Reducing plastic mulch use by expanding adoption of cover-crop-based no-till systems for vegetable producers

Reducing plastic mulch use by expanding adoption of cover-crop-based no-till systems for vegetable producers

Summary

To meet our project goals of informing at least 3000 growers about reducing plastic mulch use through no-till cover crops, Rodale Institute (RI) researchers successfully delivered extensive educational programming, completed the second year of RI research trials of tomatoes, and completed a first year of vegetable and fruit production research on 4 collaborating farms, and established 2011-2012 field trials on all 5 sites. Researchers disseminated information on cover crop-based no-till vegetable production to almost 4000 unique visitors through 3 project web articles and more than 350 farmers and educators visited the RI research and demonstration plots and nearly 150 received presentations on the practices at 4 educational events. Presentations focused on the effectiveness of the rye-vetch cover crop combination at both suppressing weeds and increasing soil nitrogen in tomato production while maintaining decent yield, while discussing differences in yield comparisons with black plastic relative to seasonal weather variations and the value of multi-year research to develop production practices that work in the long term.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Impact Objective 1 (Farmer Practices): By the end of this project, the Institute will have documentation that at least 25 regional farmers implemented this system on 10 percent of their collective vegetable production acreage (at least 20 acres), decreasing their input costs for that acreage by 90 percent, increasing their net income for that acreage by 50 percent, relative to their standard black plastic-based system. This performance objective will be assessed by follow-up phone and web-based surveys of farmer participants at project-related field days, extension-hosted events, and grower-oriented conference presentations.
1. At the July 2011 Field Day, “Showcasing the Value of Research in Organic Production,” 13 of the 14 farmers (93%) who returned the survey indicated that they intended to incorporate new or increased use of cover crops in their operations as a result of information they received at the event, and five noted specific cover crop mulching techniques they planned to try. All the farmers said they intended to make some sort of change to their farming operations. (In fact, 96% of the respondents in total, including those who didn’t identify themselves as farmers, planned to make changes to their growing techniques and education programs based on information received at the event.) We determined some possible Field Day improvements for next year: This year’s field day attendees seemed very pleased with the event over all (despite the 106° temperatures) and only five made suggestions for other topics to cover, including more coverage of AM fungi, compost tea, urban farming, and guidance on determining specific cover crop mixes, planting rates, and timing for each farmer. Last year’s farmer requests for more stream-lined field days with sessions targeted to different scale farm operations were not repeated, suggesting that either this need was met, or this year’s group of attendees had different needs.
2. The researcher-moderated, farmer-led rotating discussion group outlined in last year’s report was carried out informally at the August 4th Farmer Field. Each of the attending collaborating farmers (3 of the 4) spoke to the group about the successes and challenges they’d encountered in their half-year of rolled cover crop vegetable system implementation, and all attendees had the opportunity to ask questions as part of the full group, so all could benefit from the answers (and some had their own anecdotes and experiences to share as well).
3. In February 2011, RI research staff hosted a project collaborator meeting to interact directly with the 4 collaborating project farmers (John and Aimee Good, Doug and Elizabeth Randolph, Mike Baki, and James Weaver) on work plans for the 2011 season. The meeting provided a great opportunity for the farmers to all meet each other, meet with Christine Ziegler as the new project manager, share experiences and ideas, and develop good working plans and lines of communication for the coming season.
4. We continued to work with the 4 collaborating project farmers throughout the year to plant their cash crops, collect data, and prepare fields for the 2012 season. The Goods and the Randolphs grew acorn squash, while Mike Baki grew tomatoes, watermelon and summer squash, and James Weaver grew tomatoes and cabbages, and the area managed at all four farms totaled about 6 acres. Summer data collection included yields, soil samples for C/N analysis, soil temperatures, and weed biomass. In September and October, the 2012 fields (different from the 2011 field locations) were planted with the same field designs and cover crops (70lb/acre ‘Aroostook’ rye: 25lb/acre ‘Purple Bounty’ hairy vetch in the Rodale treatments, and the farmer’s mix of choice in his/her treatment) and sampled for pre-season soil quality assessment.

Impact Objective 2 (Farmer Awareness): By the end of this project, the Institute will have documentation that at least 3000 farmers became informed about the cover crop mulch system of vegetable production, as documented by:
1. Attendance / participant surveys at RI field days,
A. Fifty eight people attended RI’s July 2011 Field Day, “Showcasing the Value of Research in Organic Production,” where the no-till vegetable trial was showcased. Attendees viewed a presentation about the project including the benefits of cover crops, had a tour of the trial, and responded to a survey. We handed out free copies of “Sustainable Production of Fresh-Market Tomatoes and Other Vegetables With Cover Crop Mulches” by J. Teasdale, so that participants could receive information on how to implement the system on their own farms. At this Field Day, 34 of the 58 participants completed their surveys, for a 59% response rate. Of the respondents, almost half were farmers (14), and most of the rest were extension agents and educators (7), vendors (4), and researchers (2), a group who collectively worked with an estimated total of 1800 farmers and land owners each year. 98% percent of the farmers agreed or strongly agreed that the field day encouraged them to explore or recommend the use of cover crops in vegetable production.
B. Project presentations at RI’s June 3rd field event hosted for PA Women in Agriculture (PA-WAgN) reached over 40 participants, and field tours provided as part of custom group tours throughout the season reached over 200 more visitors.
2. Attendance / participant surveys at grower-oriented conference presentations,
A. Fourteen farmers and other interested parties attended Rodale Institute’s “Cover Crop Alternatives to Black Plastic” Farmer Field Workshop on Thursday, August 4th, 2011. The event was held at Rodale Institute and featured the fields of collaborating farmers John and Aimee Good of Quiet Creek Farm, whose 8-acre CSA is located at the Rodale site. Participants toured the farm fields and discussed current project data with RI’s staff and several of the project’s collaborating farmers, sharing successes, challenges, and new ideas to help integrate the system into different sorts of operations. Almost all the survey respondents noted that they were very interested in incorporating cover crops into their vegetable systems and felt that they generally received enough information through the training to allow them to start that transition process.
B. Forty farmers, researchers and extension agents received information on project production methods and results via Christine Ziegler’s presentation “Organic Vegetable Production Using No-Till” at the 11th Annual Iowa Organic Conference. Verbal feedback from the presentation was very positive, with many questions about different kinds of cover crops that can be used in different regions of the country, and timing of cover crop termination and planting.
3. Independent page views of website articles
A. “Black Plastic Alternatives – Year 1,” an article posted on our website in January 2011, described the results from the 2010 project trial of tomatoes planted in rye, vetch, and rye/vetch cover crops that had been mowed, rolled, or plowed and laid with black plastic. This posting had 2608 unique views with an average view-time of 5:09 minutes. (This article is available at http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20110117_black-plastic-alternatives-year-1.) (For reference, average view times for web pages nationally is approximately 1 minute.)
B. An article entitled “Growing Vegetables with Cover Crop Mulches” was posted in October 2011, detailing more findings from the 2010 season and preliminary data fro 2011, tying this work with other research on this topic. The page had 866 unique page-views with an average of nearly 5 minutes spent on page. (This article can be viewed at: http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20111023_growing-vegetables-with-cover-crop-mulch.)
C. “Black Plastic Alternatives: Fertility, Variety, Seasonality”, an article also posted in October 2011, covered the 2011 growing season in greater detail, outlining aspects of the production system that were working differently from the previous season and what was working well in both years. This page had 433 unique page views with an average view time of 4:13 minutes. (This article can be viewed at http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20111017_black-plastic-alternatives-fertility-variety-seasonality.)
4. Responses to surveys posted in the sidebars of website articles
No sidebar surveys were posted on RI’s website in 2011 but one will be developed in spring of 2012 to reassess farmers’ interest in cover crop mulches for vegetable production and any issues they’ve faced or anticipate with this production practice.
5. Purchases of printed Production Manual
Based on the varied data generated in 2010 and 2011, development of the production manual is being postponed until the middle of 2012, when part of the third full year of research conducted at RI is complete, to see if larger production trends can be clarified.
6. Responses to survey linked to production manual download.
These data will be collected once the production manual is complete in 2012.

Impact Objective 3 (Professional Development): 8 regional extension agents will each host or schedule to host at least 1 event, collectively reaching 400 farmers, that includes information on cover crop use and no-till termination for vegetable production.
Collaborating extension agent Tianna DuPont will deliver model presentations at the field days, and RI researchers will quantify extension agent adoption through follow-up phone surveys of extension agent field day attendees.
A. With data from the 2011 Rodale Institute trial, we are updating information to provide extension agents regarding growth of vegetables with cover crop mulches. Our major findings from 2010, suggesting that rye-vetch mixtures are superior to either vetch alone or rye alone for weed suppression and nitrogen inputs, with yields comparable to black plastic systems, were not entirely consistent with 2011 data. Of the cover crop mulches in 2011, the rye/vetch combination was still the best of the three covers used, but yields were highest in the black plastic treatments, likely due to 2011’s unusual weather patterns. Thus, these data are currently being outreached with understanding that a third year’s data will hopefully clarify which treatments are most effective.
B. Collaborating local extension agents carried out 19 courses in the SE region of PA in 2011. In addition to vegetable production courses that included project information, course topics included: Living on a Few Acres; ABCs of Beekeeping; Potato Production; Introduction to Soils; a Grazing School; Pasture Management; Food for Profit; Backyard Poultry Production; Exploring the Small Farm Dream; Access to Land; Capital and Equipment for Farm Start-ups; Sheep Shearing; and Novice Farmer Study Circles. These courses were attended by almost 500 farmers and extension agents, and another group of these courses is set for 2012.

Impact Objective 4 (Researcher/Ag Professional Awareness): By the end of this project, the Institute will have documentation that at least 500 horticultural research scientists and extension agents became informed about the cover crop mulch system of vegetable production.
This Impact Objective has not yet been addressed, but will be assessed in Year 3 of the project.

• Article-black-plastic-alternatives-year-1
• Article-growing-vegetables-with-cover-crop-mulch
• Article-black-plastic-alternatives-fertility-variety-seasonality

Accomplishments/Milestones

Original Milestones
Date
1 Farmers, extension agents, and researchers (beneficiaries) learn about project and provide their input and reactions via introductory article, feedback survey, and comments on Rodale Institute’s (RI) website. May 2010
2 RI research staff install iButton temperature and humidity sensors, sample cover crop biomass and ground coverage at RI plots (all years) and farmer collaborators’ (FCs) plots (2011 and 2012) May/June 2010, 2011, 2012
3 RI research staff collect data on weed density, diversity, and OM inputs. June/July and August/September 2010, 2011, 2012
4 RI research staff and FCs collect and weigh both total and marketable yield bi-weekly or as needed in each treatment plot at the RI and on collaborating farms. July-September 2010, 2011, and 2012
5 Regional beneficiaries take part in first project Field Day at RI, presenting vegetable/cover crop trials and equipment demonstrations. July 2010
6 RI research staff work with FCs to plan/ establish plots, plant cover crops, and sample soil August/September 2010, 2011, 2012
7 RI research staff process, send out for analysis and perform in-house analyses on soil samples August/September 2010, 2011, 2012
8 FCs, select extension agents, and researchers meet with RI staff to review 2010 data (including FC costs and savings) and plan for 2011. January 2011
9 Beneficiaries review article summarizing 2010 field data, activities, and plans for 2011 on RI’s website. January 2011
10 2010 Field Day and conference attendees surveyed to assess adoption of practices and additional information needs. January-March 2011
11 Regional beneficiaries attend second Field Day, hosted by FC August 2011
12 FCs, select extension agents, and researchers meet with RI staff to review 2011 data and plan for 2012. January 2012
13 Beneficiaries review article summarizing 2011 field data, activities, and plans for 2012 on RI’s website. January 2012
14 Beneficiaries and the public learn about project research and recommendations via presentation at annual winter conference February 2012
15 2011 Field Day and conference attendees surveyed to assess information needs and adoption of practices. March 2012
16 Regional beneficiaries attend third Field Day, hosted by FC August 2012
17 Beneficiaries and the public receive 30-page vegetable production manual, available in print and on-line as a pdf. December 2012
18 Beneficiaries read final project summary article on RI’s website. January 2013
19 Researchers and extension agents review scientific project summary via peer-reviewed journal article(s). submitted January 2013

Milestone 1:
(Completed in 2010) More than 1,500 people viewed the introductory project article for an average of almost 4 minutes. Most viewers who responded to the survey posted with the article indicated an interest in finding alternatives to black plastic and a need for more information (n=10). Some had tried conservative experimentation with cover crops already, and were eager to find plastic alternatives, but were concerned about weed-control and lack of equipment. Next year, we plan to boost survey responses by increasing survey visibility, by linking the survey to the RI main page, and by contacting farmers directly by email and phone.

Milestone 2:
Technicians installed 3 temperature data loggers in each RI plot (n=88) and in all the farmer collaborator’s (FC’s) plots in May and early June 2011 (n=54). Ibuttons were successfully removed in October (RI n=78, 4 not located and 6 not functional, FC n=48) to collect soil temperature readings throughout the season. Average season soil temperatures (June through October) at the RI site in the 9 different treatments were quite similar (as in 2010), ranging in the tomato field from 20.11° C in rolled rye to 21.92° C in rye-vetch terminated with black plastic. (The RI seasonal minimum temperature was 11.71° C in the rolled vetch, and the maximum of 31.17° C in the black plastic rye/vetch.) While these data do not appear to be significantly different, two interesting points of note are that the winter minimum temperatures in the rye plots are about 1° C higher than the vetch or rye/vetch plots, and the average temperatures in the black plastic plots are consistently about 1° C higher than the other treatments.

Soil temperatures at the FC plots mirrored those at RI, with an average temperature that ranged from 19.91° C (Baki Biotello black plastic) to 22.32° C (Weaver black plastic). The minimum temperature was 12.00° C (Weavers rolled) and maximum was 31.67° (Weaver black plastic), and with the exception of Baki’s farm, the plastic treatments averaged about 1° C warmer than the rolled plots, though the difference was not statistically significant.
Soil samples were taken monthly throughout the growing season at the RI site to determine gravimetric soil moisture. Identical to last year’s results, seasonal average percent soil moisture in the tomato trial ranged from 22% for vetch in black plastic to 29% for mowed rye-vetch. Again, the vetch treatments generally had lower soil moisture than the rye or rye vetch treatments, though the differences weren’t significant. Similarly, the black plastic treatments had slightly lower moisture than the cover crop treatments, but again the differences weren’t significant. One data set of note is the July soil moisture, which was consistently 50% lower than any of the other months, due to the severe 7-week drought the area experienced in June and July. (Soil moisture was not measured at the FC locations.)

Cover crop biomass was collected for analysis of biomass production, percent N, and percent C. Overall biomass production at RI was much greater this year than last year, with vetch biomass reaching nearly 4000 lb/ac (compared to 2200 lb/ac in 2010), rye biomass reaching 10,000 lb/ac (compared with 4700 lb/ac in 2010), and the rye/vetch producing the highest biomass at 11,500 lb/ac (Figure 1). Rye and rye/vetch biomass nearly doubled from the time of termination for plowing/black plastic (May 13th) to the time of rolling and mowing, but interestingly, the vetch biomass did not change over that month (which is unusual, based on past data). This may be due to the cool, extremely wet spring which may have caused the vetch to grow more slowly and/or decompose more quickly when it matured.

Cover crop biomass at the FC sites, consisting primarily of the rye/vetch mix, ranged from 4500 lb/ac on May 10th (plow/black plastic at Baki’s) to 12,200 lb/ac on May 23rd (rolled at Randolph’s). Baki’s cover crops showed excellent growth between the plowed and rolled terminations dates (early May to early June) but growth at the Good’s plot (which is located at the RI site) was quite minimal over the same time period, as was seen in RI’s plots, indicating that the spring’s weather may have been more detrimental at the RI location than at other sites.

Nitrogen (N) concentrations were greatest in the treatments of mixed rye/vetch (200 lb N/acre) and lowest in the rye treatments (70 lb N/acre), which is again about twice as much N as was produced last year (corresponding with the biomass, Figure 2). The vetch alone produced around 130 lb/ac N on average, but what is most interesting is that the N content of the vetch actually decreased between May 13th (the plowing date for black plastic) and June 10th (the rolling/mowing date), corresponding with the lack of increase in biomass. This highly unusual outcome may again be due to the cool, extremely wet weather, which may have stopped vetch growth and caused early senescence. Carbon (C) inputs ranged from 1700 lb/ac for the vetch (at all termination dates) to 4500 lb/ac for the rye/vetch mix at the roll/mow termination date (Figure 3).

At the FC plots, N concentrations ranged from 100 lb/ac in Baki’s plowed/black plastic plots that were terminated on May 10th to 233 lb/ac for Randolph’s plots that were rolled on May 23rd. C inputs in these plots ranged from 2200 lb/ac to 5400 lb/ac on these same plots.

Figure 1 – 2011 RI Cover Crop Biomass

Figure 2 – RI cover crop nitrogen content at termination

Figure 3 – RI cover crop carbon content at termination

Milestone 3:
In 2011 we adjusted our weed data collection to only assess weed biomass, based on the determination that the weed species data was not of sufficient value, relative to the time required to collect the data, given that the trial fields are moved from year to year and weed species varies significantly from field to field, regardless of treatment. Weed biomass was assessed at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after planting in all treatments, both at RI and the FC locations. A bulk sample for each sampling date was collected to be analyzed for percent C, a measurement which correlates with organic matter.

At 4 weeks after planting at RI, the rolled treatments showed approximately double the weed suppression capacity of the mowed treatments (black plastic serves as a “no weed” control in this portion of the research). The rolled rye/vetch showed the greatest weed suppression, amassing less than 500 kg/ha of weed biomass, while the mowed rye/vetch amassed almost 2000 kg/ha of weeds, and the mowed vetch and mowed rye allowed over 4000 kg/ha of weeds at that date (Figure 4). Despite the fact that the 2011 RI plots produced almost twice as much cover crop biomass as the 2010 plots, they appeared to be less effective at deterring weed growth. In 2010 data, after 4 weeks, the rolled rye treatments had only 50 kg/ha of weeds and rolled vetch treatments had 2500 kg/ha. At the point in that the weed biomass was collected, the 2011 weather had turned hotter and very dry, which may have been optimal for weed germination at that point, particularly under a mulch mat that retained moisture.

At 8 weeks after planting, the rolled rye/vetch mix was still best at suppressing weeds, allowing only 3000 kg/ha to develop by that point (though this difference wasn’t significant, Figure 5). All the other cover crop treatments had developed between 4000-6000 kg/ha of weed biomass, and the black plastic plots had about 300 kg/ha of weeds falling beyond the edge of the plastic.

At the FC plots, weed suppression at 4 weeks was quite good at Baki’s, Randolph’s, and Good’s (between 900-1500 kg/ha in the rolled plots). However, Weaver’s rolled plots had already developed about 3000 kg/ha of weeds by 4 weeks, perhaps due to the fact that he planted on raised beds and used the project’s new raised-bed roller to terminate the cover crop. The roller appeared to give good kill of the cover crop, and the cover crop biomass was comparable with the other sites, but it is possible that the orientation of the raised-bed roller’s angled drums may have moved the crushed cover crop mat in a way that allowed for weed emergence. This system will require closer observation in 2012 to assess whether these weed data are systemic with the raised-bed roller, or simply seasonal variation.

At 8 weeks, the weed biomass at the FC plots had generally tripled, ranging from 3000 kg/ha in the Good’s rolled plots to 6000 kg/ha in Weaver’s rolled plots. These data represent weed pressure that was very difficult for the collaborating farmers to deal with in a practical sense. After all, most farmers would manage these weeds via cultivation rather than let the grow for the sake of science. As such, FC weed biomass data collection plans for 2012 are being adjusted to allow the FC’s to manage their weeds as they normally would after the 4-week weed biomass cut, keeping track of the time and expense required to do this. This approach will more closely represent real-world farmer practices and provide useful information of practical effort and expense of weed management for the rolled cover crop system. Researchers are also considering adding similar weed-managed portions to the RI plots to collect similar data.

Figure 4 – RI weed biomass at 4-6 weeks, by cover crop treatment and termination technique.

Figure 5 – RI weed biomass at 8-10 weeks, by cover crop treatment and termination technique.

Milestone 4:
Total tomato yield was collected and weighed twice or three times weekly at the RI site from August 22nd until October 12th. The harvest season started much later than in 2010 due to the weather patterns of the summer (wet cold beginning, hot dry middle, then wet cool end), the plant exhibited no Late Blight or other major diseases, so no copper sprays were applied in 2011. Both total and marketable yields were assessed, and as in 2010, to avoid flooding the market and displacing local tomato farmers, project tomatoes were donated to the Berks County Food Bank. Marketable yields ranged from 15,000 lb/ac in the mowed rye treatment (total yield for that treatment was 20,000 lb/ac) to 84,000 lb/ac (105,000 lb/ac total yield) in the rye/vetch black plastic plots, totaling almost 6500 lbs of tomatoes picked throughout the season (Figure 6). (To compare, in 2010 total yields ranged from 16,575 lbs/acre in the rolled vetch treatment up to 44,084 lbs/acre in the mowed rye-vetch treatment, and a total of around 4000 lbs of tomatoes were picked over the season.) These values are higher than the Pennsylvania 10-year commercial average of 10,500 to 22,000 lbs/acre because we weighed all fruit (including unsellable fruit) and extended our season into October. The black plastic plots yielded statistically more than the rolled or mowed treatments for all cover crop types, and the rye/vetch cover crop mix was the most productive of the three. Rolled and mowed treatments yielded equally for each cover crop, but the rye/vetch cover crop yielded significantly more than either the rye or vetch alone for both these termination treatments. Again, these data are different from 2010, when yields were highest in the mowed rye-vetch combination treatments and lowest in the rolled vetch treatment, making a third trial at the RI site useful to identify potential trends.

Harvest data from the FC’s is still being collected, but data on acorn squash from the Good’s and Randolph’s showed that yields were quite comparable in the rolled and standard treatments. The Goods had marketable yields of a little over 16,000 lb/ac on both their rolled and standard treatments, while the Randolphs had yields of 17,000 lb/ac in their standard plots and 13,500 lb/ac in their rolled plots. They noted that the difference in the yields is due to the fact that one of their rolled plots has a historical thistle weed problem, so yields from that plot were quite low relative to all the other plots. (Average yields of the two replications that didn’t include the outlying plot were almost identical.)

Figure 6 – RI tomato yields by cover crop treatment and termination technique.

Milestones 5 and 11:
The July 2011 Field Day, “Showcasing the Value of Research in Organic Production,” hosted at Rodale Institute, educated a total of 58 participants on cover crop use, supplemental weed control practices, and no-till practices. The field day included a tour of RI’s field trials with a period for discussion and questions/answers. Ninety percent of the Field Day participants rated the usefulness of the “Cover Crops in Vegetable Production” presentation as “very good” or “excellent” and 98% of farmers gave it this rating. In addition to the July field day, the first project farmer field day, “Cover Crop Alternatives to Black Plastic”, gave 14 participants an up-close and focused opportunity to review the trial, learn about the FC’s experiences in implementing the production practices, and receive up-to-date trial data. Again, 95% of survey respondents found the project information to be applicable and of interest in incorporating into their operations. Project information and data was also presented to forty farmers, researchers, and extension agents via Christine Ziegler’s presentation “Organic Vegetable Production Using No-Till” at the 11th Annual Iowa Organic Conference in November 2011.

Milestone 6:
RI staff worked with the four collaborating farmers throughout the growing season to lay out field treatments; assist with cover crop incorporation, rolling, and crop planting; take cover crop and weed biomass cuts; deliver and plant cover crop seed; sample soil for percent moisture, rocks and fines, and active organic carbon; and answer any questions the farmers had about the project or the work involved. All the farmers were very willing and helpful collaborators throughout the season and a delight to work with. The winter planning meeting provided a good opportunity for all to meet, discuss ideas and plans as a group, and get a good over-all picture of how their individual and unique trials would fit into the project work as a whole. While the farmers’ experiences with the rolled cover crop treatments were mixed, ranging from full success at the Good’s and Randoph’s to fairly serious failure at Baki’s and Weaver’s, all four farmers were excited to try the treatments again in 2012, making adjustments for weed pressure (allowing weeding after 4 weeks).

Milestone 7:
On-farm and RI trial soil samples were collected in September and October and are currently being processed to determine percent moisture, and percent rocks and fines. Data for active organic carbon is also currently being processed. Samples of cover crop biomass were analyzed on-site this year for carbon and nitrogen concentration due to the arrival of RI’s VarioMax CN Analyzer in January of 2011. Active carbon data from 2010 showed that end-of-season values in the 2010 trial field were similar to the values measured in the 2011 trial field. Because active carbon was not assessed from the 2010 field at the beginning of the trial, no seasonal or practice-related changes can be noted for that field, but active carbon values for each of the 2010 treatments at the end of the season were not significantly different (ranging from 400-450 mg/kg for the nine treatments). Active carbon measured from the FC plots prior to cover crop planting in 2010 showed differences in active carbon from farm to farm: Baki’s active carbon readings were lowest, ranging from 109-178 mg/kg, while all the other farms’ reading fell within a range of 205-282 mg/kg (with one high and one low outlier). Active carbon data for 2011 will be reported as soon as it is available.

Milestones 8 and 9:
The FC Winter Workshop in late February 2011 brought the stakeholders together to review the article that had been posted on the website in January and discuss work plans for the coming season. The workshop included representatives from Penn State extension, and it was determined at that point that it was too soon to calculate FC costs and savings, as they had only planted cover crops by that point. Those calculations will be made in winter 2012 to encompass the full field season from fall 2010 to fall 2011.

Milestone 10:
This milestone is not yet complete because, due to the change in project leadership near the beginning of 2011, this requirement was not re-identified until the middle of the 2011 growing season. At that point in the season, given the volume of project-related field work that was in process at that time, the project staff decided to move that effort to the winter of 2012 as part of Milestone 15, including participants from the 2011 field days as well. Contact information for the event participants is currently being compiled and they will be contacted in January and February of 2012.

• Milestones Table
• Milestone 2 Figures 1-3
• Milestone 4 Figure 6
• Photographs
• Milestone 3 Figures 4-5

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The major accomplishments of the second year of project work have been the collection of field data at RI, the continued development of relationships with the farmer collaborators, and successful outreach through a variety of field days, presentations, and web materials. Initiation of the third year of field data collection will bring the impacts of the tested production practices into clearer focus and provide a robust dataset on which to base development of useful farmer outreach materials at project’s end.

Collaborators: