systems that leave significant quantities
reduced tillage, cover cropping,
of residue on the surface and decrease
perennial forage rotation crops,
manure or compost
the severity of erosion, you also should
reduced tillage, cover cropping
use sound crop rotations. Consider
rotations that use grass, legume, or a
soil
reduced tillage
combination of grass and legume peren-
health
nial forage crops. Raising animals on
cover cropping
what previously were exclusively crop
farms, cooperating on rotations and
manure management with a nearby
livestock farm, or growing forage crops
for sale gives you a wider choice of
years
economically sound rotations and at the
same time helps to cycle nutrients better.
Figure 23.2. Combining practices that promote soil health has an additive effect.
Incorporating these innovations into a
longer-term effects it is recommended to include more
conventional grain farm often requires an investment in
stable organic compounds and use reduced tillage.
new equipment and creatively looking for new markets
for your products. There also are many opportunities to
Grain Crop Farms
use cover crops on grain farms, even in reduced-tillage
Most grain crop farms export a lot of nutrients and are
systems.
managed with a net loss of organic matter. Nevertheless,
Organic grain crop farms do not have the flexibil-
these farms provide a great deal of flexibility in adopt-
ity in soil management that conventional farms have.
ing alternative soil management systems because a wide
Their main challenges are typically providing adequate
range of equipment is available for grain production sys-
nitrogen and controlling weeds. Tillage choices are
tems. You can promote soil health easily with reduced-
limited because of the reliance on mechanical methods,
tillage systems, especially no-till, strip-till, and zone-till.
instead of herbicides, to control weeds. On the posi-
Well-drained, coarse-textured soils are especially
tive side, organic farms already rely heavily on organic
well adapted to no-till systems, and the finer-textured
inputs through green or animal manures and composts
soils do well with ridge-tillage or zone-tillage systems.
to provide adequate nutrients to their crops, so their
Regardless of the tillage system that is used, travel on
balance sheet (table 23.1) is often very good despite
soils only when they’re dry enough to resist compac-
the tillage. A well-managed organic farm usually uses
tion. However, managing no-till cropping on soils that
many aspects of ecological soil management. However,
are easily compacted is quite a challenge because there
erosion may remain a concern when you use clean and
are few options to relieve compaction once it occurs.
intensive tillage. It is important to think about reduc-
Controlled-traffic farming is a very promising approach,
ing tillage intensity, using ridges or beds, controlling
especially for such situations, although it may require
traffic, and perhaps investing in a good planter. New
adjustments of equipment and investment in a GPS
mechanical cultivators can generally handle higher
guidance system.
residue and mulch levels and may still provide adequate
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Building SoilS for Better CropS: SuStainaBle Soil ManageMent