Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

Grants And Education To Advance Innovations In Sustainable Agriculture

Project Overview

FNE05-552
Project Type: Farmer
Funds awarded in 2005: $2,186.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2006
Region: Northeast
State: Massachusetts
Project Leader:
Peter Lowy
Pete and Jens Backyard Birds

Cover crops for improving soil health in sweet corn

Commodities

  • Vegetables: sweet corn

Practices

  • Crop Production: cover crops
  • Education and Training: farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, workshop
  • Farm Business Management: marketing management
  • Pest Management: allelopathy, integrated pest management
  • Soil Management: green manures, organic matter, soil analysis

Proposal summary:

Well managed vegetable farms are constantly striving to find additional techniques to improve their sustainability. This project will look at adopting new cover crops to increase soil fertility and organic matter content, reduce erosion, and reduce the reliance on herbicides and fertilizers. Three fields will be taken out of production for a year and will have a series of cover crops planted. Sweet corn will be planted the following year, and then yield and soil health parameters will be compared between fields planted with the new cover crops and the standard cover crop. Outreach will be through a farmer training group and an on-farm festival for customers.

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.