Progress report for FW23-424
Project Information
One of the main problems of organic systems is tillage-reliance. Tillage can contribute to soil erosion, which has negative impacts on soil health and farmers’ long-term livelihoods. Alternatively, no-till systems help prevent soil loss, and lessen labor and fuel costs for farmers.
This project aims to abate the tillage-reliance common in organic systems by researching adaptation of organic no-till systems common in the Midwest and North-Earth in the Western Slope region of Colorado. To determine best practices in the dry West, this project will:
- Determine the best performing winter cereal grain to use as the rolled-down mat by testing two varieties of winter rye and winter triticale and optimal planting dates of the winter cereal grain by comparing two dates between September 15 and October 15. Results for these two questions will be assessed through UAV imagery, tiller count, and weight of above ground cereal and weed biomass.
- Determine the need for a roller crimper to adequately terminate the winter cereal will also be determined through UAV imagery and measurement of water use efficiency. Water use efficiency and weed control will also be compared under tilled and no till organic systems.
- Assess the results of cash crop (pinto bean) seed saving in organic no till systems.
Reducing tillage is imperative to farmers in Colorado’s Western Slope regions as sloped land is more susceptible to erosion from tillage practices. The significance of the findings from this project will help farmers adapt no-till organic systems to minimize erosion, strengthen soil structure, and improve agronomic outcomes compared to full till systems.
The progress and results from this project will be disseminated among other ag stakeholders through a series of public facing events and extension-type publications in local ag-media and through peer to peer networking.
Research objectives:
1 - Determine best performing species and varieties of winter cereal grain to use as a rolled-down mat in the Western Slope region of Colorado.
2 - Determine best planting date of winter cereal grain
3 - Determine if roller-crimper is needed for adequate termination of winter cereal
4 - Pinto beans seed saving
5 - Measure water use efficiency and infiltration as influenced by rolled-down cereal
6 - Compare weed control under tilled and no-till organic pinto bean production
Education objectives:
1 - Expose local public, farmers/ ranchers and ag professionals to organic crop production
2 - Expose local ag professionals and farmers/ ranchers to technical service provider - grower research collaboration
3 - Provide organic crop farmers in the Western slope with relatable research results
4 - Strengthens and expand organic grain grower and ag-professionals community around group-learning
5 - Familiarize local growers with Rodale Consulting services
Date |
Activities |
Team members |
July-August 2023 |
Finalize research plots layout |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Patrick O’Neil |
September 2023 |
Plant cover crop |
David Harold |
March 2024 |
Cover crop visual assessment and tiller count |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold |
May 2024 |
Collect cover crop biomass |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Bridget Gilmore, Intern |
June 2024 |
Terminate rye and plant pinto beans |
David Harold |
August 2024 |
Collect weed and dry edible beans biomass |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Bridget Gilmore, Intern |
September 2024 |
Plant cover crop for 2025 plots |
David Harold |
October 2024 |
Harvest |
David Harold |
Winter 2024/ 2025 |
Analyze data and share through
|
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Bridget Gilmore, Patrick O’Neil |
March 2025 |
Cover crop visual assessment and tiller count |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold |
May 2025 |
Collect cover crop biomass |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold |
June 2025 |
Terminate rye and plant pinto beans |
David Harold |
July 2025 |
Field day at David Harold’s farm |
David Harold, Léa Vereecke, Bridget Gilmore, Patrick O’Neil |
August 2025 |
Collect weed biomass |
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Bridget Gilmore, Patrick O’Neil |
October 2025 |
Harvest |
David Harold |
Winter 2024/ 2025 |
Analyze data and share through
|
Léa Vereecke, David Harold, Patrick O’Neil |
Cooperators
- - Producer
- - Technical Advisor
Research
Objective 1 - Determine best performing species and varieties of winter cereal grain to use as a rolled-down mat in the Western Slope region of Colorado.
Several species - winter rye, winter triticale, winter wheat and winter barley - and varieties within each have been used in organic no-till pulse studies. However, as suggested by a review published by Vincent-Caboud et al, in 2019, “future research should focus on (i) screening species and cultivars to identify cover crop and crop combinations that optimize cropping system performance [...].”. A research paper published by the same authors in 2019 showed differences in soybean yield and weed emergence with various winter rye and winter triticale varieties, which had produced comparable biomass amounts.
Winter rye and winter triticale are proving to be the best-performing species. At David Harold’s farm, in addition to a tilled plot for control, we will plant at least two varieties of each species and assess their performance.
Protocol:
1/ Spring Stand
- Evenness, assessed with computing the greenness from UAV imagery, will determine if there was poor germination or poor over-wintering. Hired drone photographer will take UAV photos and TA will analyze them.
- Tillering, assessed by random tiller counts across plots, performed by PI, TA, and Educators.
2/ Biomass at termination, according to a review by Silva and Delate, 2017 a good stand will exceed 8,000 kg of dry matter of winter cereal per hectare. PI, TA, Educator and Intern will clip above ground winter cereal biomass, air dry it on farm, and weigh samples. Léa will enter and analyze data.
3/ Weed control will be assessed in August of each growing season. PI, TA, Educator and Intern will clip above ground weed biomass in random plot places (including tiller control), air dry it on farm and weigh samples. Léa will enter and analyze data.
Objective 2 - Determine best planting date of winter cereal grain
A determining factor in obtaining 8,000 kg per ha of winter cereal, or more, at the time of planting is the cereal planting date. A study by Mirsky et al showed that winter cereal cover-crop biomass increased approximately 2,000 kg of dry matter per ha from latest to earliest fall planting dates (August 25-October 15).
Olathe CO, is qualified as a USDA hardiness zone 6b, same as Kutztown PA, where Rodale Institute’s main farm is located. There, for a successful organic no-till soybean crop, winter cereal should be planted before October 10 (verbal communication with Dr. Andrew Smith, COO, Rodale Institute). While a later planting date is desirable to allow more flexibility in the choice of the preceding crop, planting too late will result in poor cereal stand and biomass production. At David’s farm, we will plant winter cereals at a minimum of two different dates between September 15 and October 15.
To assess the performance of different seeding dates, we will use the same protocol described in Objective 1.
Objective 3 - Determine if roller-crimper is needed for adequate termination of winter cereal
Adequate timing of the roller-crimping has been documented as late anthesis into early milk stage: “Cereal rye biomass peaked at the late dough stage but optimal mechanical control was obtained between 50% anthesis and early milk stages.” (Keene et al, 2017). Adequate termination is critical to improve water use efficiency of the whole system. A poorly terminated cover crop will continue evapotranspiration at the crop’s detriment.
While roller-crimpers have been a tool of choice for cover crop termination in the organic no-till system, there is anecdotal evidence* from Midwestern farmers that other, non-specialized tools could be used if termination timing is adequate. In this study, we will be comparing the quality of cover crop termination using a roller-crimper or a cultipacker at late-anthesis, early milk stage of winter cereal development.
Protocol:
1/ Computing the greenness of the mat from UAV imagery taken 5,10 and 15 days after termination. Hired drone photographer will take UAV photos and TA will analyze them.
2/ Measure water use efficiency. In August, PI, TA, Educator and Intern will collect crop above ground biomass at random locations of each treatment (including the tilled control). TA will pair the crop biomass data with the water input date collected using the flow meter to calculate water use efficiency of each winter cereal.
* Anecdotal evidence gathered by Léa Vereecke during her 6 years of work across Midwestern States with organic farmers implementing the practice.
Objective 4 - Pinto beans seed saving
“[...] cultivar selection and breeding for cash crops adapted to Cover Crop Based Rotational Tillage (CCBRT) remains a component of the system where a dearth of information exists. The value of breeding crops for specific organic environments is increasingly recognized. [...] cultivars that can withstand cooler soil temperatures, establish through the thick cover crop residue, and withstand a narrow row spacing could provide specific trait advantages to improve performance in the CCBRT system.” (Silva and Delate, 2017)
David Harold and his peers have experience with seed-saving to breed for their specific growing conditions. Crop seeds will be saved from the first crop’s harvest to plant the second year. If the system shows promising results by the end of the project, David and peers will continue implementing and saving seeds.
Objective 5 - Measure water use efficiency/infiltration as influenced by rolled-down cereal
See “Relevance to sustainable agriculture” section for references on relationship between no-till into rolled-down cereal mat and water use efficiency.
Protocol:
1/ On-farm visual observation of soil surface condition: establish a rating system of surface soil moisture and assess it monthly (PI, TA and/or Educators and/or Intern)
2/ Infiltration rate using infiltration rings, monthly, PI, TA and/or Educators and/or Intern will insert infiltration rings into the soil to a depth of two inches and fill them with water to measure the rate of infiltration in the rolled-down mat and the bare soil.
3/ Protocol 2/ of Objective 3
Objective 6 - Compare weed control under tilled and no-till organic pinto bean production
Protocol:
see Objective 1, 3/
3 varieties of cereal rye, 3 varieties of triticale and 3 varieties of winter barley were seeded on September 20, 2023.
Data collected since planting:
- Plants and stems per acre in October 13 and February 18
- Root length on October 13
- Above and below ground plant biomass on February 18
There are nominal differences but no significant difference at this point. Only one sample was taken per each plot. In April we will collect 3 samples per plot for a more robust dataset.
Treatment | Variety | Specie | Plants/Ac (Oct 13) | Plants/Ac (Feb 18) | Stems/ac (Oct 13) | Stems/ac (Feb 18) | Leaf + root mass (g) (Feb 18) | Sig. Leaf + root mass | Root Length (in) (Oct 13) |
1 | Wrens Abruzzi | Rye | 2,187,680 | 2,736,213 | 4,965,840 | 21,166,933 | 51 | ab | 3.8 |
2 | ND Gardner | Rye | 2,710,400 | 2,581,333 | 6,611,440 | 18,740,480 | 40 | ab | 3.7 |
3 | Violetta | Malt Barley | 1,994,080 | 2,116,693 | 3,988,160 | 14,145,707 | 28 | ab | 4.2 |
4 | SB 151 | Feed Barley | 2,826,560 | 2,839,467 | 2,826,560 | 10,067,200 | 16 | b | 3.7 |
5 | vns beardless | Triticale | 2,255,440 | 3,252,480 | 5,343,360 | 20,650,667 | 54 | ab | 4.0 |
6 | Gainer | Triticale | 2,090,880 | 3,768,747 | 2,758,800 | 12,442,027 | 41 | ab | 3.4 |
7 | FX 1001 | Triticale | 2,178,000 | 2,632,960 | 4,936,800 | 14,403,840 | 44 | ab | 2.9 |
8 | Wrens Abruzzi | Rye | 2,052,160 | 3,149,227 | 4,530,240 | 18,792,107 | 75 | a | 3.1 |
We are communicating with an organic dry bean grower in Idaho who has trialed the practice for several years. The goal is to gather their learning to improve the outcome of this project.
Research Outcomes
Laying out the research plots with flags before the operators planted it was critical.
Education and Outreach
Participation Summary:
Education and outreach will start in May 2024
Education and outreach will start in May 2024
Education and Outreach Outcomes
Education and outreach will start in May 2024