Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Animal Production: grazing - multispecies, grazing - rotational, range improvement, rangeland/pasture management, stocking rate, watering systems
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, networking, on-farm/ranch research, workshop
- Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, drift/runoff buffers, habitat enhancement, soil stabilization, wetlands, wildlife
- Production Systems: holistic management
- Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, soil quality/health
Proposal summary:
Starting a sustainable agriculture business comes with an abundance of challenges. When record drought is added to that equation, success seems impossible and is enough for even the most seasoned producer to call it quits. As young producers, the most recent drought (2011-2014) made us realize that water will be the greatest conservation concern we will experience in our lifetime.
One approach to the drought solution may be subsoiling and the concept of keyline design. Subsoiling could be an affordable and effective tool for our landscape.
In March 2013 we purchased a single shank subsoiler and began subsoiling a Kleingrass pasture that had been devastated by drought. The pasture was 100 percent bare ground in many areas, organic matter was extremely limited, and the hard pan topsoil would not allow water to infiltrate. The tool made 24" deep slices approximately 10' apart on contour with the land. Months passed and we received 6" of rain. The results were incredible. When rains came the water no longer ran off our fields but soaked down deep into the soil. Grass grew in perfect lines on contour, exactly where the plow had cut.
We conducted vegetation surveys in March 2014, 2015 and 2016. Results were very positive, most notably the reduction in bare ground and increase in forbs and litter.
Based on our experiences, we propose that subsoiling is an effective, low cost, and easy to implement tool for water and soil conservation. We believe it can be adopted widely to help producers reduce runoff; increase water infiltration and soil moisture; aerate soils; build soil organic matter, nutrients and microbial life; reduce compaction; and ultimately improve forage production.
The Southern SARE grant would allow us to implement subsoiling across two pastures and design a survey to measure the effectiveness of this technique on a variety of soil types, plant communities, and pasture conditions.
Project objectives from proposal:
- Spatial Reconnaissance of Pastures. Both pastures will be surveyed using a non-invasive electromagnetic induction instrument prior to subsoiling and any sample measurement.
- Vegetation Cover Survey. We will conduct vegetation cover surveys to determine relative abundance and presence of plant species in both the control and treatment pasture.
- Soil Nutrient. Soil samples will be collected prior to subsoiling for baseline nutrient analysis and repeated at the end of the study.
- Soil Compaction. Soil compaction will be measured in both control and treatment sites.
- Infiltration Test. Hydraulic conductivity of the soil surface will be measured using the single ring constant head method. Infiltration will be measured before the deep soil ripping and approximately one year after.
- Photo Point Survey. Permanent photo points will be established in each pasture in both the control and treatment areas. Landscape and ground level photos will be taken to document changes over time.