Wheat stubble left standing by no-till management helps generate a smoother snow cover, which boosts dryland crop productivity in the summer, according to new ARS research. Photo courtesy of ExactrixTM Global Systems.
A smooth blanket of snow in the winter can help boost dryland crop productivity in the summer, and no-till management is one way to ensure that blanket coverage, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist David Huggins conducted studies to determine how standing crop residues affect snow accumulation and soil water levels across entire fields. ARS is USDA’s chief intramural scientific research agency, and this work supports the USDA priority of responding to climate change.
Huggins, who works at the ARS Land Management and Water Conservation Research Unit in Pullman, Wash., carried out this investigation on two neighboring farms. Both farms have the hilly topography typical of the Palouse region in eastern Washington. But much of one farm has been under continuous no-till management since 1999, while the fields on the other farm were conventionally tilled.
For two years, snow depths, density and soil water storage were measured manually at hundreds of points across the fields on both farms. Residue height at data collection points was also measured on the no-till fields.
Huggins found that standing wheat residue on the no-till farm significantly increased the amount and uniformity of snow cover across the entire field. Snow depths on the no-till field ranged from 4 to 39 inches, with an average depth of 11 inches, while snow depths on the conventionally tilled field ranged from 0 to 56 inches, with an average depth of 8.5 inches.
The snow distribution pattern on the no-till farm made soil water distribution more uniform and increased soil water recharge rates there. The more uniform snow distribution under no-till was particularly apparent for ridge tops and steep south-facing slopes where there was typically 4 to 8 inches more snow than on conventionally tilled fields.
Huggins calculated that the greater storage of soil water in no-till systems could increase winter wheat yield potential by 13 bushels per acre on ridge tops, six bushels per acre on south facing slopes, and three bushels per acre in valleys. As a result, regional farmers could increase their winter wheat profits by an average of $30 per acre and as much as $54 per ridge-top acre.
Producers affected by the 2012 drought might also benefit from using no-till to increase the amount and uniformity of snow cover on their fields. This would increase soil water recharge rates and soil moisture storage, which would facilitate the return of drought-stricken fields to their former productivity.
What the BP propaganda does: With a lot of money, you can fool the U.S. consumers with all their media advertising, but the people in the Gulf Coast know better. Do not take that chance!
There’s no threat to human health in a growing quarantine in Southern California, but an annual $2 billion worth of citrus fruits are at risk in a war with a tiny insect and the bacteria its spreads.
Earlier this month, the state of California added 93-square miles in the Hacienda Heights area of Los Angeles County to the quarantine after the citrus greening disease known as huanglongbing was discovered in the state for the first time.
Until then, California had been combatting the insect that precedes the disease, which does not harm humans or animals, but causes citrus trees to decline and eventually die.
Now covering most of Southern California, the quarantine means no nursery stock can be moved out of the area and only commercially cleaned and cleared citrus fruit may be shipped from there. Residential citrus can’t be removed from the property on which it’s grown, although it can be processed and consumed on the premises.
“The success of any quarantine depends on cooperation from those affected,” says Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), in a news release. ”The stakes could not be higher for California citrus.”
by Staff Writers
Brownsburg, Indiana (AFP) April 17, 2012
Indiana farmer Mike Starkey does not plow his fields and uses fertilizer only sparingly, but he is on the cutting edge of a growing trend in American agriculture.
Advocates of his “no-till farming” technique say it could provide the low-cost, environmentally-friendly crops the agricultural industry has sought for many years.
Starkey’s cropland looks like a tangle of corn stalks, crimson clover and ryegrass, far different from the impeccably-plowed fields of most farms.
“Over a period of 12 years, we’re now 100 percent no-till,” said the corn and soybean farmer, who also is a supervisor with the Hendricks County Soil and Water Conservation District.
The biggest departure from traditional farming involves the plowing, also known as tilling.
Plowing aerates the soil, eliminates weeds and helps with nutrient recovery.
However, plowing also erodes the soil and kills part of the organic life that grows in it.
No-till farming helps to rebuild the “nutrient capital” of farmland that now is dependent on fertilizers, Starkey said.
The technique, also known as “conservation farming,” started about 20 years ago by following the “three pillars” of the method: cover crops, no-till and crop rotation.
Cover crops refer to plants like clover, ryegrass and alfalfa that form a carpet to protect the soil from erosion while also trapping nitrogen from the air and storing it in nodules on the roots of plants to fertilize the ground.
In April, just before the sowing of seeds, weedkiller is sprayed on the cropland.
“When we actually kill these legume plants, these nodules then become an organic source of nitrogen that breaks down much more slowly than commercial fertilizer,” said Barry Fisher, a no-till farming expert for the US Agriculture Department’s National Resources Conservation Service.
“That’s a time release form of nitrogen… that will spoon feed the nitrogen to the corn crop coming here,” Fisher said.
Cover crops maximize the use of the soil’s natural fertilizers, which can be a better alternative than manufactured fertilizers sinking into groundwater after heavy rain, he said.
Direct seeding for cash crops requires special tractors that dig narrow furrows, inject the seeds and close the hole in one motion, without scarring the land.
No-till crops like corn and soybeans feed off the rich nutrients in decomposing plants from the previous season and from cover crops.
“Conservation tillage systems, with today’s planting equipment, with today’s technologies… have been yielding consistently the same” as traditional farming, said Tony Vyn, professor of agronomy at Purdue University, where the technique has been studied since 1975.
About 35 percent of US crops are grown with no-till farming, according to the US Agriculture Department. For soybeans, about half the crops are raised with no-till techniques.
The federal government is encouraging no-till farming by providing subsidies for cover crop seeds and the special equipment they require, which can run up to 50 percent of the cost.
Because plant roots extend farther into the soil than just the small area where fertilizers are applied, fertility levels must be determined for the field as a whole to ensure that fertilizer applications are optimized to maximize crop yield and profitability.
Band fertilizer placement may cause non-uniform distribution in the soil. Why does this matter? Because when fertilizer is unevenly distributed, it may not be possible to use traditional sampling strategies to measure whole-field fertility, said assistant professor of crop sciences Fabian Fernandez. No recent published studies have looked at this problem.
Fernandez has conducted research to determine potassium and phosphorous distribution in no-till and strip-till soils and to develop improved sampling procedures for measuring field fertility.
The problem, according to Fernandez, is that fertility decreases between the rows but increases in the rows where the fertilizers are being banded. This would not be a problem if the location of the fertilizer band changed from year to year.
“Since the introduction of real-time kinematic (RTK) satellite navigation and the use of strip-till, farmers are always planting, and applying their band fertilizer, on exactly the same location,” he explained. “What happens is that all the fertilizer that was applied uniformly on the surface is now concentrated in a small fraction of the soil.”
Because plant roots extend farther into the soil than just the small area where fertilizers are applied, fertility levels must be determined for the field as a whole to ensure that fertilizer applications are optimized to maximize crop yield and profitability.
Environmental issues are also involved. “If we are unable to determine the fertility of our field accurately because of the sampling method we are using, we may be applying more fertilizer than we need,” said Fernandez.
“A lot of the environmental issues have to do with phosphorus moving out of the fields as runoff from the soil surface.”
The study, conducted in Pesotum, Ill., involved applying different rates of phosphorous/potassium blends in fall 2007 and 2009 before corn planting. Applications were broadcast-applied in no-till and strip-till and deep-banded at six inches below the surface in the crop row in strip-till.
Fertilizer levels were measured every year at four-inch increments from the surface to a 12-inch depth, with samples collected at the row and at a distance of 7.5, 15, and 22.5 inches away from the row.
Results indicated that there was no need to adjust fertilizer rate based on tillage or fertilizer placement. Fernandez explained that the plants send roots all over the soil profile, mostly in the surface layer, regardless of the fertilizer band. Thus, it does not really matter if fertility levels vary across the rows as long as the fertility level is sufficient for the crop.
What is important, however, is finding a way to estimate total field fertility when these differences occur. “The main message,” said Fernandez, “is that for every time you take a sample where the fertilizer band is located, you need to take two or three samples outside of that band to make a composite sample to send off for analysis.”
This research, “Assessment of Soil Phosphorus and Potassium Following RTK-Guided Broadcast and Deep-Band Placement in Strip-Till and No-Till,” by Fabian Fernandez and Daniel Schaefer, will be published in the May-June 2012 Soil Science Society of America Journal.
“Green completion” equipment in the field. Courtesy: Colorado Oil & Gas
The Obama administration took a heavy swing in the ongoing battle over fracking today by imposing new rules that would, for the first time, restrict the release of smog-causing pollutants from natural gas wells. But the law turns a blind eye to greenhouse gases released by fracking; the EPA admits fracking accounts for 40 percent of the nation’s overall methane (an even stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide) emissions.
By 2015, all fracked wells will be required to implement “green completion” equipment, which catches toxic gases like benzene on its way out of the earth and into the atmosphere. But the rule does not directly limit emissions of greenhouse gases.
ALEC Wants You To Pay 750 Percent More For High-Speed Internet
The corporate front group may change its social policy stance, but it still plans on robbing you blind.
April 18, 2012 | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
…..The organization has come under fire recently for backing “Stand Your Ground” laws and voter suppression efforts, leading to an exodus of some of its strongest corporate funders. But the group’s policy agenda stretches far beyond these areas, and impacts just about every area of American life.
Take public high-speed broadband Internet. A few years ago, the city of Wilson, North Carolina, decided that it would create its own broadband system, which it called Greenlight. The service offered speeds twice as fast as private competitors in the area for a similar price. Soon, the success of the service spread, and a number of other cities began offering municipal broadband systems that were cheaper and/or faster than private competitors’.
But state legislators — who received $600,000 in contributions from the telecom industry in the previous election cycle — reacted to the spread of these successful services by undercutting them with a bill that made it very difficult for cities to operate their own broadband systems. One provision in the bill made it illegal for cities to offer broadband services that are priced below their costs. “This bill will make it practically impossible for cities to provide a fundamental service. Where’s the bill to govern [cable provider] Time Warner? Let’s be clear about whose bill this is. This is Time Warner’s bill. You need to know who you’re doing this for!” thundered Rep. Bill Faison (D) at the time. The bill was unfortunately passed into law……
Here is a way to hedge against inflation by storing food at today’s prices. Purchase Hard Wheat, White Rice, Rolled Oats and Pinto Beans from Costco or Sam’s Club. Buy Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and 5 gallon food grade plastic buckets. Using a household iron and a straight edge as a backer, seal up your food with a 2000cc oxygen absorber in a Mylar bag. This should keep basic food staples like the ones described for 15 or 20 years.
This Is The USA?
Jackboots Meet Protest Against Drone Wars
Protestors with www.peaceworkskc.org meet resistance at a protest against drone war during Midwest Trifecta in Kansas City Missouri.
Posted April 17, 2012
Col. Ann Wright targets predator drones
By Jim Hannah
Col. Ann Wright defies pigeonholing.
She doesn’t carry the military bearing you might expect of someone who served 29 years in the U.S. Army and received a heroism award.
She doesn’t convey the worldly manner you might expect of someone who served 16 years in the State Department, including assignment in Mongolia and Afghanistan.
And she doesn’t come across in the strident manner you might expect of a strongly opinionated whistleblower.
But when this rather quiet-mannered woman of middle age speaks in her soft voice, words of steel emerge. And those truth-telling words found their mark for the 80 or so persons gathered Feb. 20 at Kansas City’s All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. The audience gave her a standing ovation even before she began to speak. Her reputation preceded her: she resigned from the State Department to protest the Iraq War, she has been arrested for protesting predator drones, and she wrote a primer on speaking out, Dissent: Voices of Conflict.
Wright opened by thanking Kansas City-area peacemakers for their activism in opposition to the new nuclear weapons parts plant being built in south Kansas City. She termed “heart-breaking” the way nuclear weapons and the military-industrial complex have become “the biggest industry in America.”
In her quiet manner, Wright then proceeded to pillory U.S. foreign policies that have led to military misadventures such as Iraq, noting that violence there has decreased since the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops (even though some 30,000 private contractors still remain).
When Occupy Wall Street protesters decided to take up sleeping on the sidewalks of Wall Street, they did so with the protection–they thought–of the law. Specifically, a 2000 court decision, Metropolitan Council Inc. v. City of New York, that ruled that sleeping on City sidewalks was a Constitutionally-protected form of protest.
But it appears that the NYPD has had enough of the Constitution–and so once again, Occupiers face eviction. According to an email sent earlier today, the police woke the sleeping Occupiers at 6am and told them they were no longer welcome. The protesters took refuge on the steps of Federal Hall, but that closes at 5 and so they found themselves facing off with the police.
OBAMA LAWYER ADMITS FORGERY BUT DISREGARDS “IMAGE” AS INDICATION OF OBAMA’S INELIGIBILITY
DAMAGE CONTROL: A recent ballot challenge hearing in New Jersey exposes a desperate strategy by Obama to distance himself from his forged certificate and induce the contrived value of his transient political popularity as the only “legitimate qualification” needed to hold the office of the presidency.
Commentary by Dan Crosby
of THE DAILY PEN
Updated 04/17/12
Obama’s lawyer, Alexandra Hill, agreed with arguments that the image of Obama’s birth certificate was a forgery and made the absurd claim that, therefore, it cannot be used as evidence to confirm his lack of natural born citizenship status. Therefore, she argued, it is “irrelevant to his placement on the ballot”.
Hill went on to contort reasoning by implying that Obama needs only invoke his political popularity, not legal qualifications, in order to be a candidate.
During the hearing, Hill’s concession was showcased by the following exchange:
Judge Masin asked Hill, “I understand you have a general objection before we get to the question of what is his (Obama’s) qualifications?”
“Yes, I have an objection as to relevance,” replied Hill, as to the plaintiffs’ witness testimony regarding the authenticity of the image of Obama’s alleged 1961 ‘Certificate of Live Birth’.
Hill then attempted to have the judge declare that Obama was preeminently eligible without any legal responsibility to prove with documentation that he was, in fact, qualified to hold the office of the presidency.
“The objectors carry the burden of proof to show that a candidate is not eligible under New Jersey statutes,” Hill said.
Hill’s misunderstanding of administrative law reveals a strategy to defend Obama’s fraudulent election in which our legal system has reversed the legal assignment of burden of proof in order to equate eligibility with a legal definition of innocence of a crime for Obama.
Unfortunately for Obama, eligibility for political office does not fall under the precepts of criminalogical reasoning of “innocent until proven guilty“, unless a charge is made that a crime has been committed, such as forgery or fraud, in order to deceive people about your identity or citizenship status. Obama’s ineligibility, by itself, is not a crime…being fraudulently elected by deceiving voters is.
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