Progress report for FNC23-1396
Project Information
Walton Sumner is a retired family physician, educator, informatics researcher, and Washington University faculty member, now conducting farming experiments. Dr. Sumner will produce all treatment components for the FAST REGEN project and manage cover crop blocks during the treatment phase. He has been studying soil management effects on crop nutrient density with NCR SARE support for 4 years. Summer’s Farm, LLC has 80 acres divided evenly between woods and hay fields, and has experimental plots totaling about 11,680 square feet. Of this, about 1,600 sf is degraded soil in restoration experiments, and the remainder is divided between regenerative management (compost, trace minerals) and conventional (NPK & lime) fertilization, plus cover crops. The farm has two Ring-of-Fire kilns and other rigs to make biochar, 4 closed composting containers. The farm produces about 12 cubic yards/year of compost from spent coffee grounds and fall leaves in windrows, and captures rain water to use in experimental plots. A 3-year-old workshop and laboratory building provides controlled drying and storage space. The farm has stocks of seeds grown under different soil management regimes.
Joe and Jennifer Althoff and their children live on and manage the neighboring 60-acre Tri Pointe Farm. Tri Pointe Farm harvests hay from 175 acres including Sumner’s Farm, LLC; and rents additional acreage, including the 2-acre plot where they will grow field corn during the FAST REGEN experiment. Tri Pointe Farm raises chickens, hogs, and cattle, and composts pig manure on site. The 300-acres of commodity crop operations are no-till and insecticide-free, but regularly use atrazine, 2,4-D, glyphosate, and glufosinate. Commodity crop fields rotate through winter wheat, half season soybeans, no cover, RoundUp Ready/BT field corn, no cover, full season soybeans, and back to winter wheat in a 3-year cycle. Livestock operations feed animals hay and meal made from field corn and soybeans when pasture is unavailable. Tri Pointe Farm sells vegetables, free range eggs, chicken, pasture fed beef, and pork products at several Saint Louis area farmers’ markets and from their farm.
Dr. Sumner also founded Argillic Horizon, a Missouri non-profit formed to explore connections between soil management, food quality, and human health. Argillic Horizon produces video reports, and will provide some sample preparation and measurement services for this project. Laboratory equipment includes two temperature-controlled dehydrators, blenders and grinders, scales, small scale threshing and winnowing machines, microbiometer materials, a microscope, grow lights, and 3 vermicompost bins.
Geopolitical conflict, supply chain problems, high fuel and fertilizer prices, or legislative reactions to climate concerns could cause Western farmers to suddenly need to work without synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. Farmers could respond to this existential risk with a regenerative agriculture approach, planting dense, diverse cover crops to suppress weeds and rebuild soil microbial activity and soil organic matter (SOM). However, rapid transitions are challenging and socially dangerous, as recent Sri Lankan experience demonstrates.
Residual herbicides and a dearth of appropriate symbiotic microbes may impair cover crops. Adding compost to improve microbial activity and SOM is expensive and logistically difficult at scale. Farmers consequently transition infrequently and gradually from conventional to regenerative soil management.
A robust microbial community can “learn” from repeated exposures to efficiently metabolize herbicides. Emerging cover crop roots should carry and nourish a symbiotic microbial community throughout the topsoil. Theoretically then, planting diverse cover crops with supportive microbes might clear herbicide residues, smother weeds, add SOM, and create a microbial community that can support a subsequent cash crop. An ideal combination would allow farmers to make a fast regenerative agriculture transition, over a single winter.
This 2-year, 2-farm research project is testing use of a mix of three cover crops – winter wheat, Austrian peas, and winter camelina – and three supporting biologic concepts to replace herbicide and chemical fertilizer in commercial field corn production.
Concept 1: Anti-herbicide compost
To remove herbicide residues that might impede cover crops, in year 1 we attempted to cultivate microbial metabolizers of atrazine, 2,4-D, glufosinate, and glyphosate in compost. We mixed deciduous leaves and spent coffee grounds in a 21 cubic foot ComposTumbler®, inoculated with herbicide treated soil and standard compost. Herbicide exposure began on June 15, 2023 at 6.25% of standard application rates for 10 cubic feet of 6-inch-deep topsoil after several weeks of composting, and doubled every 7-14 days for 6 weeks, reaching 200% on August 14, 2023. A ~2 cubic foot tumbler was maintained in parallel with similar feedstocks but without herbicide exposure.
Concept 2: Epigenetic adaptation
We planted commercially purchased winter wheat, Austrian pea, and winter camelina seeds in monocultures on regeneratively managed, herbicide-free plots in the fall of 2022 for both seeds and bacterial inoculants. The seeds collected from these plants in the summer of 2023 should have locally relevant genetic traits and epigenetic adaptations (GNE19-028). Wheat seeds were collected by combine from a field that Mr. Altoff managed. Peas and camellia were collected by hand from plots that Dr. Sumner managed.
Concept 3: Symbiotic composts
We composted plant tissues (e.g., panicles, chaff, non-viable seeds, root samples) and soil from the monocultures to obtain crop-specific endophytic bacteria and other beneficial microbes. We inoculated leaf-and-coffee compost in crop-specific 18 cubic foot Rubbermaid® compost bins. In parallel, we began growing cover crops over winter in compost. In retrospect, composting a cover crop in a fresh pile is likely to select for organisms that decompose the crop, while growing the cover crop in a nearly finished compost pile is more likely to create a rich ecosystem replete with endophytic bacteria and other microbial symbiotes relevant to the cover crop. We are therefore testing mixed and individual cover crops in compost piles, and expect to pursue some evaluation of the resultant microbial communities. Note that the seeds from a cover crop grown in compost are viable but not epigenetically adapted to growing on poor soils. This step is expected to generate tailored symbiotes but not tailored seeds.
Biochar
We produced biochar from brush piles using Ring-of-Fire flame-capped kilns, and sifted it through hardware cloth and wire mesh to obtain different grades, including dust-like ultrafine and coarse (¼ to ¾ inch) grades. The pH of biochars that we produced in flame capped kilns is consistently higher than 9, and can be 10-11, even after extensive rinsing with rain water. This seems high enough to damage symbiotic microbes, although we have not had the means to confirm this fear. The pH falls to 7+/-1 with the addition of at least 0.4% by volume of concentrated sulfuric acid, e.g. 1 mL H2SO4/236 mL (1 cup) of biochar. Finely ground biochar, having a larger surface area, may require larger amounts of sulfuric acid to reach a neutral pH, but also is less dense. Obviously, use of a strong acid creates a more dangerous process than had been anticipated, and could reduce the number of farms that want to or safely can implement production of this input.
Ultrafine biochar can be incorporated into seed pellets (see below), while coarse biochar is a potentially useful soil amendment. Typically, biochar should be loaded with nutrients and microbes before application to soil, to limit adsorption of nutrients already in the soil.
Seed Pellets
In the fall of year 1 we manufactured separate seed pellets (a single seed with a protective and/or nourishing coating) with winter wheat and peas as nuclei. Camelina seeds are too small to use as nuclei of seed pellets and therefore were added as an outer layer to pea or wheat seed pellets, or to clay pellets, creating a seed bomb (a ball with a lot of seeds). We tumbled seeds in cement mixers without mixing paddles, with powdered clays, sifted generic compost, symbiotic and/or anti-herbicide compost tea, and biochar in various combinations. We conducted a number of field trials and smaller performance tests on seed pellets and seed bombs to evaluate resilience and plant establishment.
FAST REGEN
We began a block randomized experiment on 0.4 acre of a 2-acre field managed by Mr. Altoff to compare 8 treatments’ effects on soil chemistry, herbicide residues, and microbial activity in 2023; and hope to evaluate cover crop mass, field corn yield. and elemental composition in 2024. Due to significant weather problems, we planted multiple additional plots at Sumner's Farm to evaluate the individual concepts at smaller scale, and performed some experiments using seed starting trays and pots. Mr. Altoff also spread composted pig manure over about 0.2 acres, and will manage the remainder of the field with conventional fertilizer.
We plan to terminate cover crops with a small crimper roller and/or shallow tilling shortly prior to corn planting in year 2. Field corn planting and harvest will then proceed as usual.
Objectives
- Confirm that exposing compost to herbicides accelerates its herbicide decomposition capacity before and after application to soil.
- Compare growth rates of cover crops with and without endophyte enrichment and anti-herbicidal treatments, using locally adapted seeds
- Describe trade-offs in complexity and expense versus effectiveness of 8 treatments for improving field corn yields and soil health measures, and compare with conventional management.
- Share findings through field days, video and print publications, and local conferences.
Cooperators
- - Producer
Research
This 2-year, 2-farm research project is using a mix of three cover crops – winter wheat, Austrian peas, and winter camelina – and three supporting concepts to replace herbicide and chemical fertilizer in commercial field corn production. These three crops are thought to provide distinct and complementary soil services that improve yields of subsequent crops, such as the following: Legumes add nitrogen to the soil, grasses improve soil structure, and brassicas add biomass and pest controlling chemicals. Camelina is a wispy plant, especially for a brassica, but it is extremely cold tolerant.
Concept 1: Anti-herbicide compost
To remove herbicide residues that might impede cover crops, in year 1 we attempted to cultivate microbial metabolizers of 2,4-D, atrazine, glufosinate, and glyphosate by inoculating compost with these herbicides. We mixed approximately equal volumes of deciduous leaves and spent coffee grounds in a 21 cubic foot ComposTumbler®, inoculated with herbicide treated soil and standard compost. Herbicide exposure began on June 15, 2023 at 6.25% of standard application rates for 10 cubic feet of 6-inch-deep topsoil (20 square feet of surface area) after several weeks of composting, and doubled every 7-14 days for 6 weeks, reaching 200% on August 14, 2023. A ~2 cubic foot tumbler was maintained in parallel with similar feedstocks but without herbicide exposure.
The 100% application rates were
| Herbicide | Stock concentration | 20 square foot dose | Timing | Target |
| 2,4 D Amine | 11.8% | 1.6 mL | Post-emergent | Dicot |
| Atrazine | 100% | 0.43 mL | Pre-emergent | Monocot & Dicot |
| Glufosinate | 24.5% | 0.43 mL | Post-emergent | Monocot & Dicot |
| Glyphosate | 41% | 1.36 mL | Post-emergent | Monocot & Dicot |
Of the herbicides applied, atrazine was by far the most difficult to dose accurately. The amount of concentrated atrazine needed to inoculate the compost tumbler is only 0.86 milliliters at the 200% dose. 100% atrazine is very viscous and hard to lift into or expel from a pipette. The doses actually applied could have been in the 0.5 to 1.5 mL range. I did not mix a diluted solution because I was unsure of the stability of diluted atrazine over the storage period. The other herbicides are much less viscous and relatively easy to measure accurately. All herbicides were mixed together in a gallon of water which was poured across the surface of the compost in the 21 cf tumbler. The tumbler was rotated 360 degrees after each herbicide application and occasionally between applications.
Anti-herbicide tea was made by mixing about equal volumes of this compost with rain water, then pouring the mixture through a large cold brew coffee filter. The resultant solution did not clog sprayers, e.g. a DeWalt backpack sprayer. Anti-herbicide tea could be used alone or mixed with similarly obtained symbiotic compost teas. Teas were either sprayed into a cement mixer as wetting agents to make seed pellets and seed bombs, or applied directly to plots by spraying.
Concept 2: Epigenetic adaptation
We planted commercially purchased winter wheat, Austrian pea, and winter camelina seeds in monocultures on regeneratively managed, herbicide-free 400 square foot plots in the fall of 2022 for both seeds and bacterial inoculants for compost piles. The seeds collected from these plants in the summer of 2023 should have locally relevant genetic traits and epigenetic adaptations (GNE19-028). The wheat plants had problems in part due to aging seed stock and subsequent weed competition. Peas and camelina yielded sufficient seeds for the main trial.
Concept 3: Symbiotic composts
We composted plant tissues (e.g., panicles, chaff, non-viable seeds, root samples) and soil from the monocultures to obtain crop-specific endophytic bacteria and other beneficial microbes. We inoculated leaf-and-coffee compost in crop-specific 18 cubic foot Rubbermaid® compost bins. Following a refinement of this concept, we are now growing mixed and individual cover crops in compost piles, and expect to pursue some evaluation of the resultant microbial communities.
Biochar
We produced biochar from brush piles using Ring-of-Fire flame-capped kilns, and sifted it through hardware cloth and wire mesh to obtain different grades, including dust-like ultrafine and coarse (¼ to ¾ inch) grades. The pH of biochars that we produced in flame capped kilns is consistently higher than 9, and can be 10-11, even after extensive rinsing with rain water. This seems high enough to damage symbiotic microbes, although we have not had the means to confirm this fear. The pH falls to 7+/-1 with the addition of at least 0.4% by volume of concentrated sulfuric acid, e.g. 1 ml H2SO4/236 ml (1 cup) of biochar. Finely ground biochar, having a layered surface area, may require larger amounts of sulfuric acid to reach a neutral pH.
Seed pellets
In the fall of year 1 we manufactured separate seed pellets (a single seed with a protective and/or nourishing coating) with winter wheat and peas as nuclei. Camelina seeds are too small to work as nuclei of seed pellets but were added as an outer layer to pea or wheat seed pellets, creating a seed bomb (a ball with a lot of seeds). We tested two cement mixers and several types of bentonite clay. We settled on the Yardmax 1.6 cf mixer with paddles removed. We did not find a dominant clay after trying Wyoming bentonite (sodium), Volclay (calcium bentonite), Indian Healing Clay (sodium bentonite), Seed Ball Phuel mix and Red Clay Powder for Seed Balls and Seed Bombs (both atSeed-balls.com at Amazon.com), and unscented cat litter.
FAST REGEN
We began a block randomized experiment on 0.4 acres of a 2-acre field managed by Mr. Altoff to compare 8 treatments’ effects on soil chemistry, herbicide residues, and microbial activity; cover crop mass; and field corn yield and elemental composition in year 2. Due to significant weather problems, we planted multiple additional plots at Sumner's Farm to evaluate the individual concepts at smaller scale, and performed some experiments using seed starting trays and pots.
Plots in the 2-acre field were 20-foot squares (400 sf each), in triplicate for each treatment (8*3 =24 blocks total). All blocks receive conventional herbicides and fertilizers in the spring of 2023. A soybean crop was planted in the summer of 2023 but failed completely due to drought, leaving the field to become overgrown with crab grass and Palmer amaranth. These weeds went to seed before they were cut and sprayed with glyphosate in late October. The originally planned cover crop seeding was completed on October 23 in anticipation of rain that night, but only a minimal rainfall occurred, followed by additional weeks of drought. There were originally 6 seeding conditions repeated in 3 blocks, but space allowed for 2 more conditions in each block. We added one condition with 100 gallons of near finished compost plus trace elements shallow tilled (4" depth) into 400 sf, and a second condition with 100 gallons of acid-neutralized biochar plus fish emulsion, compost tea, and trace elements shallow tilled into 400 sf. Uncoated cover crop seeds were scattered into the new plots and raked on October 31, just ahead of the first freezing weather of the season. Composted pig manure was spread over a 0.2 acre strip of the 2-acre field in early December.
Treatments
| Treatment | Planned Seed Ball Layer 1 | Planned Seed Ball Layer 2 | Planned soil surface amendment | Actual treatment, three replicates of 400 sf plots unless stated otherwise |
| A | None | None | Direct seeding. | |
| B | None | Composted pig manure | Direct seeding. Spray plot surface with SCT & AHCT | |
| C | Clay | SCT & AHCT | Pellet: Red clay; Water; Na Bentonite coat | |
| D | SCT | None | Pellet: Red clay/Phuel; SCT & AHCT; Na Bentonite coat | |
| E | SCT | AHBC, ultrafine | None | Pellet: Red clay/Phuel & GSC; SCT; Na Bentonite coat |
| F | SCT | AHBC, coarse | Pellet: Red clay/Phuel & GSC; SCT & AHCT; Na Bentonite coat | |
| Compost |
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| Biochar |
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| Pig manure | Composted pig manure | Composted pig manure, ~0.2 acre | ||
| Conventional | NPK, herbicides as needed | NPK, herbicides as needed, ~1.4 acres |
AHBC=Anti-Herbicide BioChar; AHCT=Anti-Herbicide Compost Tea; GSC = Generic Sifted Compost + Mycorrhizal inoculant; SCT=Symbiotic Compost Teas (mixed tea from all cover crop composts).
Trace element additions were prompted by a soil sample showing 1.82 ppm copper, <0.02 ppm molybdenum, and 0.42 ppm boron.
Wheat and pea seeds germinated in November but have not done well, and are certainly not covering the soil as hoped. Camellia has been hard to distinguish from small dicot weeds. We plan to terminate cover crops with a small crimper roller and/or shallow tilling shortly prior to corn planting in year 2. Field corn planting and harvest will then proceed as usual.
Backup plots on Sumner's Farm were planted and watered in late October as the drought and weed crises unfolded on the 2-acre field. We expect to plant these in sweet corn, after adding fencing to discourage deer from raiding small plots. We have begun to monitor these plots as well as compost piles using microBiometer assays.
Concept 1: Anti-herbicide compost
We have not yet performed a direct quantitative assessment of the herbicide metabolism that the anti-herbicidal compost community can accomplish. However, we have observed seemingly normal germination and emergence of wheat seedlings in 1" deep rows planted with unprotected seeds and watered 1 week after herbicide treatment, including an atrazine plot. Unprotected pea emergence was poorer, but not obviously worse than usual for direct seeding in this field. Camelina emergence has been scant throughout our field trials, so the scarcity of camelina plants might not reflect an herbicide effect. Seed pellets made from the Phuel clay and anti-herbicidal tea were no better at supporting wheat, pea, and camelina seedlings than the bare soil. Volley seed pellets almost uniformly failed in the same plot.
Direct application of anti-herbicidal compost or compost tea might suffice to support sensitive cover crops even on fields recently treated with pre-emergent herbicide.
Concept 2: Epigenetically Modified Seeds
Five gallons of wheat seeds for the experiment were collected by combine from a field that Mr. Altoff managed conventionally. Pea and camellia seeds were collected by hand from plots that Dr. Sumner managed. Camelina pods began to shatter before being harvested, self seeding the plot where they grew and eventually generating a second harvest. In spite of the shattering, we collected 114 grams of seeds from the first crop in a 20'x20' plot, and estimated 540 viable-looking seeds per gram, for a presumed viable seed collection of over 66,000 camelina seeds. Similarly, we found that 100 mL of dried peas weighed 92 grams and contained about 470 viable looking seeds, and collected about 23,000 seeds from a 400 sf plot. We had originally sought a minimum of 3 seeds of each species per square foot in 3 replicates of 6 conditions on 400 sf plots, for a requirement of 21,600 seeds for the original experiment. Peas were obviously the most likely to fall short if more plots were added.
We have not assessed the seeds for epigenetic changes or for improved local viability or production. This project is not designed to detect incremental improvements in yield from epigenetic adaptation.
In retrospect, established camelina is winter hardy, but late planted camelina seeds now look likely to get engulfed by spring weeds. Radishes or turnips would be alternative brassicas which could at least add a much larger root to the soil, even if the plant is winter killed. Some turnips survived the 2022-3 winter in these fields.
Concept 3: Symbiotic composts
In retrospect, adding dead cover crop tissue to a compost pile is likely to select for organisms that decompose the crop, while growing the cover crop in a nearly finished compost pile seems more likely to create a rich ecosystem replete with endophytic bacteria in a rhizophagy cycle and other microbial symbiotes relevant to the cover crop. We therefore began growing cover crops in compost over the 2023-4 winter. We are testing mixed and monoculture cover crops in compost piles, and expect to pursue some evaluation of the resultant microbial communities. Note that the seeds from a cover crop grown in compost are viable but not epigenetically adapted to growing on poor soils. This step generates tailored symbiotes but not tailored seeds.
Biochar
Obviously, use of a strong acid creates a more dangerous process than had been anticipated, and could reduce the number of farms that want to or safely can implement production of this input. Alkaline biochar should be useful in a number of farming processes, including sopping up animal waste and, in small amounts, enriching compost piles and holding fertilizers in soil. Nevertheless, adding alkaline biochar to a seed pellet that might also include alkaline clay raises pH titration issues that are moderately more complicated than we had hoped. It would be useful to have options that are resilient across the plausible range of pH for locally produced biochar, or that do not use biochar at all.
Seed pellets
We tumbled seeds in a Yardmax 1.6 cubic foot cement mixer without mixing paddles, with powdered clays, sifted generic compost, symbiotic and/or anti-herbicide compost tea, and biochar in various combinations. The Yardmax cement mixer design is especially well suited to making seed pellets, having a low profile, cart-like maneuverability, more than adequate volume at current scale, easily accessible power controls on the front of the machine, appropriate tumbling speed, an easily repositioned drum with a large segment that is nearly horizontal in two of its eight positions, and less than half the price of a larger cement mixer lacking most of these attributes.
We have been surprised by details of seed pellet production. Most online resources describe tumbling clay powder with fine compost and seeds while gradually and lightly spraying water into the mixing container, or rolling a similar mixture manually. The "One Straw Revolution" method convenes a large number of people to produce seed pellets. Relatively little attention is given to predation. For the FAST REGEN proposal to be scalable, farmers ideally could acquire everything needed to implement the program from a local farm supply store. We have purchased powdery "Wyoming bentonite" clay at Buccheits in past years. That was sodium bentonite, with a pH near 7 when dissolved in rainwater; this year the same stores stocked "Volclay," a calcium bentonite product which has dramatically different water absorption characteristics and a pH of 9.9. There is a powdery sodium bentonite product, sold in small jars as a skin treatment, with a pH of 8 in water and 6.3 in acetic acid (an option on the label). A vendor on Amazon.com sells a red clay specifically for making seed balls, as well as a mixture called Phuel with a red clay base and other amendments. Both of these have a neutral pH. They are to be mixed about 50:50 with fine compost, and a $20, 1 kg bag is "Enough for 100s of seed balls!" Unscented cat litter can be an inexpensive bulk bentonite clay with a neutral pH, but it is not powdery enough to make seed pellets gracefully. We have done a lot of experiments with different clays and mixtures in plots, pots, and seedling trays, which I will try to summarize briefly.
- The ideal mix for physical stability will likely be more than 50% clay and less than 50% finely sifted compost, e.g. 60:40. A mostly clay seed ball cracks and falls apart. The coating around a spherical pea can still fracture fairly easily. An outer layer dusting of plaster of Paris may stabilize the coating, but the pea is likely to rot before breaking through a coating of any significant thickness.
- Phuel and the related seed ball clay make seed pellets with acceptable germination rates. In addition, mice seem to ignore red clay seed balls while attacking unprotected seeds and seeds made with other clays or layers of biochar. These clays are just too expensive for farming and not widely distributed. Neutral sodium bentonite may be equally good for germination, but probably requires a complementary ingredient to deter rodents.
- Acetic acid does not seem to be a good neutralizing option, early trials had poor germination.
- Volclay works in dams, not seed pellets. Germination is very poor.
- For the herbicides used in local corn/soybean rotation (2,4-D; atrazine; glufosinate, glyphosate), spray application on test plots one week before planting the cover crop did not seem to impair emergence of wheat and pea seedlings (camelina is sparse in general) from uncoated seed, with or without surface spray application of anti-herbicide compost tea. Seedling emergence was at least comparable to emergence from Phuel seed pellets including anti-herbicidal compost tea. For fields where cover crops can be drilled or planted in furrows with fairly quick watering by any means, seed pellets might be superfluous.
FAST REGEN
The primary trial in the 2-acre field may be doomed at this point. Due to late planting and persistent drought in the fall and early winter of 2023, there is almost no cover crop mass at this point, although some peas and wheat germinated. If this situation persists, there will be no cover crop biomass to suppress weeds or add carbon to the soil, and the field corn in all of the FAST REGEN plots will fight a desperate battle against the new bank of Palmer amaranth and crabgrass seeds from last fall. The biochar and compost plots in the 2-acre field may have divergent growth characteristics, but these do not use biological services to restore soil health - they merely import carbon and other inputs at a prohibitively high cost per acre.
Several backup plots on Sumner's Farm were planted at the same time using similar seeding, but were watered and otherwise pampered enough to get some cover crop seedlings established. We expect to plant sweet corn on these plots and will monitor soil and plant characteristics.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
date; event; # students; #farmers; #Ag professionals; Program
| Date | Location | Event | # students and lay persons | # farmers | #other ag professionals | Program |
| 6/29/2023 | Hillsboro, MO | NASA Camp #1 | 11 | 0 | 5 | Tour of farm; soil, biochar, cover crop observations |
| 7/13/2023 | Hillsboro, MO | NASA Camp #2 | 12 | 0 | same 5 | Similar tour of farm |
| 9/22/2023 | Chester, MA | Honey Badger 3 | 30 | ~10 | 0 | Presented FAST REGEN theory; seed pellet demo |
| 1/12/2024 | St. Joseph MO | GPCC | 0 | ~15 | 4 | Presented FAST REGEN progress report in SARE track |
| 1/13/2024 | St. Joseph MO | GPCC | 0 | ~20 | 1 same, + 5 | Discussion of Compost, Endophytes, & Biochar as Regen Ag |
GPCC = Great Plains Growers Conference
Learning Outcomes
- Endophytic bacteria probably should be cultured by growing the target host plant in compost piles, rather than only by composting the target plant. It seems obvious now.
- Seed pellets may not be necessary unless there is a specific reason to use them and a known technique to defend them, for instance, to seed a field with cover crop pellets that can lie dormant and protected from birds and rodents until sufficient rains arrive. When seed pellets are required, the choice of binder is non-trivial. Clay seems obvious but there are tradeoffs.
- Radishes and/or turnips should be part of any mix that can be planted early. Camelina is more winter hardy, but provides much less biomass and leaf coverage per plant.
- Locally produced biochar can be so alkaline that it needs to be titrated towards a neutral pH before use in agricultural processes that are already near neutral pH. Sulfuric acid is a reasonable choice but requires considerable care in handling.
- So far, the most reliable path to fast regeneration of farmland still seems to involve acquiring and spreading large amounts of organic material, but there may be tweaks in the cover crop system that will improve the pace of biologic regeneration.