In the 1980s Missouri was ranked second in the country in soil loss. At an average of 10.9 tons per acre, it wasn’t an accolade to be proud of. Farmers took to conservation efforts such as no-till planting to help lower erosion levels to 5.3 tons per acre and now the Show-Me State has improved to ranked fifth in erosion problems.
As a farmer, the most valuable asset could be your soil. But with the ways we have been planting for decades, one could lose up to 30 tons of soil loss per acre. That can be equivalent to 60 years of a sustainable agriculture system. An ideal sustainable situation would be around 1 to 2 tons per acre of soil loss.
Ways to control soil loss often include management strategies away from conventionally planting and will be the one of the features at Soil Health Expo at Bradford Research Center on Aug. 13 and 14. Talks will start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. each day at the center operated by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) at the University of Missouri.
“Farmers can attend one day or both,” said Kerry Clark, research specialist. “Each day will have unique presentations and will be packed with information for producers.”
Presentations will include information about cover crops, herbicide interactions, benefits of native pollinators, climate effects on the environment and several ways to improve soil health. Equipment vendors and seed dealers also will be available.
Still not sold on the advantages of cover crops? Ray Wright, research specialist, will give a demonstration with an erosion simulator that illustrates how much runoff happens from a conventional, no-till and cover crop system. The demo mimics a rain event over soil pans used with each system. As the water moves through the soil, it is collected in jars to give a visual representation of what is being lost due to erosion.
“What you are seeing is a lot of nutrients and plant matter being lost to erosion in the conventional planting styles,” said Wright. “When that water hits the open ground there is nothing to absorb that needed moisture and it flows away, along with that nitrogen that you put down. With cover crops, this is reduced and the water and nutrients are held within the soil profile and not being wasted.”
A real-world application of the demonstration has been an ongoing study at Bradford with cornfields planted in the different methods. Even at the first glance of the plot, the shorter stalks from the conventional planting are a stark contrast to the healthier and green corn in the cover crop and no-till systems. Visit http://bradford.cafnr.org/videos/ for an overview of the project.
The Soil Health Expo is an opportunity to connect with local producers, researchers that are doing world-class studies in your own backyard and those involved with making agriculture decisions for the state.
For more information about the Soil Health Expo, contact Kerry Clark at ClarkK@missouri.edu or 573-884-7945. Visit their new website at http://bradford.cafnr.org for other research and educational opportunities.
Lunch may be purchased on site.
The center is located at 4968 Rangeline Road, just east of Columbia. Due to construction on Highway WW, alternate routes are suggested. Instead, head south on Rangeline Road from Highway Z (Exit 133) from Interstate 70. Continue on Rangeline for about 5 miles. The center will be on your right.
Bradford is one of CAFNR’s Agricultural Research Centers located throughout Missouri that regularly host educational workshops. Visit http://cafnr.org/events/ for more events located across the Show-Me State.
To download press-quality photos from last year’s Soil Health Expo, visit CAFNR’s Flickr site at http://bit.ly/SoilHealth13.
The schedule for the 2014 Soil Health Expo:
August 13, 9 am to 5 pm
9:00 am Opening; Tim Reinbott, Bradford Research Center; J.R. Flores, USDA-NRCS
9:00-9:30 Why soil health matters and climatic interactions with soil. Dr. Robert Kremer, University of Missouri (MU)
9:30-10:00 Climate change and effects on agriculture: Pat Guinan, MU Atmospheric Science
10:00-12:00 Field tours (same tours will be repeated the following day- each participant can only do one tour/day)
Tour 1
Tim Reinbott (MU), Mark Abney (NRCS), Dr. Randy Miles (MU), Kayla Wolf (MU)- soil pits, rooting, cover crops, earthworms
Tour 2
Dr. Brent Myers (MU), Bruce Burdick (MU), Linus Rothermich (producer), Luke Linnenbringer (producer), Ray Wright (MU), Terry Woods (MU)- soil and plant interactions, farmers discuss cover crop, rainfall runoff demo, cover crop and herbicide interactions, pollinators
12-12:30 Lunch available for purchase from on-site vendors
12:30-1:00 Rainfall infiltration demo and water infiltration information-Ray Wright (MU)
1:00-2:00 Keynote speaker Terry Taylor- no-till and cover crop innovator from Illinois
2:00-2:15 Break
2:15- 4:00 Lauren Cartwright (NRCS)- economics of cover crops
Dr. Kristin Veum (USDA-ARS)- soil biology
Dr. Nigel Hoilett (NW MO State University)- glyphosate and soil biology
Jerry Kaiser (NRCS)- cover crop study results
4:00-5:00 Terry Taylor on 2nd topic
August 14, 9 am to 5 pm
9:00-10:00 Keynote Keith Berns (Green Cover Seed)- cover crop innovator from Nebraska
10:00-12:00 Tours
12-12:30 Lunch available for purchase from on-site vendors
12:30-1:00 View plots of cover crops
1:00-1:45 Keith Berns on 2nd subject
1:45-2 Break
2:00-2:45 MDC, DNR, NRCS programs for cover crops and soil health
2:45- 3:30 Dr. Jack Schulz (MU Life Science Center Director)- plant interactions and the environment
3:30-5:00 Linus Rothermich, Luke Linnenbringer, cover crop experiences from two mid-Missouri farmers