Organic No-Till- The Ultimate Cropping System For Soil Health and Farm Sustainability

Project Overview

FNC08-738
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2008: $18,000.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2009
Region: North Central
State: North Dakota
Project Coordinator:
Linda Grotberg
Prairie Farm Pilot Project

Commodities

  • Agronomic: corn, millet, oats, rye, sunflower, wheat, grass (misc. perennial), hay
  • Animals: bovine, poultry, goats

Practices

  • Animal Production: grazing - continuous, free-range, grazing management, livestock breeding, manure management, mineral supplements, pasture fertility, preventive practices, range improvement, grazing - rotational, stocking rate, watering systems, winter forage, feed/forage
  • Crop Production: conservation tillage
  • Education and Training: technical assistance, demonstration, display, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, study circle, workshop, youth education
  • Energy: energy conservation/efficiency, energy use
  • Farm Business Management: agritourism, budgets/cost and returns, agricultural finance, risk management, value added, whole farm planning
  • Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, habitat enhancement, indicators, soil stabilization, wetlands, wildlife, carbon sequestration
  • Pest Management: allelopathy, competition, cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, mulches - living, mulching - plastic, prevention, weather monitoring, weed ecology
  • Production Systems: transitioning to organic, holistic management, organic agriculture, permaculture, integrated crop and livestock systems
  • Soil Management: earthworms, green manures, soil analysis, nutrient mineralization, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, organic matter, soil physics, soil quality/health
  • Sustainable Communities: leadership development, local and regional food systems, partnerships, public participation, urban/rural integration, analysis of personal/family life, social capital, social networks, social psychological indicators, sustainability measures

    Proposal summary:

    This project involves research for weed control in organic no-till cropping systems. The treatments will include crop rotation, grazing cocktail mix cover crops, synergistic companion crops, double seeding, winter broadcast seeding, crimping/rolling biomass before no-till seeding, and solid plant row crops.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.