Local agronomy meeting to highlight soil health
So what’s the big deal with soil health? What does soil health mean? Come find out! Southeast Research and Extension will be hosting its final meeting discussing soil health and how it pertains to agriculture—productivity, profitability and sustainability.
Cover Crops, Soil Health and Grazing will be Feb. 28. Presentations will start at 9 a.m. with lunch to follow. The meeting will be located at Falkenstien Farm, 8080 Pratt Road in Oswego, Kansas.
Presenters at the meetings will include: Jaymelynn Farney, KSU area beef specialist, “Do’s and Don’ts with cover crop grazing—from a livestock perspective”; Doug Spencer, Natural Resources Conservation Service rangeland management specialist; and Rich Falkenstien talking about his experiences with growing cover crops and grazing.
For a farmer or rancher, soil health determines how productive the ground is. Changes in management practices can improve soil health, and ultimately productivity and profitability. Cover crops can be used to improve soil health and also offer additional grazing. This workshop will explain various aspects of soil health, how cover crops can be incorporated into a production system, and what management changes can be made to improve soil health for better productivity.
Increasing the organic matter in the soil can increase both the amount of water the soil can absorb, and the amount of water that is available to the plant. It has been estimated that for every 1 percent increase in organic matter in the soil, the plant-available water in the soil increases by 25,000 gallons per acre. During the rapid growing phase, corn in southeast Kansas uses about 1/4 inch of water per day. So every four days, a corn crop needs an additional 1” of soil water. Soils with greater amounts of organic matter would both increase the amount of water held in the soil and increase the water available to that growing corn crop.
Living in an area with limited topsoil, being able to increase the water holding capacity of our soil is a tremendous advantage. Increased microbial activity in the soil also enhances the plants ability to absorb needed nutrients. So how do we increase organic matter and microbial activity? One option is reducing tillage to the soil. Every time the soil is tilled, it reduces organic material, breaks down soil structure, and disrupts plant root and fungal hyphae networks. Adding organic material to the soil such as compost, litter, manure, etc. can increase organic matter. However, those materials can be loaded with nutrients, which may be problematic. Adding nutrients to the soil is not bad, but just like eating too much candy will give you a stomach ache, overloading the soil with certain nutrients can cause issues for plants as well. The use of cover crops is another way of improving soil health and structure. Cover crops are a good method of increasing soil organic matter. Cover crops can also be utilized for weed and erosion control. However, is the use of cover crops cost effective and can they be profitable to the operation?
To continue the discussion about soil health, plan on attending the upcoming meeting. For any questions please contact the Southeast Research and Extension Office at 620-820-6133. RSVP is appreciated to get an accurate count of folks for lunch.
