Ag 101 Week 4

Size Vs. Scale

I have great news, for once size doesn’t matter!

Far too often I talk with farmer/growers, and they're concerned with how many acres they are farming and at what point they consider themselves an actual farmer. Get over it. What matters is that you can manage the scale at which you are operating and is it profitable for you.

When I got back into consulting, I was intimidated by your average corn/soybean/alfalfa farm. Every time I looked at a soil test for a cornfield I panicked. I thought how can I make recommendations for a cornfield when I have only gardened for the past 15 years. Then it dawned on me; it was nothing more than a large garden. I had to get over it! Just like our daughter's horse needed to get over his fear of helicopters, lawn chairs, and ponies! 

My scale of growing had changed, but the basic principles I used to help my dad on the farm were the same I used in my backyard garden. In the case of liquid fertilizers instead of measuring in quarts or gallons per acre, I used ounces per 1000 sq. ft. The same is true for dry fertilizers, instead of 1 cup, a larger scale grower uses pounds per acre. It is all based on the scale, not the size. Yes, size is something that needs consideration when planning, however, you measure your amendments and fertilizers based on scale.

Size matters when you need to ask yourself are you willing to take on more or less work, the financial aspect, or management that will be involved.

Here are two resources I use the most for common conversions 

http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B931

As always you should read the label of any product you are using first.

AG 101 Week 3

He's NOT My Type!

It takes a special guy to put up with me!

That’s what I said about my husband the first time we meant during the summer of 1990. Fast forward 28 years, we’ve been married 21 of them, we have two great kids, and I can’t imagine being with anyone else. He’s still the same guy I meant all those years ago, but obviously, my opinion changed drastically. Along the way, there have been some compromises and adjusting expectations, but it has had huge payoffs. If I hadn’t been willing to look at things differently, it might not have worked out the way it did.

Far too often I hear people say something similar about the soil they are farming. I hear the statement “My soil is terrible, and I can’t get anything to grow.  I don’t think anything will grow in this type of soil.” I also come across farmers who want to grow blueberries where crops like asparagus, leeks, or Chard would be better suited. Some crops like strawberries and peppers will even tolerate a sandier soil as opposed to crops like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage that can handle more clay. Knowing the type of soil ahead of time can help you adjust and plan crop rotations more effectively leading to a successful season. It can also play a role in determining a fertility program that takes into account the unique makeup of the soil you're growing in.

I realize that this is somewhat different than my relationship with my husband. However, there are some similarities. I also realize I could have walked away and found another guy; you can’t always look for another farm or different land. But, you can do what I did and take a different look at what you already have. There was something that attracted me to him or else I would have found someone else “my type,” just like there was something that attracted you to where you are farming. There are inherent qualities about the land you farm. It is your job as a farmer to learn what they are and use them to your benefit. Just like I have to occasionally compromise and adjust, you as a farmer will need to take the unique qualities of the land your working into consideration and plan accordingly.

Let’s look at what soil type is. It is based on various factors like parent material, topography, and climate, making it unique to a specific location. The ratio of different size particles called sand, silt, and clay are one factor used to determine the soil type, for example, whether a soil is a loam, clay-loam, silt-loam, etc. Each size of particle plays an important role in the fertility of the soil. Large particles like sand determine aeration and drainage characteristics. Clay particles become critical in plant nutrition due to their role in soil chemistry and a soils cation exchange.

There are a couple of ways one can go about figuring out what soil type you have. Back in college, we were sent out to the field to do “ribbon tests.”  This method is also called the feel method.  At the time I was convinced I would never do it again, boy was I wrong. It is instinctually the first thing I do in a field during a farm visit. There is no better way to get to know the ground your working with than to “feel it.” A ribbon test is a field representation of what agronomist refer to as the “texture triangle” which is used to help categorize soils based on the proportion of each particle, assigning a soil textural class. However, it is only an estimation. Here is a link to one of several online resources for doing a ribbon test.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/214.pdf

To go one step further, I use the Web Soil Survey.

https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm

This is an online tool that takes the place of the volumes of Soil Survey Maps I had to use back in the day. I have to be frank; I feel it is often one of the most overlooked resources a farmer has available to them and its free. It goes well beyond soil type and is worth the time spent to use it.

Ag 101 Week 2

Soil Health Vs. Soil Fertility

I spoke at a conference in front of 200 farmers and used the term, custom soil fertility programs. At the time I was working as a sales agronomist for a fertilizer company that offered custom fertilizer recommendations based on a farmer’s soil tests. As far as I knew this was pretty standard for the industry. Not a big deal if you asked me.

After my talk, I headed back to my table to see a line of guys with soil tests in their hands. Jokingly I made a comment how funny it was the line was so long and wondered what all the fuss was. Someone in line commented “As soon as you said the word fertility everyone woke up and started looking at you. You smiled and started to blush. You made fertilizer sound sexy.” Not the intention behind my talk but, I took it as a positive and was excited about the opportunities that it had lead too for the company. Plus, I got to look at a lot of soil tests, and I geek out over that.

However, when I told the story to the non-agronomists in the office, they didn’t see it that way. They explained to me that that was not the image they wanted to convey to the public. I was to use the term soil health, not fertility. I thought to myself, aren’t you a fertilizer company? I talk like that when I’m around all my agronomist friends, and they don’t get upset. It seemed to make perfect sense to me. Then It dawned on me, every occupation has a certain language, and it can get confusing to someone who doesn’t always use it on a regular basis.  I have to be honest; I don’t always use the two terms correctly either. Soil health and soil fertility are two separate topics and I have found can get overused, used in the wrong context, miss-used, and obviously misunderstood.

In my agronomy mind….

Soil health refers more to an overall concept regarding the qualities of soil to function as part of a system successfully. It's a measure of the overall ability to support what is growing in it continually while balancing the biological, chemical, and physical attributes of the soil. Notice, I said balancing. As a grower, you need to realize that the chemical attributes of the soil are a by-product of the physical and biological. You need to maintain the balance of all three to have a healthy, resilient, and efficient system. You have some tests done; you tweak a few things, you grow a good crop. Everything is running smoothly. Similar to me whereas overall I’m healthy. I get regular check-ups, the doctor says I could stand to lose a few pounds, but my bloodwork and tests come back good.

Soil fertility is what you are doing to achieve healthy soil and its ability to sustain the crop you are growing. It is the reality of it, not just the concept. Here is where the rubber meets the road. You use management practices, inputs, and choose crops that are realistic given the inherent abilities of the soil type you are working with. Some factors that influence soil fertility are soil structure, drainage and water holding capacity, soil biology, organic matter, pH, cation exchange capacity, and parent material.  In the case of my health; it is me setting realist goals, eating healthy, and exercising regularly.

I’m not saying that the two ideas never intersect and are separate from each other. You need to consider the health of soil to manage the fertility and vice versa.

Ag 101 Week 1

Agronomy, What?

Almost a year ago I officially started working as an independent agronomist. March 20th, I launched a new website and spoke at a conference for the first time as The Accidental Agronomist. I’ve come along way from wondering if this crazy idea I had to go out on my own was going to work. I'm not saying there hasn’t been challenges and times I have wanted to quit. I still face that, however as I keep at it, there is one thing that has been a recurring theme: more growers than what I would have guessed don’t have a basic understanding of agronomic concepts and principles.  

Farmers, that’s right – the very people that are putting into practice the science of agronomy, or at least should be, don’t even know what agronomy is or why they should have some basic understanding of it. I’m not saying everyone that is farming falls into this category, nor am I saying that everyone needs a degree in it to farm or grow. What I’m suggesting is that if more farmers/growers understood some basic concepts, you would be equipped to make better decisions about every facet of your farm. Everything from the inputs necessary to grow a crop, irrigation, seed selection, soil fertility, soil health, disease and pest management, yield goals, and way more than I care to type out are dependant on just a few simple concepts that are universal no matter what type of system you use to grow.

Let’s start with what agronomy is. The most basic definition is the scientific management of land. It is the practice of using science and applying those concepts in practical ways to efficiently and successfully achieve the growers intended goal for the land.  

If you want to grow kumquats and be the best kumquat grower in the world, you manage your land and resources to achieve that goal. How you want to manage, but more importantly are you willing to do what it takes to be successful are the most critical issues you should tackle first. If being the worlds best kumquat growers means you have to find land that can support that crop but means you move halfway around the world to do so, are you willing to make that commitment? If it means you farm 24 hours a day only taking the third Tuesday of every other month off, are you willing to do it? Is the management strategies required to be successful at growing kumquats what you want to take on something you see yourself doing?

Obviously this is an extreme example, but hopefully, you get the point I’m making. Shifting your thinking to terms of land and crop management can help you to start and develop achievable strategies.

Moving Forward

For the past few week, actually months, I have had to take a serious look at how I am running my business. Some days it feels like I’ve got this whole business owner, wife, mom, agronomist thing figured out and I’m setting the world on fire. The next day I’m pretty much convinced I should never leave home and I should just stay in my sweatpants forever. I’ve always had the opinion women can have it all, just some of us don’t want it all at once or frankly can’t or shouldn’t have it all at once.  I’ll admit, I’m all of that at some point in time.

 I still hesitate when it comes to social media and using it as a tool for marketing. For whatever reason, whether it be lack of interest, knowledge, or ability, I don’t get it. Why did my carrot only get 47 likes and one that looks almost the same get hundreds?! I should note that 47 likes’ is a personal best for one of my posts and I am thankful for them, I guess I just don’t get the point.  I have to say, I’m not in this for the likes or follows. I wanted to fill a void in an industry,  that in my opinion lacks clarity and sound explanations when it comes to truly helping farmers with soil fertility issues. I want to leave a farm better than I found it and a farmer with more understanding than they had before I meant them. If I have to use social media to market my business, I do so cautiously. Technology still scares me.

So, I’ve ordered more business cards and I’m venturing into the world of public speaking. I’ve spoken before just not on as large of a scale and with as many confirmed dates. I’m not talking a world tour with opening acts like industry leaders such as Joel Salatin or Jean-Martin Fortier. It’s more like a couple dates scheduled relatively close to my home so I can get back to my sweatpants.

I’ve been asked to be a guest at an upcoming event for the Penn State Extension and Buy Fresh Buy Local Greater Lehigh Valley being help on December 8th.

 http://www.buylocalglv.org/news/penn-state-extension-bfblglv-will-host-a-marketing-program/

I’m excited about this one because I’ll get to meet other people in the industry other than fertilizer salesman, not that they aren’t a bundle of early order discount fun. However, having a chance to hear about another side of the industry helps me gain a different perspective and keeps me engaged with another aspect the farmers I work with are faced with.

I’m scheduled to speak at the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Farming Conference, February 10th, and NOFA New Jersey’s Winter Conference, January 27th or 28th. Both will be finalizing dates and times over the next few weeks.  

http://conference.pasafarming.org/

https://nofanj.org/winter-conference/

Speaking at PASA is an honor, just as the other conference. But PASA has special meaning because I grew up literally right down the road and had never heard of it until a few short years ago. Plus, my dad pronounces it funny and it makes me laugh. No shortage of maturity in our home either.

I’ll also be going to various producer and specialty grower meetings as well. If there’s an event that you’ll be attending, let me know. Maybe I’ll change out of my sweatpants, pack some business cards, and plan on attending with you.

I like Them Raw

Once again, it’s been awhile since I blogged. I’ll be honest, between life, kids, my bad attitude towards social media, compounded by the fact I hate to type, I just don’t do it as much as I should.

Since that is out of the way, I’ve been meaning to start a series of posts about several topics I was going to present on this past summer. Why I didn’t get the chance to present them is a topic for another day. 

Today I'll start with unusual edible perennials and how to use them to promote healthy soil in your garden. 

 I've grown all the plants I talk about except for one, stinging nettle. However, as soon as I get my hands on some I’m planting it.

Let’s start with Jerusalem Artichoke or Sun Choke.

Sun Choke in my garden

Definitely plan ahead when deciding on a location to plant it. They are prolific and can become invasive unless managed properly by giving them adequate space and harvesting them completely unless you want them to spread. Take into consideration their height. Mine have grown to be about 4ft. Think about that when planning around shorter plants so they don’t shade them out.  

The plants are a good source of biomass to add organic matter, sometimes called green manure. Organic matter is the storage bank important for nutrient management.

Because they are a tuber they may help mitigate some compaction issues. I’m not advocating growing them to totally remediate the issue, however, using a plants growth habits can help reduce adding amendments depending on what scale you are growing on.

Sun Chokes are rich in minerals like phosphorus and potassium. If your manure heavily phosphorus is your limiting factor. That puts you in a situation where you need to add more nitrogen and potassium. Why not look to plants to help fill in some fertility gaps.

Sun Chokes can also be considered as part of a cover crop rotation, taking advantage of the remediation and nutrient advantages, the plant has. Always keeping in mind, the management limitations like pervasiveness.

Last but not least, I grow mine because I like to eat them raw. I've never had them cooked, although I've heard you can. 

Let me know if you grow Sun Chokes and how you use them. If you have any recipes, maybe I'll try them cooked...instead of raw.

I Can't Talk Dirty All The Time

Okay. Maybe not the best title, but that's the reality of my life.

I have kids, they're involved in your not so ordinary after school activities. Our son shot on a competitive shooting team for several years. Fortunately, he is out of school, working, and for the most part self-sufficient. That leaves me with our 12-year-old daughter. Things should be pretty tame at this point, right?! Not so much.

This is where things get interesting....she loves horses. She has been riding off and on since she was almost seven. Since the beginning, she has been competing in mainly barrel racing and pole bending. The one pony she rode was a real star at key-hole and they placed 9th place in the state that year in 4-H. Needless to say, I have been to more than one rodeo. I still don't wear the jeans with the bling on the butt and no I do not wear cowboy boots. They just look painful. 

Here is the challenge, my husband and I are not horse people. He rode one once to impress a girl and fell off. I grew up around them, however, just cleaned stalls and stared at them in the pasture. I've ridden a hand full of times only to realize your butt hurts in places you didn't know you had a butt. I want the make and model that doesn't move he wants one that doesn't poop. Given our background, you would think that would be the other way around?!

Our daughter wanted the one that goes fast. Several weeks ago she got her wish. His name is Cruiser and he is a lean mean running machine that is terrified of his reflection, lawnchairs, cows, plastic bags, butterflies, and his fly mask. We obviously - I mean the 12-year-old - has her work cut out for her.  

With all their issues they need to work out, she couldn't be happier. This has taken us a long time to get to this point and has not come without a lot of worrying, planning, and help from some great friends.  

Do I talk dirty a lot? Yes. In fact and much to the 12-year-olds chagrin, I can talk dirty even at the barn.  Maybe, I'll talk about that next.

But lately, it's been all about the horse.

Talk to the Blueberries, They'll Explain pH to You

I've wanted to discuss pH for a while. It's a topic that can come up often when discussing anything agronomy related.  I've worked in circles that don't find it all that important and some that do. I've spent time arguing - I mean discussing- the point from both sides. It dawned on me I could use my blueberries to talk about the importance of pH from both the soils perspective and the plants.

So maybe you shouldn't really be talking to your blueberries, but you should be observing and paying attention to the signals they are sending you regarding their opinion when it comes to pH and nutrient related issues. Blueberries demand a certain amount of care and anyone who has grown them will tell you that they can be as obstinate as a horse especially when it comes to pH.

Let's cover the very basics of pH.  It is the potential amount or concentration of hydrogen ions in the soil. It is represented by a negative logarithmic scale, zero through 14. Acidic soils, represented by a pH of below 7.0, have a higher concentration of hydrogen ions available. Alkaline soils, represented by a pH above 7.0, have a lower concentration of hydrogen ions available. Basically, it is how many hydrogen ions are in that particular soil at that specific time. I am still trying to convince my husband it really isn't complicated. He's still not buying it.

What I look at as an agronomist, is the affect the pH has on the nutrients in the soil and how that will ultimately affect the plant's productivity and health. The plant's ability to uptake nutrients at a certain pH will determine if it is suitable to grow in a certain soil or other actions can be taken. Amending the soil could be an option if it is feasible for the producer and the crop they want to grow.  

In general, plants prefer a near neutral pH of 7.0 or a range of 6.5-7.2. Blueberries are one of the exceptions to the rule.  They prefer an acidic pH ranging from 4.5-5.5, in some cases maybe as low as 3.8. This is dependent on the cultivar and the amount of organic matter in the soil. Blueberries are sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies, especially iron. Look at the chart below and you'll see iron is available at a pH of 4.0 to about 6.5. This means that if the pH of the soil your blueberry bush is planted in is 7.2 the plant will not be able to use the iron that may be in the soil. It could have all the iron it needs to be the best blueberry plant EVER, but try as it might it will end up dying. Iron is an essential nutrient for blueberries that is linked to photosynthesis. If the plant is deficient, the leaves will start turning a yellowish color with distinct green veining, otherwise known as chlorosis. Trust me, I've experienced this with my blueberries. I like to kill things to learn how to keep them alive. My family is glad I have only applied this to plants so far. 

Soil pH can also have an impact on the biological processes in the soil, influencing the microbial populations. This can affect how fast or slow organic matter will be broken down affecting nutrient availability as well.  

When determining whether or not you need to fertilize, first look at the pH. Amending to correct it might be enough to make what nutrients are already in the soil available to the plant. This could lead to considerable cost savings in your overall fertility program even for the home gardener. Not only are there financial reasons to know the pH of your soil, it may also determine what crops you can grow and where you grow them. 

To be honest, I could go into further detail about pH and how to manage it. I have only scratched the surface to make you aware it is one of many factors that needs to be considered. 

Keep Learning Keep Planting Keep Growing