Grain and Vegetable Production in a Rotationally-Grazed, Pasture-Dominant Ley System: Implications for Soil Health, Soil Microbiome, and Forage

Commodities

• Agronomic: buckwheat, clovers, corn, grass (misc. perennial), mustard, potatoes, rye, sunflower, wheat
• Vegetables: beans, garlic, sweet corn
• Animals: bovine, poultry, sheep
• Animal Products: eggs, fiber, fur, leather, meat

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing - multispecies, grazing - rotational, pasture fertility, rangeland/pasture management
• Crop Production: cover crops, cropping systems, other
• Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, holistic management, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems

Ley rotations have been shown to provide many ecosystem service benefits, including regulatory (such as flood regulation), social (such as food security, farming communities, and recreation), and supportive (such as soil health, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity). However, the degree and types of services may vary depending on the  management of the ley rotation system. Additionally, some aspects, such as the impact of livestock grazing or the impacts of the ley system on the soil microbiome, require further study. 

Our objective is to clarify the soil and forage impacts of a no-input ley system with a 5- to 6-year pasture phase, incorporating rotational livestock grazing, and a 2- to 3-year mixed cereal and vegetable rotation. This type of pasture-dominant ley system with diverse cereal and vegetable rotations holds potential for increasing the full suite of
ecosystem service benefits for small to midsize meat and dairy farmers in the Northeast.

By incorporating laboratory tests of soil health, soil microbiology, and forage quality at all phases of the ley rotation, this study will investigate and document that this system produces not only the soil health benefits observed by other peer studies on various ley systems, but also forage benefits (or at least neutral forage impacts) for the adopting livestock farmer. Additionally this study will begin to fill the gaps in our understanding of diverse, grazed, multi-species leys integrated with both cereal and vegetable production, particularly the impacts on soil microbial communities. 

Our objective is to clarify the soil and forage impacts of a no-input ley system with a 5- to 6-year pasture phase, incorporating livestock grazing, and a 2- to 3-year mixed grain and vegetable rotation. Specifically, we will determine if this type of system will impact soil health . We will also look for other soil health effects, particularly changes in aggregate stability, bulk density, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other macro-minerals. Additionally, we will study the impacts on the soil microbiome. Does the physical disturbance of the ley or the selection of crop species have an impact on the taxon diversity and functional biodiversity of the soil microbiome? 

We further will test if these ley rotations can improve the nutrition of the resulting pasture-phase forage. We will test potential effects on energy content and crude protein, as well as various macro- and micro-minerals. 

Our hope is that this type of system can be expanded to small livestock and dairy farmers in the Northeast, to provide benefits to the farmer in both economic diversification and soil and forage quality outcomes. But first, we must better quantify the effects this type of ley has on the ecology and productivity of our regional system.