Alfalfa as a Living Mulch
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2011
- Sustainability is rarely REALLY achieved in American corn production. Here it is. The strategy doesn't need to include the use of herbicides which were used in this case study. The foundational tillage practices espoused for the development of the alfalfa and the normal root development of the corn crop is available thru Curse-Buster. More details available from North Amer. Ag-Gro. genesis821jim@yahoo.com
- Наука та технологія
@ckfarm Well, interesting you should ask. I have used lemon oil and sodium acetate to defoliate with great success. A mowing machine (discbine preferred cutting really close to the crown) works as well. Grazing cattle works to with hi density stocking rate. Remove hoof traffic before or integral with planting the corn. Then cultivate corn and till to full depth with CB at V-3,4 (30 days from emergence).
Making hay means growing shorter season corn. Still great yield potentials.
@ckfarm Another great question (challenge). Most important that alfalfa is not drinking from the same bucket as the corn. The alfalfa needs to have a "normal" tap root system. It can develop in as little as a single summer season or it may never develop depending on how the rooting habit of the plant is managed. Another subject.
Alfalfa will transpire 2.5X more H2O than corn requires. Corn will take 80% of its water requirement from the air.
The two plants together can prevent droughty corn.
The operation of the Curse Buster in the corn at V3,4 is one of the simplest and most effective ways to "steal" amine nitrogen from the alfalfa, which is its preferred form of N nutirtion, and give it to the corn as nitrate. So corn gets the needed boost and alfalfa goes hungry. ONCE THE ALFALFA BEGINS TO EXPERIENCE SHADING FROM THE CORN, IT SUFFERS FURTHER GROWTH SUPPRESSION AND REDUCED TRANSPORATION LOSSES. The corn wins the battle and reaps the benefits of the amine forms which alfalfa leaves
A critical part of the success of the non-chemical approach to suppressing the very competitive alfalfa plant is the management of soil organic nitrogen. THE CORN NEEDS NITRATE NITROGEN TO PUT ON RAPID GROWTH. THE ALFALFA SUFFERS IN VIGOR IN THE SAME "N" ENVIRONMENT.
So the element of cultivation of the corn crop, which was not discussed in the video because chemical suppression was used to control the alfalfa's competitive nature, is essential to creating the shift to increased Nitrate soil N.
farming is gods work and I applaud your efforts .... I just heard a study of how glycophosphates are much more dangerous than we thought but in small doses and high fungal activity in your soil i hope it gets broken down
+49testsamiam49 That is precisely what we think is happening on the Mason Farm in NorthernNY. Their soils literally turn to white thread covered coffee grounds consistency every summer. THe fungi use digestive enzymes and truly can tear anything apart. Some are suggesting that a soil must have a strong bacterial population component plus the fungal but I'm not entirely persuaded based on the performance and the bio-assay info so far on their soils.
+James Martindale We have a DVD for sale on the CurseBuster website if you want to take a closer look at the soils.
ewwwwwwwwwww roundup
+49testsamiam49 I couldn't agree more about Roundup. I suggest about anything else but. Especially in the case of alfalfa, a mowing machine real close to the crown and a chopper or baler. The interesting sidebar to this is that we have found that the soil which develops from the systematic use of the CurseBuster creates a beneficial fungal community that devours ROundup in no time flat... like a quart in less than 30 days down to something less than 17 ppb. The usual disease proliferation seen behind long-term use of RU is also missing on a farm which has used RU for over 30 years but also has never used any other form of tillage.