven 30

Organic Farmer

The PSNT soil test can be used for several vegetable crops besides sweet corn. In this instance, the PSNT soil samples are being collected from a field on cabbage early in the growing season about two weeks after transplanting. Note that the soil sample probe depth for this special soil test is taken from the first 0 to 12 inches of soil, which is deeper than typically done for regular soil testing.

Corn plants exhibiting N deficiency. A “V”-shaped pattern of yellowing and leaf necrosis is a sign of severe N deficiency on corn. The symptoms are most prominent on the lower leaves.

or overnight by placing the soil in a thin layer in pan inside of a warm greenhouse.

Send the sample off to a soil testing laboratory that can report results back to the grower quickly. A fast turnaround for reporting is needed because if by chance the soil test finds that N is deficient, the grower will want to immediately take corrective action by adding supplemental N fertilizer.

Soil test kits for nitrate, designed for use on the farm, may be used as an alternative to sending soil samples out to a laboratory.

Note that interpretations for the PSNT may vary slightly among states, so check with your local state extension service.

Nevertheless, there is good consensus among researchers that the critical PSNT soil test level is near 25 ppm nitrate-N for field corn, sweet corn and cabbage.

Unique Organic Fertility

Another point of consideration is the unique fertility situation of soils under organic management. Approaches to building soil fertility, the nutrient sources and the tillage systems are often quite different for organic versus conventional production systems. After long-term

December 2021/January 2022

management under the contrasting systems, especially because of organic matter accumulation, the soils may become more biologically active and different enough that agronomic test results may need reconsideration. Soil fertility test interpretations as developed from research conducted under conventional farming are generally assumed to be transferable for use in organic systems. However, most soil testing standards were developed under non-organic farm management, and that is about the only database we currently have until more soil fertility test research is conducted on certified organic farms.

Another indicator of when corn is provided with excessive amounts of N from soil or fertilizer is by use of a stalk tissue test.

Corn plants typically have good green color just as should be expected for optimally fertilized corn. However, excessive N supply and N uptake are not so easy to visually diagnose by crop appearance alone. A good diagnostic test for excess N fertilization of sweet corn is the “End-ofSeason Stalk N Test”. This plant tissue test is performed at harvest time. At this stage, it is too late to take corrective action during the current growing season; how-

ever, a grower can learn from experience if year after year they are providing excessive N. With this “report card” information about their production practices, they can learn to adjust their fertility program in subsequent growing seasons.

nutrient management. For sweet corn, we have data to show how much macro and micronutrients are removed with every harvest of sweet corn. Depending on whether sweet corn is grown for direct marketing, wholesale or processing, growers may use different units to express yield. Thus, the nutrient removal values can be expressed both in units of ear number and weight.

In the case of N deficiency, stalk N testing in sweet corn is not useful because the symptoms of N deficiency in corn (yellowing of the older leaves and small ear size) are readily apparent without performing a test. Classic symptoms for N deficiency appear first on lower leaves as yellowing and in severe cases as a dead tissue with a V-shaped pattern from the leaf tip to midvein.

To perform the corn stalk tissue test, collect samples of stalk tissue by cutting and collecting segments of the stalk at harvest time. Do not delay sample collection; sampling must be performed on the same day as sweet corn ear harvest. Cut stalk segments at 6 and 14 inches above the ground. Remove outer leafy plant tissue and collect about ten or more stalk segments from the field area of interest. Dry the samples and send them to a lab for analysis for total N concentration.

Interpret results as follows: sweet corn stalk samples with 1.6% to 2.2% N are regarded to be in the optimum range, and stalk samples testing above 2.2% N are regarded as having too much N and are a sign of overfertilization.

A crate typically consists of 50 ears as a market unit. Whether expressed as per 1,000 ears, hundredweight (100 lbs. = 1 cwt), or crate (50 ears), nutrient management planners can scale nutrient removal values up to a yield goal per unit land area by multiplication. As an example, for nutrient removal data we will assume a typical full season variety of sweet corn. And assume the yield level = 150 cwt/acre (or about 18,396 ears/ acre or about 368 crates). (This example assumes weight of a one typical fresh sweet corn ear of market size with green husk included equals 0.815 pounds.) This full-season variety of 18,396 ears harvested fresh would be projected to remove in lbs. per acre: N, 51; P, 9.1; K, 34; S, 3.7; Ca, 2.0; Mg, 3.9; B, 0.024; Cu, 0.014; Fe, 0.09; Mn, 0.044; and Zn, 0.072. Nutrient removal values would be somewhat less for a shorter season sweet corn variety.

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Details on how to use this tissue test are available by web search at Rutgers New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station: “Sweet Corn Crop Nitrogen Status Evaluation by Stalk Testing”.

Other Nutrients

Besides N, sweet corn needs a proper balance of all essential plant nutrients. Fields intended for sweet corn should be sampled and tested to ensure that P and K fertility levels are at or near optimum levels. The target soil pH level for sweet corn is 6.5.

Applications of limestone as recommended by soil test reports should supply any needed calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg).

Sulfur (S) is an important nutrient for both yield and enhancement of sweet corn flavor.

Fields with very sandy soils are most likely to be S deficient. Organic growers who frequently apply manures or compost will generally have enough S fertility from the soil. The need for micronutrients can be assessed from soil tests. Boron (B) is an important nutrient for pollination and good kernel fill at the ear tip. Manganese (Mn) deficiency sometimes occurs on sandy soils.

Foliar applications of manganese sulfate (1 lb. Mn/acre) can correct a Mn deficiency.

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Amount of nutrient removal by crop harvest is a useful indicator for sustainable December 2021/January 2022

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NEW BERKELEY URBAN AG ORDINANCE CULTIVATES GROWING FOOD TOGETHER

By ROB BENNATON | UCCE Bay Area Urban Ag Advisor and PETER RUDDOCK | California Policy and Implementation Director, COOK Alliance

Recent Berkeley Urban Ag Ordinance zoning changes cultivate growing food together by allowing adaptive city farm production and programming in backyard, community garden and vertical farm settings, setting precedent for other cities (photo by Claire Weissbluth.)

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December 2021/January 2022

T

he little-known recent Berkeley Urban Ag Ordinance zoning changes cultivate growing food together by allowing adaptive city farm production and programming in backyard, community garden and vertical farm settings, setting precedent for other cities, thanks to the Berkeley Food Policy Council, the Berkeley Community Garden Collaborative and Slow Food East Bay. The Oakland Food Policy Council before them had successfully advocated for the “Right to Grow Food” citywide in 2014. In fact, urban and peri-urban food policy councils have been organizing food system changes for more equitable food access, with nearly 300 councils in the U.S. as of 2021, each with goals of more nutritious, affordable and local food, many in communities with limited fresh food access. Both the zoning changes and groups organizing them are catalysts for the kinds of cooperative, community-based food and ag business and nonprofit efforts that can keep cities diverse, and support homegrown current-resident-based micro-economic development, with minimal start-up costs.

Zoning Changes

In 2018, the Berkeley City Council adopted a newly revised Urban Ag Zoning Ordinance to further allow citywide food growing, provide criteria for city agricultural land use intensity, set local food sales/crops parameters and provide guidance for associated agricultural education opportunities. For years, growing food on a Berkeley vacant lot was a rabbit hole complicated by incomplete agricultural land use zoning guidance.

This ambiguity left city staff and residents to self-interpret statutes, despite increasing interest in urban farming that could bring neighborhood residents closer together. The Berkeley Food Policy Council, Berkeley Community Garden Collaborative plus the Ecology Center actively advocated for the new Ordinance, along with the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition.

Previously, the Berkeley Residential

and Manufacturing Districts Zoning included statutes allowing some “urban ag” in residential areas, but food growing as an agricultural land use was minimally referred to and mostly undefined by City of Berkeley’s Zoning Ordinance criteria.

City Zoning Ordinance defined neither “Farms” nor “Agricultural Uses” in any of its statutes before the amendment; thus, the new ordinance is more comprehensive and helpful.

That older ordinance allowed for commercial farming/gardening in residentially zoned lands as an accessory to a residential use. This meant a residential property with a house or apartment building on it could have a backyard garden supplying food to the neighborhood by sale or donation. Even an occasional produce stand was allowed, however, they were not permitted in other city zones, even on rare, residentially zoned-vacant lots, excepting Manufacturing (M) and Mixed Manufacturing (MM) districts. In zoning statutes for those districts, minimal language specified ag land use limits, except for permit types based on land area occupied. In fact, the Berkeley

The difference between the two urban agricultural land use intensity levels revolves around thresholds for:

Urban Farms and Community Gardens

• Parcel size: (less than or greater than 7,500 sq. ft. co-determines designation as an LIUA vs. HIUA land use). Greater than 7,500 sq.ft. requires an Administrative Use Permit (AUP).

• Lot coverage with accessory structures: (<20% of land can include coverage with a greenhouse or toolshed). Must also comply with Berkeley Accessory Buildings and Structures (Zoning) Chapter.

Continued on Page 34

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Continued from Page 33 • Hours of farm and activity operation(s): 8am to 8pm, 7 days/ week. An AUP is required for operations outside of these times.

• Group classes and workshops: Up to 20 participants allowed, up to three times per week. Classes and workshops meeting more often than three times per week would also require an AUP. • Pesticide use is set as a defining threshold-criteria for HIUA designation, fostering public notification and review through a corresponding AUP review process.

• Cannabis cultivation and small animal husbandry exclusion in Berkeley city farming, as covered under other regulatory statutes, and are not considered allowed urban agricultural land uses.

The City Council referred two distinct 2016 zoning revision matters to the Planning Commission, one on urban ag and the other on community gardens. Both sought clarity in defining city farmland uses, products, permitting and accessory structures, and by setting food-growing land use limits based on intensity of production and use. Prior Berkeley city farming regulations allowed limited sales of “non-processed edibles” without clear definition of allowable crops that could be sold or guidance related to minimizing nuisance-causing agricultural activities (like manure smells and machine noises.) The Planning Commission streamlined inner city food growing regulations, recognizing urban ag’s social, eco2

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nomic and environmental benefits as contributing to the development of vibrant, multicultural, livable cities.

Although the 2016 zoning revision issues were referred to separately, the Commission chose not to separate urban farms and community gardens by definition, but by site criteria based on land use extent in production, size and intensity.

As a progressive policy, this combined category upholds urban farms and community gardens as potential community agricultural education centers where neighborhood residents can also learn, for example, the benefits of locally grown produce, or how to save seeds for the next crop. Amended urban ag zoning added statutes on urban farming operations and recognized farming as an activity aligned with the Berkeley Climate Action Plan, fueling zoning reform. Mayor Arreguin had been on City Council when initiating the Council’s two referrals for ordinance revision back to the Planning Commission for review, and collectively, the Planning Commission recommended urban ag be an allowable citywide land use in summer 2018.

A Low-Intensity Urban Agriculture (LIUA) designation includes community gardens or yards where small amounts of food are sold and food is allowed to be grown by right with a Zoning Certificate citywide without being subject to review hearings and excessive fees. Conversely, High-Intensity Urban Agriculture (HIUA) includes urban food-growing land uses requiring higher levels of regulation and/or community input due to greater extent of scale, production for sales and possible needs for increased regulation addressing food safety.

By the end of 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 288 food policy councils nationwide were conducting needed work on food and agricultural legislative changes at local, municipal, county and state levels, comprising extensive policy, program and partnership achievements. In 2021, the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s

Organic Farmer December 2021/January 2022 wcngg.com/PecanDay

For years, growing food on a Berkeley vacant lot was a rabbit hole complicated by incomplete agricultural land use zoning guidance (photo courtesy Berkeley Basket CSA.)

Food Policy Networks project organized a national Power of Food Forum with support from a national design team, which brought together over 525 people from 167 food policy councils and similar groups advocating for policies that create equitable and sustainable food systems (Santo et.al., 2021).

While local urban food growing has been increasing in popularity to the point of recent U.S. Farm Bill establishment of a USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, globally, >55% of the world’s population lives in cities, with projected increases to 68% by 2050 (United Nations Dept of Economic and Social Affairs’ 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects). Currently, projected food production increases are at 60% by 2066 to feed the growing population, 795 million of whom experience regular hunger or malnutrition, and these kinds of model zoning ordinances are one of many tools that can help meet those needs in your communities, too, and food policy councils can give voice towards those goals.

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Growing Clean Hemp for a Sustainable Environment

By DANITA CAHILL | Contributing Writer

H

emp is one of the oldest crops farmed by man. It’s been grown since 8,000 BCE, the very beginning of human agriculture.

Archeologists found traces of hemp in what is now Taiwan and China.

As for hemp history in the U.S., the plant is as American as apple pie. It was first grown in the U.S. in Jamestown, Va. and was a crop the colonists were required to grow. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Pioneers used hemp to make wagon coverings.

Hemp uses less water, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides than many other crops. It’s efficient at sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making it a lower footprint crop than many others.

One acre of hemp will take in 10 to 15 tons of CO2 in a growing season, which is equivalent to the average amount of CO2 contributed by one person in a year.

As far as eco-friendly fibers and fabrics go, hemp is up on the list along with jute and organically grown cotton, flax (linen) and bamboo. Hemp seed can be used for animal feed and the stem fiber as insulation and animal bedding.

Watering in new transplants (all photos courtesy C. Maffey.)

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Hemp is also good for the soil. A farmer will get more corn yield from a field if it was first planted in hemp.

Wheat and barley are also good crops to plant following a hemp harvest.

With all of its potential ecological benefits, some growers are looking to make inroads into organic certification for hemp and cannabis production.

December 2021/January 2022

Going Organic

Cassandra Maffey is the vice president of cultivation at Hava Gardens, an organic cannabis growing operation in De Beque, Colo. and the largest living-soil cultivation of cannabis in the state. Although Hava Gardens is a new business (they bought their greenhouse and revamped it in 2020 and harvested their first crop in 2021), Maffey has 20 years of regulated cannabis growing experience in both the U.S. and Europe.

Maffey said she learned about organic growing through trial and error. “I tried synthetic. I tried aeroponics and a couple different styles of hydroponics. I was never as happy with the quality as when I went organic.”

Hava Gardens grows their plants in a greenhouse, but even under cover, Maffey is still a big believer in growing plants in soil teeming with life.

“Living soil is rich in organic matter and probiotic microorganisms. Living soil is really just mimicking what exists in nature. Soil isn’t meant to be used once for a crop and then thrown away,” Maffey said.

She prefers to create an environment that will slowly consume what she’s putting into the soil. “At Hava Gardens, we create a great ecosystem in soil for organisms to thrive.”

Maffey likes to use organic kelp and alfalfa meal, along with various crushed minerals, testing the soil periodically for nutrients and micronutrients. She uses dry bulk material—dried kelp, for example, instead of kelp extract. The kelp meal is minimally processed. It acts as a slow-release fertilizer in the soil, naturally. With kelp meal, the fermentation process can be done by the

Cassandra Maffey, vice president of cultivation at Hava Gardens, said it is important not to let pests get a foothold in organic production.

Soil for new transplants at Hava includes peat moss and worm castings to create a biodynamic environment for young plants.

soil. With kelp extract, the fermentation is done by the nutrient manufacturer.

By purchasing kelp meal, a grower isn’t paying to basically ship a lot of water, Maffey noted.

Living Soil Produces Less Waste

“If you use your soil one time and then throw it out, that’s several tons of waste that would go directly to a landfill in many cases,” Maffey said.

In the best-case scenario, the used soil is going to an industrial composting facil-

ity, but it takes fossil fuels to get it there, Maffey points out, and could mean extra trips up to five or six times a year.

Maffey starts with a soil mix that includes materials such as peat moss and worm castings. So, how do the microorganisms get into the soil?

“Oftentimes, there are mycorrhizal fungi in the soil mix. A lot of that soil food web gets introduced passively,” she said, citing nematodes as an example. “There are nematodes covering everything all

December 2021/January 2022

Plants are transplanted into living soil at Hava Gardens.

over the world. Our broad-spectrum inoculant is worm castings. Everything that the worms consume is introduced into the soil.”

Sometimes, a little more boost in microorganisms is warranted. “We have some inoculants that we can use from time to time to make sure we have a pretty diverse microsystem,” Maffey said. “A lot of people have wound up spending a whole

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Organic production requires more “eyes on the plants.”

Pruning a plant at Hava Gardens.

Continued from Page 37 lot of money on microorganisms that maybe only live for a couple of days.”

Growing in a Greenhouse

Growing plants in a greenhouse leaves a smaller carbon footprint than growing indoors, said Maffey. When you’re growing in a greenhouse, you use less HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and lighting than you would growing in an indoor facility where growers have to provide 100% of the light.

“Lights create heat, so then you have to supply 50% to 80% more HVAC,” said Maffey. For cooling, Hava Gardens uses a wet wall to water cool the growing environment. “We’re not using refrigerant.”

Growing cannabis in a greenhouse won’t work in every location. “In western Pennsylvania or the Midwest, for example, where it’s cloudy and damp for a month at a time, it can be really challenging to pull off a great cannabis crop in a greenhouse in the winter,” said Maffey.

“You always have to be compensating for weather.”

It’s important to choose your greenhouse location; someplace warm and dry with lots of sunlight, Maffey notes.

Eyes on the Plant

You can’t let pests get a foothold. Hiring more people will help with that.

“I think if you’re aspiring to be an organic cultivator, one of the most important things is integrated pest management.

You need more people, more eyes on the plants to be looking for pests. More pruning to allow air to move through the canopy,” Maffey said.

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Organic Farmer

Maffey likes to use organic kelp and alfalfa meal, along with various crushed minerals, testing the soil periodically for nutrients and micronutrients at Hava Gardens in Colorado.

Employee training is also important. “In an organic facility, you need to make sure your people are really well trained.

Then they might say, ‘You’ve got Pythium in the third bay.’ As long as it hasn’t gone too far, you can go ahead and address that right away,” said Maffey.

With synthetic methods, a grower might let an issue go too long and then try to correct it with heavy doses of chemical sprays.

Sustainable-Growing Certifications

In the cannabis world, two California farms are the first to become OCal certified cannabis farms. The certification comes through California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). OCal’s standards closely mirror the USDA’s National Organics Program (NOP). It’s hailed as “Comparable-to-Organic.” The certification goes to Sensibolt Organics out of Humboldt County and The Highland Canopy at Sonoma Hills Farm out of Sonoma County. Sonoma Hills Farm’s pasture was also recently certified organic along with their flower and vegetable crops.

December 2021/January 2022

The process to become OCal certified involves filling out an application, a review, an inspection, a compliance review and, finally, certification. OCal is a California-specific program, but if cannabis becomes legal at the federal level, the USDA would likely offer a similar organic certification to qualifying farms across the nation.

Sonoma Hills Farm and Sensibolt Organics are both also Sun+Earth certified.

That certification process is different than OCal. Sun+Earth is a non-profit certification for regenerative organic hemp and cannabis small-scale family farmers that grow their crops outdoors under the sun. Sun+Earth not only looks at a farm’s sustainable growing practices but also considers how a farm treats its employees and how involved the farm is in the community. Examples of community involvement include helping to organize farmers markets, taking part in CFA or even picking up litter along rural roads.

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