Sustainable cropping systems for dairy farms in the Northeastern US

Sustainable cropping systems for dairy farms in the Northeastern US

Summary

The 13 member interdisciplinary project team met in person and via conference calls four times in 2009. The 11 members of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) project members met 10 times in 2009 and twice in the first two months of 2010 to design the dairy cropping systems and plan the implementation of the demonstration farm. Sub-committees of the project team have also met at least 10 times. We organized a nine member Advisory panel that includes two dairy farmers, the Director of the Pennsylvania No-till Farmers Alliance, a NRCS Centre County Director, the PSU Agronomy research farm manager, and four researchers with experience with long-term farming systems research experiments. The researchers include Rita Seidel from the Rodale Institute, and Steven Mirsky, Michel Cavigelli, and Jude Maul from the USDA-ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Based on the Advisory panel feedback, the team made some revisions to the sustainable dairy cropping system, which will be planted in spring 2010. We also requested and were granted approval by NESARE to extend the project from three to four years.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The Sustainable Cropping System farm focused on dairy production that will be based on ecological principles and processes, and test the hypothesis that a farm can minimize off-farm inputs and rely primarily on natural processes to be both productive and profitable. The design will be based on the following agroecological principles: i) minimize nutrient and soil loss, and build soil organic matter and nutrient pools (via no-till, cover crops, manure injection, legumes) and promote biological processes for nutrient acquisition (legumes, soil biological activity, mycorrhiza), ii) enhance biological diversity and ecological interactions to optimize crop yields and minimize pest outbreaks (ex. crop rotation with diverse crop species and lifecycles, intercrops, and cover crops for weed suppression, disruption of insect movement, and promotion of beneficial insect populations), iii) be energetically efficient and productive (produce oilseed crops for farm fuels, use ecological principles to minimize the off-farm inputs of energy, nutrients, & pest control).

Several strategies that meet the above agroecological system principles will be evaluated, including: no-tillage or rotational no-till, manure injection, crop rotations and intercrops of perennials, annuals, cover crops, and legumes, a roller-crimper, and a locally produced (New Holland) Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO)-powered tractor. Research indicates that in a well-designed cropping system, these practices can contribute multiple agroecosystem benefits. A number of variations and combinations of these strategies have not however been fully evaluated within a long-term farming systems experiment. Therefore, for some of the strategies, we will evaluate two variations of the strategies within the crop rotation in a split-plot or split-split plot design. All of the above scientific comparisons will enable us to document system impacts of a broader range of options available to farmers. These comparisons will also enable the team to more fully understand the fundamental agroecological processes, to share our findings through scientific publications, and to contribute to advancing the science and adoption of sustainable agriculture.

Accomplishments/Milestones

On June 10, 2009, the interdisciplinary project team hosted a meeting of the Advisory panel. We presented the project goals, the proposed dairy cropping system and visited the Penn State research farm location where the farming system will be demonstrated and studied. Based on feedback from the Advisory panel, we modified the cropping system plan.

Working with four Pennsylvania county extension educators, and an extension educator of the PSU Department of Dairy and Animal Science who works with manure contractors, our interdisciplinary team developed and was awarded a NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant entitled “Promoting adoption of innovative conservation cropping system on livestock farms”. The project team will assist eight farmers in three physiographic regions of the Chesapeake Bay to adopt as many of the sustainable cropping practices they are willing to evaluate, and to host field days in year 2 or 3 of the project. The NRCS-CIG provides resources to gather real farm case studies to improve our understanding of how to adapt the cropping systems to various agroecological regions, and extend the NESARE Sustainable Dairy Cropping Systems outreach activities.

A farm energy analysis tool and methods were developed and utilized with the whole farm computer simulation models to conduct a preliminary energetic analysis of the proposed dairy cropping system. In autumn 2009, a straight vegetable oil New Holland tractor was purchased by the USDA-ARS University Park research members of our interdisciplinary team for use in the project.

In November and December 2009 and February 2010 we interviewed three post-doctoral research candidates. Since May 2009, we recruited graduate students for the project.

Plans and methods were developed for soil sampling before the farming system demonstration begins and afterwards. In October and November 2009, sixteen acres of land for the farming systems demonstration was prepared to begin the cropping system in spring 2010. Soil samples were interpreted, lime was applied, and the land was chisel-disked and planted with a rye cover crop to created homogenous conditions across the site. Supplies were purchased and designs drafted for the lysimeters and run-off collection berms.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Using farm-scale equipment and manure from a neighboring dairy, the cropping system will be initiated at 1/20th scale on 12 acres of Penn State’s Agronomy Research Farm at Rock Springs. Cropping system strategies include two diverse, six-year rotations with legumes, cover crops, perennials, no-till, and manure injection. Canola will provide fuel for a Straight Vegetable Oil-powered tractor and meal for the dairy ration. Canola is integrated into both crop rotations to compare two rotation approaches for integrating canola production on dairy farms. To reduce herbicide-use and herbicide resistance, the team is also evaluating a number of weed management practices including selective tillage, a cover crop roller-crimper, a high-residue cultivator, and companion crops. Figures one and two summarize the two crop rotations and strategies that we are comparing in split-plot and split-split plot treatments. The demonstration farm will include a simulated riparian buffer planted with perennial grasses and flowering broadleaf species that will provide nectar and pollen for beneficial insects and create habitat for beneficial organisms.

We were awarded a NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant with four PA county extension educators to promote adoption of the sustainable cropping system. We are working with five PA extension educators to promote adoption of the NESARE Agroecosystems sustainable cropping systems on eight farms and additional farms. We are currently purchasing roller-crimpers and manure injectors for use on the eight cooperating commercial farms. The CIG NRCS and the NESARE Agroecosystem projects provide the opportunity for Robert Meinen, the extension educator in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science to conduct his doctoral graduate research in soil science, and join our research and extension efforts.

The farm energy analysis tool was utilized to conduct an energy analysis of several of the cropping systems planned for the Penn State trials, as well as the established USDA-ARS Beltsville Farming Systems Trials. A preliminary whole-farm energetic analysis indicated that the dairy cropping system can produce all the fuel needs of the farm tractor.

In February 2010, we were pleased to hire Dr. Glenna Malcom as the post-doctoral research associate; she earned her doctorate in Ecology and will begin on March 1, 2010. We have also been able to recruit excellent graduate students to the project. Maggie Douglas began her MS graduate studies in Entomology in January 2010; Stephanie Bailey will begin her MS in Agronomy in May 2010; and a graduate assistantship has been offered to a MS student in Ecology. We are currently reviewing applications for the PhD student in soil science.

• Figures 1 and 2: Cropping Systems and Management Strategies that will be evaluated

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