Remove Crop Remove Fertilizer Remove Plowing
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Living Mulch Cover Cropping for Gardens and Small Farms: Managing an “organic matter” system

ATTRA

They are documenting Lincoln’s living cover crop system, where he undersows Dutch white clover into vegetables after the last cultivation in July. He would let the cover crop grow and overwinter and then plow down the following spring for green manure.

Crop 79
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Regenerative Agriculture: A Strategic Approach for Farming

Cropaia

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in regenerative agriculture, a holistic approach to farming that seeks to restore and revitalize the land while improving crop yields and overall farm profitability. This means increased crop yields and reduced inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.

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Can Cover Cropping Heal Abused Soil? A Mad Farm Reflection

ATTRA

By Lee Rinehart, NCAT Agriculture Specialist In my past two blogs, I reflected on planting cover crops on small plots and gardens. And since cover cropping is scalable to just about any size farm or garden, it made sense to conduct some field experiments of my own. Darker soils, better water infiltration, less fertilizer.

Crop 52
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Whose Farm Is More Sustainable? Calculating Farm Sustainability.

DTN

Measuring a farm’s carbon footprint is not as simple as saying, “Cover crops were used, so that grain’s sustainably grown.” Two neighbors, Farmer A and Farmer B: both farm 1,000 acres and use the same crop rotation schedule. Farmer A tills 30% of their fields, uses cover crops on 20%, and applies anhydrous ammonia.

Farming 98
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Crop Rotation Craziness (or rotations based on the land rather than schedules in books)

Hartwood Farm

I wanted to name this “Ignoring the (Crop Rotation) Experts,” but that title is way too loaded these days! However, in terms of crop rotation, I increasingly find the rigidity of ideas on how to do it chafing. Our goal with crop rotation is to plant things in a way that we don’t have to spray and that they still stay healthy.

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Seeing the Farm with Fresh Eyes

ATTRA

This line of questioning led him to understand the importance of soil health for crop growth. He visited with some farmers who were using cover crops and saw how healthy their soil was. Why were the plant tissues testing low in potassium when there was plenty in the soil?

Farming 40
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Breaking Ground: The Pros and Cons of Reduced-Till Farming

Cropaia

Traditional plowing or tilling can disrupt the soil structure, making it more susceptible to erosion. In addition, leaving crop residues on the field contributes to the accumulation of organic matter, which helps binding soil particles together, forming soil aggregates.