How Does Conservation Ag Impact Soil Health And Farm Economics?
Editor’s Note: Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative, is working with Soil Health Institute (SHI) to explore the impact of inputs on soil health. The project is made possible through a grant from SHI.
This month, we asked leading soil scientists and farmers to share what they’d most like to understand about the impact of crop inputs on soil health. We also delved deeper into other topics affecting producers, including the interactions among conservation ag practices, soil health and farm economics.
Below are the responses from our panelists. The experts who participated in this Q-and-A session were:
• Bill Robertson – Extension agronomist in cotton specializing in crop, soil and environmental science at the University of Arkansas
• Bryan Biegler – Farmer growing 2,500 acres of corn and soybeans in Southwest Minnesota
• Luke Gatiboni – Extension specialist in soil fertility and nutrient management at North Carolina State University
• Ruth Rabinowitz – Farmer growing primarily row crops who owns and manages three farms in Iowa and one in South Dakota
1. Are there lessons to be learned from insights we’ve gleaned in the last 10 to 20 years on the benefits of reducing tillage for overall soil structure, using cover crops or implementing other conservation measures?
Bill: When I started with cover crops, I had to sell myself on cover crops first because you cannot sell something to somebody when you don't feel comfortable with it. So I had to gain confidence. I started with cereal rye and some other deep-rooted cover crops, and I was astounded by how many roots there were and how deep the roots grew, the impact from just one fall into the next spring … the number of earthworms and the biological activity in the soil that I observed. It really astounded me.
Bryan: There’s been so much talk over the years about soil health and different practices that could improve it, and it got me paying more attention to my fields. I started noticing all the water erosion that was going on. Typically, if a field got washed out, I’d just hit it a couple times with the field cultivator and level it off and we'd be good to go again. Then the next rain would come and wash it out again, and then dirt would be blowing around, and I finally just decided I needed to make a change. It takes time to make this kind of change, and you have to give it a fair chance to work. It can still be frustrating at times—I’ll do something and I’ll be like, ‘Crap, that didn't work out quite the way I’d planned it.’
The other factor is just economics. When I started with this eight years ago, prices were better and I could afford to make some of these equipment changes needed. Right now, that’s tough for guys to do. Also, these conservation practices aren’t simply a one-size-fits-all. You have to tweak these things to make them work into your system and on your ground. You can probably make strip till work on your farm, but maybe you’ll need a little bit different machine than what I use. I think the concepts are good, but you have to take them and make the adjustments so they work on your farm. I always tell people, ‘This is what works for me. You can maybe take some ideas away and try them with your system, but I certainly do not have all the answers for you.’”
I have seen significant benefits from no-till, strip tillage and cover crops. We had wet falls in 2017 and 2018, and a lot of people were getting stuck and having issues in their fields, and I was able to just sail right on through everything. I never got stuck or even got close to getting stuck. My soil structure is so much better now. The water infiltrates the soil instead of running off or pooling, so it’s so much better for taking machinery across the field.
Luke: Many decades ago, soil organic matter had not been considered as a key factor to measure the potential of a given soil for agriculture. However, in the last decades, conservation tillage and the increase of the soil organic matter contents have been key factors to improve the soil quality. Nowadays, it is well known the beneficial effects of soil organic matter on soil aggregation, water infiltration, root growth and nutrient cycling. Probably a similar advance in knowledge will occur in the next decades in areas of soil quality and soil heath, among others.
Ruth: I do no harvesting or grazing of residue. I want the residue out there to keep my soil in place over the winter and prevent erosion. I’ve always thought the word “trash” is a strange way to describe something that’s useful. I do a lot of small stuff across my farms. Most things don’t involve a lot of acres—maybe it’s a waterway that’s not even over an acre or a 40-ft. buffer in a field to separate it from the road. I’ve put small acreages in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), like 5 acres that’s an odd-shaped pie slice of land that’s across water and it’s hard to cross over to farm it. I’ve pulled back from tree lines in places, 20 ft. to 40 ft. So, what I’m doing is giving wildlife some habitat. There are nesting areas for birds, areas to support the declining bee and butterfly populations, and bedding available for dear, pheasant, quail and turkey.
2. Have you had or identified any monetary benefits from conservation farming practices, either in savings or actual return-on-investment?
Bryan: In an average year, not so much. But definitely in really wet or dry years when there’s more stress. A couple of years ago, we had bad weather conditions, and I ended up making 20 bu. to 30 bu. more per acre of corn than my neighbor did, and I attribute that to no-till and cover crops. Sometimes, it's not these great big benefits that you’ll see financially, but an accumulation of a bunch of small things that add up. For instance, my diesel fuel usage has gone down quite a bit because I make fewer trips across the field.
Ruth: Well, the CRP contracts when I enrolled the ground were enrolled pretty high at that point because of corn and soybean prices. That helped keep cash flow a little bit healthier for 10 years. But when the re-enrollment comes up, that won’t be the case. I’ve applied for and gotten grants in the past to help with the cover crops. Ducks Unlimited helps with the cover crops on the South Dakota farm and works with my farmer there. I’ve really appreciated Ducks Unlimited and their support.
I'm also hoping to work with the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) program to get some cover crop funding because I am a beginning farmer. Cover crops are not cheap, and they’re hard to do when corn is $3 and soybeans are $8. You have to be able to make a living and not lose your shirt, at least remain steady until you have an opportunity to financially make that kind of investment.
I really want these farms to thrive, because I want to pass them to the next generation. I want them to be healthy farms. These were put into my hands to steward, and it’s a very serious thing. I want to do right by them, because we only get one chance, you know. But you have to go slow. You can’t turn a ship quickly that’s been going the same direction for 20 years and try to do an immediate 180 with it. But I can do small, bite-sized changes and that’s what I’m doing.
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