Gabe Brown Case Study

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Gabe Brown Case Study
(ver. 7.2009)
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(No Transcript)
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A Little History...
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Feed the soil, harvest the sunlightTie the
grazing and cropping systems together
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Ranch Goal Sustainability and Soil Health
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Cropping SystemTillage is Catastrophic!
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Fields have been no-tilled from 8 to 22 years
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Crop Diversity

• Alfalfa
• Corn for grain and earlage
• Pea/Vetch
• Oat/Millet
• Winter Triticale
• Barley and Red Clover

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Land Roller
with Twin Blades
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Preparing Fields for No-Till2002 Hayland 2003
Cropland
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Nutrient ManagementTriple beater trucks custom
spread manure evenly
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Additional food for the micro and macro fauna
20 ton per acre is spread every third to fifth
year
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Corn planted into alfalfa stubblethe manure is
consumed by August
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2005 Corn Income (per acre)
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Earlage is another option, allowing good ground
litter and early fall grazing
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Value of Corn Aftermath Grazing

• Corn was harvested as earlage
• Aftermath was grazed
• 83 bred yearling heifers for 47 days
• 83 X 47 days 3901 grazing days
• 3901 X .70/day 2731.00
• 62 acres grazed
• Value of aftermath grazing
• 44.04/acre

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Managing residue removal this field was already
grazed
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Field pea with hairy vetch as a companion crop,
seeded together
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Removing the canopy in July
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Vetch ready for harvest in August
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Cattle readily graze vetch
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Baled vetch, another option
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Pea/Vetch Economics

• Total Expense 137.23 per acre
• Total Income 450.17 per acre
• Net Income 312.94 per acre

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Everleaf Oat
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Yield 18 ton per acre
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Preparing for the next crop
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Millet is an option
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Winter triticale seeded on oat stubble
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Winter triticale provides good ground cover
following silage crops
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Harvest options
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Forage Barley and Red Clover
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Red clover seeded at 6 pounds per acre, 1.00 per
pound
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No chemical weed control during the growing season
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Yield 17 ton per acre
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Red Clover survived the heavy canopy
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The companion crop allows a live cover to
continue after harvest
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Red Clover options fall graze, spring graze,
hay or plant corn
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Barley Red Clover Economics

• Total Income 395.70 per acre.
• Total Expense
• 138.74 per acre.
• Net Income 256.96 per acre.

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Whats driving the System?

• 1. Diversity
• 2. Litter
• 3. Cover Companion crops
• 4. Full Growing Season
• 5. Soil Health
• 6. Allowing the system to work

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1. Diversity
Cool-Season Broadleaf
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2. Litter
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3. Cover and Companion Crops
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4. Utilize the full growing season
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5. Soil Health
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Organic Matter

• 1994 Organic Matter 2.6
• 2004 Organic Matter 4.2

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Gabes Transport System Corn roots with highly
colonized mycorrhizal hyphae and arbuscules
Site location Browns Gelbvieh Ranch - 2004
Photographs of stained roots also confirm the
presence of mycorrhizal structures within the
roots Dr Kristine Nichols, Soil Microbiologist,
USDA-ARS-NDPRL
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Protecting Gabes Transport System

• glomalin coating is speculated to protect
  conduit hyphae from nutrient loss and microbial
  attack and acts as a glue in soil aggregate
  formation
• Dr. Kristine Nichols, Soil Mircrobiologist,
  USDA-ARS-NDPRL

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Gabes Revolving Nutrient Bank Account

• 1.0 OM 10,000 lbs Carbon, 1,000 lbs Nitrogen,
  100 lbs Phosphorous, and 100 lbs of Sulfur
• Mineralization Rate 2-3 from Organic N to
  Inorganic N, which does not stop at harvest time
• Transport system has highly colonized levels of
  mycorrhizal hyphae and arbuscules
• Glomalin concentrations are similar to some
  native grassland soils
• Plants can take-up use the nutrients made
  available through biological processes more
  easily and efficiently compared with chemical
  fertilizers. Clapperton
• Additional nutrient sources are earthworms,
  manure, starter fertilizer

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Soil Foodweb Analysis

• 2003 Pea/Vetch (manure),
• no commercial fertilizer applied
• 2004 Barley/Clover, 100 lbs urea. November soil
  test indicated 16 lbs available N
• 2005 Spring applied 225 lbs 28.5-13.5-11
• July 14th 200 lbs of available N, released over
  the remaining growing season
• 2005 Corn yield 143 bushels

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6. Allowing the system to work

• Commercial fertilizer rates were decreased
• Yields increased or maintained
• The Bankers comments
• Changes in legume nodulation
• Options more options

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Pushing the Cropping System to Fail
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How far can the system go?

• If you get up each morning and apply the
  accepted best management practices, you will be
  successful by yesterdays standards. Only when
  you try something new do you have a chance to
  move ahead. -Steve Suther
• Risk is innovations partner

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Discussion on Local Situations

• What are typical cropping systems in your area?
• What is their effect on soil quality?
• If the effects are not positive, what can be done
  about it?