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Agriculture Newsletter
Last modified
2008-04-30 08:26
A bi-monthly agriculture newsletter dealing with a range of agricultural and horticultural topics.
For more information about Ag/NR in Athens County, contact Rory at lewandowski.11@osu.edu
MAY / JUNE 2008
In This Issue:
Dear Agricultural Producer,
One story in the news recently has been world food supply and consumer food price trends. In an April 4 article by Daryll Ray from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, it was stated that 7 out of the last 8 years (2000-2007) worldwide production of grains has been lower than consumption. An article published 3-29-08 in the New York Times entitled “High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest”, documented some of the growing unrest and tension around the world related to food shortages and increasing prices. Some of the examples listed in the article included:
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Troops in Pakistan being assigned to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour
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China placing price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs
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Food riots in Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan, and Yemen
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Protests in Indonesia over soybean shortages
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Export bans or severe restrictions on rice exports by the nations of Vietnam, Egypt, India and Cambodia in hopes of keeping more rice inside their countries and holding down rising food costs
Since the publication of that article there have been reports of food riots in Egypt and Haiti. The situation was serious enough in Haiti that it toppled the government. National Public Radio (NPR) did a 6-part series on “Soaring World Food Prices” the week of April 14. Nor are we here in the United States, the land of plenty, immune from the trend of rising food costs. On March 27, the American Farm Bureau Federation announced the results of its latest “ Marketbasket Survey”. The informal survey reported that the total cost of 16 basic grocery items in the first quarter of 2008 was $45.03, up about 8 percent or $3.42 from the fourth quarter of 2007.
While there are some who may claim that situation has come about due to a single factor, most analysts suggest that it is a combination of factors that is responsible for the current world food situation. Some of the more commonly mentioned factors include:
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The emphasis on grain based ethanol production as well as interest in other bio-fuels. This has lead to a shift in the mix of crops grown, with some basic food crops replaced by crops that have a higher potential income.
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The growing economies of countries like India and China that have lead to an increased demand for food products
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Rising energy costs reflected in food prices, particularly foods that depend heavily upon transportation, processing and packaging to get to a market.
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Low food reserves as many nations, among them the U.S., have abandoned food reserve programs as too costly.
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Drought/bad weather conditions in many major grain production regions of the world.
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Loss of agricultural production land to urbanization pressures.
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Speculation in the agricultural commodity markets by non-traditional investors creating uncertainty in the markets.
How are we to respond to this type of news? As a starting point for discussion I will suggest that on a national level we hold our elected officials responsible for developing a food reserve program and that as a nation we work to insure that food is not used as a political weapon. On a local level we need to encourage the diversity of agriculture that we see here in Athens County and maintain and teach the skills necessary to grow and produce nutritious food.
Sincerely,
Rory Lewandowski
Extension Educator, Ag/NR
PARASITE CONTROL AND PASTURE MANAGEMENT
Typically sheep and goat producers that are pasture based struggle with internal parasite loads in their animals during July, August and September. Often some animals are lost due to parasite infection during this time period. The internal parasite of primary concern, usually responsible for this death loss is Haemonchus contortus, the barber pole worm. Even though the most visible effects of infection by this parasite are seen in the summer months, it is pasture management in the spring and early summer months that sets up this situation.
Work that was done on the Curt Cline farm in 2007 clearly demonstrated the importance of early season pasture management. Spring born lambs were grazed with their mothers until they were weaned in early July. During this period, lambs and ewes were held in pasture paddocks from 7 to 10 days before moving to another paddock. Shortly after weaning, lambs were divided into two groups to examine the effect of either chicory or sudangrass upon parasite worm load. I have written about aspects of this study in other issues of this newsletter. The idea was to monitor worm load on lambs during the typically problematic parasite infection time of July to September and see if use of an alternative forage could help to control parasite infection without the use of chemical de-wormers. Prior to the start of the study, lambs were being monitored for infection by Haemonchus contortus using the FAMACHA eyelid color scoring system. Lambs were scoring a 1 or 2 on this system, indicating treatment with a chemical de-wormer was not necessary.
What we had not considered was that low FAMACHA scores could mask some troubling parasite numbers. After lambs were assigned to either a chicory or sudangrass grazing group, fecal samples were collected to give us a baseline starting point of parasite infestation. Our original assumption went something like this: lambs would pick up low levels of parasite burden (maybe 500 to 1000 eggs/gram?) from grazing with ewes. The group grazing chicory would exhibit some decline in parasite burden due to some anti-parasitic compounds in chicory, while the lambs grazing sudangrass might maintain, but not increase their parasite burden. Groups would return to grazing some parasite contaminated grass pastures that would bump levels back up, followed by another grazing pass in the chicory and sudangrass to see if results from the first grazing pass were duplicated. We hypothesized that chicory might allow lambs to maintain a low parasite number while lambs on the sudangrass might see a small increase in parasite infestation as measured by fecal egg counts due to the return to contaminated grass pastures between grazing passes. However, our assumptions were quickly shredded when the results of our first fecal egg samples were returned. The lambs assigned to the chicory group averaged over 5000 eggs/gram and the lambs assigned to the sudangrass group averaged over 4400 eggs per gram.
Clearly, lambs were exhibiting some degree of resilience to parasite infection as indicated by FAMACHA eyelid color scores. The results of the study indicated that both chicory and sudangrass may have a place in helping to control parasite burdens and improve animal performance, but animals entering the summer months with significant parasite burdens have compromised their ability to gain weight. Animal performance would have been much better if lambs had entered the summer with low parasite levels.
So, the question becomes: How can sheep and goats avoid accumulating significant parasite worm loads early in the season to prevent catastrophic levels in the summer months? There are two ways. The first is use of an effective chemical de-wormer. This is easier said than done. We attempted to bring the parasite numbers down in this study by using a chemical de-wormer after the first grazing pass in the chicory and sudangrass. We discovered that there was resistance to 3 of the 4 chemical de-wormers available. I suspect that this is a situation common on many sheep and goat farms and that most producers are not aware of it. At any rate, even if a chemical de-wormer is currently working on a farm, it is just a matter of time, generally a few years at most, before resistance will be a reality if parasite management is based on use of a chemical de-wormer. The long-term answer has to be pasture management based upon an understanding of Haemonchus contortus biology.
Under ideal temperature and moisture conditions, eggs deposited on the pasture can hatch and develop to the L3 infective larvae stage ingested by the animal in about 4 days. It is likely to see this rapid development in late spring through mid-summer. In early spring this is probably slower and it may be 8 to 10 days or longer. Under really hot, dry summer days it could also be longer than 4 days. We also know that the larvae crawl up and down the grass stem each day in a film of moisture. Even under hot, dry conditions there is generally some dew, and higher humidity down lower in the grass canopy, thus most parasite larvae will be found from soil level up to the first approximately 3 inches of the grass blade.
If we use these facts about parasite biology in relation to pasture management, sheep and goat producers have to consider:
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Developing a pasture paddock rotation system where animals are moved at least every 5 days from early to late spring, and within every 4 days from late spring to mid-summer. This means breaking pasture paddocks down into smaller sizes. Water has to be developed to reach the smaller paddocks.
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Use a summer perennial or summer annual forage that will allow animals to graze higher and/or provide good nutrition to keep animals on a positive nutrition level. Consider planting some acreage to a warm season perennial like Eastern gamma grass or an improved lespedeza like the AU Grazer variety. Both of these forages come on during the hot summer months while cool season grass pastures are declining. Both also provide tall growth that allows the animals to eat higher up on the plant. Another option is the use of a summer annual like sudangrass or a sorghum x sudangrass hybrid to break the parasite worm cycle and provide nutritious forage.
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Early weaning of lambs. Can lambs be weaned early before they do much grazing with their mothers and grazed ahead of ewes on a quick pasture rotation? Ewes could follow as cleanup. Once lambs are weaned from ewes, their ability to tolerate parasite burdens increases.
As resistance to chemical de-wormers increases, pasture management becomes synonymous with parasite management. Early season pasture management is especially critical to keep parasite levels low and avoid serious parasite infections during the summer months.
SUDANGRASS: COULD IT WORK FOR YOU?
Although the following article is written from the perspective of raising sheep and/or goats, the use of sudangrass would also work well for a cattle enterprise that needed more summer forage. The agronomic principles discussed in this article apply across all livestock species.
Raising sheep within a pasture based production system presents the manager with two challenges; internal parasite control and summer slump production of cool season pastures. The use of a warm season annual like sudangrass may offer the pasture based sheep producer a parasite control option while at the same time filling in the forage production slump demonstrated by cool season pastures during the hot summer months. In this article, I’ll draw on some of the results and lessons learned using sudangrass during the summer of 2007 on the Curt Cline farm in Athens County.
The internal parasite of major concern to pasture based sheep producers is the barber pole worm, Haemonchus contortus. Resistance to all classes of chemical de-wormer currently on the market has been documented in Haemonchus contortus populations in various farms around Ohio. The prudent sheep producer will therefore limit the use of chemical de-wormers and place emphasis on controlling parasite infections through a better understanding of parasite biology and corresponding pasture management. A key concept is the use of safe pastures. A safe pasture contains no, or very low levels of, infective Haemonchus contortus larvae. This can be achieved by keeping sheep off a pasture for a period of time so that there is minimal survival of parasite larvae, or by planting an annual forage where larvae do not survive.
Under typical cool season pasture conditions the population of infective Haemonchus contortus larvae continues to build from the start of spring grazing. By mid to late summer, after several rotations through pasture paddocks, levels of infective larvae can be extremely high and grazing lambs and milking ewes can quickly pick up levels that at best suppress production and gain, and at worst, can be fatal. At the same time that lambs and ewes are under stress from parasite infection, pasture quality and quantity is decreasing. In this situation a warm season annual forage like sudangrass can make a real difference. In addition to acting as a safe pasture where parasite burdens are not increased, under hot summer conditions these forages will continue to grow and produce a high quality feedstuff.
In 2007, as part of an on-farm study investigating the use of alternative forages as a control option for internal parasites, a brown mid-rib (BMR) sudangrass from Ampac Seed Company was planted on the Curt Cline farm in Athens County. BMR sudangrass is more palatable and produces a higher quality forage compared to a non-BMR sudangrass. Trials in other states had shown very good animal gains on this forage.
The field was seeded on June 1 at a rate of 25 lbs/acre. Since our 2007 trial, I have spoken with Ampac seed representatives and they are currently recommending a seeding rate for grazing conditions of 35 lbs/acre. The field had been in winter rye and was tilled using a chisel plow and disk. Seed was applied with a broadcast seeder mounted on a 4-wheeler and then cultipacked. The seedbed was very dry. Soil fertility on this field was at low to moderate levels with a soil pH slightly below 6.0. According to the Ohio Agronomy Guide, soil fertility levels should be similar to what is needed to produce a 100-to 150-bushels/acre-corn crop. This translates into a critical soil phosphorus level of 15 ppm and a soil potassium level of 100 ppm at a cation exchange capacity of 10. Following a grass sod, nitrogen requirements range from 60 lbs/acre for a 3-4 ton yield goal to 100 lbs/acre for a 5-6 ton yield goal. Seed should be planted one-half to one inch deep on a firm seedbed. Recommended planting time is from late May until the end of June. Soil temperature should be in the 60 to 65 degree F range.
Rain was in short supply in 2007 and the prepared seedbed was too dry initially for the BMR sudangrass seed to germinate. On June 4 a quarter inch of rainfall provided enough moisture for seed germination. Fortunately, an isolated thunderstorm brought 1.3 inches of rain to the farm on June 9-10. From this point on the BMR sudangrass made rapid growth. On July 12, several days before the first grazing pass with lambs was begun, random samples were collected from the field, and a dry matter yield was calculated at 3000 lbs/acre. By the time the lambs were turned into the field several days latter, some additional growth had occurred and the field averaged about 40 inches in height. We recognized that grazing should have begun earlier, but due to other conditions of the study, this was when lambs had to start the grazing pass. According to both the Ohio Agronomy Guide and the Ampac Seed literature, grazing should start at between 24 to 30 inches in height, and be grazed down to a 6 to 8 inch stubble.
Even though lambs began grazing the BMR sudangrass later than recommended, quality samples collected on July 16, the day the lambs entered the field, came back from the lab with an analysis of 20% crude protein and 68% TDN. This quantity and quality of forage was produced during a period with limited rainfall and daytime temperatures in the 90’s. During this same period cool season grass pastures were shutting down, recording low levels of dry matter accumulation.
Something that producers need to consider regarding a warm season annual like sudangrass is how to best utilize the production capacity of the forage. Since the forage grows rapidly, it is similar to managing the spring flush of cool season pasture growth. It is very easy for the forage to get ahead of animal consumption, leaving a field of mature, declining quality forage. This happened to us at the Cline farm, and half the BMR sudangrass field was fenced off and cut for hay when it became apparent that there was more forage than could be consumed in a timely manner by the number of livestock available to graze.
The Ohio Agronomy Guide says that when a 6-8 inch stubble is left, plants should re-grow to the 24 to 30 inch grazing height in 2 to 3 weeks. This is consistent with what was observed on the Cline farm. So, getting back to a management strategy to best utilize the forage quantity being produced, while also taking advantage of the high quality that is possible, the producer may want to consider staggered plantings of the sudangrass at 2 week intervals, or plan to do a cutting for hay or silage on part of the acreage. A sample planning calculation might look something like this: Sudangrass at 24-30 inches of height producing 2500 lbs of dry matter (DM)/acre. Ewes at 170 lbs consuming 3% of body weight per day need 5.1 lbs of DM. If the field is strip grazed, forage utilization should be at least 70%, so 2500 lbs of DM x .70 = 1750 lbs of DM available. If we want a 2 week grazing period, this will allot 125 lbs of DM / day, so we could graze 25 ewes/acre for 14 days. If 70-pound lambs were the grazing animals, and we figure dry matter consumption at 4% of body weight, then 45 lambs could be grazed on this acre for 2 weeks. If we had staggered planted a second acre of sudangrass 2 weeks after the first, or harvested the second acre as stored forage when grazing started, it would now be ready for a grazing pass. In reality, because the sudangrass will continue to grow and add dry matter from the time the grazing pass is begun, more animals will be needed to keep ahead of forage growth. However, this example illustrates the potential available during a time when forage is generally in short supply.
In addition to the forage production supplied by the BMR sudangrass, it also provides a safe pasture free from infective parasite larvae. The process involved in establishing the sudangrass destroys any larvae that might have been present if a previously grazed sod is used. Based on the experience at the Cline farm, even if infected sheep/lambs are moved on to the sudangrass, the shed eggs and resulting infective larvae are unlikely to add to the worm burden of grazing animals in subsequent grazing passes because: 1) leaving a 6 to 8 inch stubble insures no, or very few larvae will be ingested as typically infective larvae are found on the first 3 inches of grass plants, and 2) the structure and spacing of sudangrass stems will make it difficult for larvae that hatch from eggs in the feces to cover the distance needed to crawl up stems.
During the course of the study on the Cline farm it was found that while lambs were grazing with their mothers they had developed high levels of parasites. It was later discovered that the parasite population on the farm had resistance to all chemical de-wormers except for Cydectin. This was not documented until late in the season, shortly before beginning the second grazing pass on the BMR sudangrass on August 21. As a result, lambs maintained high parasite numbers for most of the project. While many of the lambs demonstrated resilience to these high parasite numbers as indicated by FAMACHA eyelid scores of 1 and 2, performance still suffered. As an example, just before the lambs entered the BMR sudangrass on August 21, lambs scoring a 3 or higher on the FAMACHA eyelid scorecard were de-wormed using Cydectin as a rescue treatment. This amounted to 7 lambs out of the 20-lamb study group. The remaining 13 lambs were not treated. At the end of a 3-week grazing pass on the BMR sudangrass, the untreated lambs had gained 0.19 lbs/day, while the treated lambs had gained 0.42 lbs/day.
There are several lessons here. One is that early season pasture management is critical to avoid loading up ewes and lambs with high parasite burdens. Two, make sure you know what chemical de-wormers really work in your flock. Finally, a warm season annual like sudangrass can provide a high quality forage when cool season pastures are declining, but that quality is put to best use in terms of animal performance when heavy parasite loads do not stress animals.
In summary, a warm season annual like BMR sudangrass can be used to provide a safe pasture while producing good tonnage and good quality during a time cool season pastures have little growth. To most effectively utilize this forage, a producer must have a plan to manage the rapid growth, including adequate animal numbers, strip grazing, staggered plantings and/or the capacity to harvest surplus growth.
ORGANIC FIELD CORN TRIALS
By: Candace Pollock, OSU Extension Communications & Technology
The demand for organic products, including grains, is growing, but inadequate information on variety performance may be one factor slowing growers from making the leap into organic corn production. A new study, led by Ohio State University, Iowa State University, and the University of Wisconsin, may help pick up the pace. “The demand for organic food products has increased significantly over the last couple of years, over 20 percent in 2006,” said Peter Thomison, an Ohio State University Extension agronomist. “When we looked at what was going on with production, we wanted to know what the challenges were that are limiting adoption of organic corn, and one that we were hearing from producers was the lack of information on hybrids best suited for organic production.”
In response to that, Thomison, co-investigator Deborah Stinner
(director of Ohio State’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research
Program), and colleagues in Iowa and Wisconsin and the Organic Crop Improvement
Association-Research and Education, launched organic corn hybrid performance
trials to compare the performance of organic corn hybrids, open-pollinated
varieties and conventionally produced corn hybrids (untreated seed). The
two-year study, which began last year, is being funded by a North Central Region
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant and is supported by
the OCIA. Researchers analyzed the
performance of nearly two dozen organic corn hybrids from seven seed companies
at three locations in each state, focusing on such characteristics as grain
quality, seed germination and yield potential. Results conducted in Ohio can be
found by logging on to http://agcrops.osu.edu/corn.
The multi-state performance trials, which will continue this year, were
conducted in response to a 2006 OCIA survey of OCIA members in Ohio, Iowa and
Wisconsin on their current organic management practices.
“Many organic grain farmers are seeking information and knowledge to
help them identify organic hybrids and varieties that perform best under varying
environmental conditions,” said Thomison, who also holds an Ohio Agricultural
Research and Development Center appointment. “This is becoming increasingly
important as demand for organic corn increases locally, nationally and
internationally, and as the number of organic farmers increase.”
While organic farming in fruit and vegetable production is taking off,
field crop organic production is moving at a much slower pace. According to a
2005 U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, organic corn production only
comprises about 0.2 percent of U.S. corn acreage.
Thomison said that farmers face a variety of challenges with organic
production. The practice is defined as crop production using little or no
off-farm inputs and recognizes “management practices that restore, maintain
and enhance ecological harmony,” according to the USDA. And there is a list of
guidelines that must also be met for certification.
“You can’t just jump into the organic corn production. Growers who go
into organic corn production have to go through three years of transition,"
said Thomison. “During this period farmers may not be obtaining certain
benefits of traditional corn production and they are not getting the premiums
from organic corn production.”
Organic producers should also use organically produced seed. However,
such seed of particular hybrids may be difficult or impossible to acquire. As an
alternative, Thomison said that many growers are using untreated seed from
conventional sources. According to the OCIA survey, of the 85 hybrids planted,
one-third were untreated conventionally produced hybrids. The trick in using
conventional seed, however, is to keep the seed from contamination, and
increasing popularity of transgenic corn production is posing a challenge for
growers interested in organic corn production. “Probably more than half of
Ohio’s corn acreage this year will be planted to transgenic hybrids (with Bt
and herbicide resistance). Organic growers can’t use transgenics, but the
burden falls on those growers to maintain GMO-free corn. If the corn grain
contains transgenic grain exceeding a specified level set by organic end users,
the organic growers will lose their premium status,” said Thomison.
Some growers are interested in open-pollinated corn to avoid possible
transgenic contamination and maintain their own seed supply, said Thomison.
However, open-pollinated varieties often yield 50-80 bushels less than
conventional corn hybrids. “They
may take a hit on yields with open-pollinated varieties, but the upswing is that
open-pollinated varieties have slightly higher protein and oil content than
conventional hybrids. So it’s a trade-off,” said Thomison.
By far the No. 1 challenge organic producers face is weed control. Over
half of the OCIA survey respondents indicated that effective weed control was
their major concern in organic corn production.
Thomison said that part of the performance trials included hand weeding
to determine how much yield was lost to weeds and cultivation.
“With good weed control, many organic growers could probably get the same
yields with an organic hybrid as they could with a conventionally produced
hybrid seed,” said Thomison.
Adequate fertility is also a major issue with organic production.
“Relying on soybeans in the crop rotation is not good enough. Using composted
manure or a cover crop is needed for good fertility,” said Thomison.
In the OCIA survey, 68 percent of the respondents indicated that corn was
planted following red clover, alfalfa, hay/pasture or some other unspecified
cover crop. Seventy-two percent of the respondents used some form of manure to
maintain soil fertility.
Despite the myriad of challenges in a production practice that is labor
intensive and has higher up-front establishment costs, organic production is
attractive because of the premiums. Thomison said that growers can make anywhere
from $4 to $10 more per bushel per acre than conventional corn production.
Thomison recommends that growers who are interested in organic corn
production use evaluations like the performance trials as a starting point.
“In our organic trials, there was somewhat more variability, more weed
pressure and unevenness than in a conventional hybrid trial where herbicides are
used, but there were hybrids that were consistently at the top at each location.
It’s one reason why growers should consider the results of these trials,”
said Thomison. “Growers could lose a lot of money right at the beginning of
the season if they plant the wrong hybrid.”
Thomison said that growers must also realize that organic corn production
is on a different scale than conventional corn production, with many fields only
averaging 60-65 acres. In addition, organic hybrids mature earlier and are
harvested later in the season. Organic corn is also just one part of an organic
grain farming system that typically includes organic soybeans, a small grain and
a forage or cover crop.
The U.S. government is doing its part to boost interest in organic production. In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress has outlined a proposal to provide transition payments to aid producers through the three-year transition period and to become better established in organic farming.
MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE
The Athens County Extension Master Gardeners will hold their annual plant sale on Saturday, May 17 at the East State Street Shelter House. The plant sale will run from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. The East State Street Shelter House is located just down the street from the CVS Pharmacy and is located next to the Athens Community pool.
Plants sold in this sale are plants that have been dug from master gardener’s own gardens or they are plants started and raised by master gardeners. This means that these are plants that are some of the favorites of the master gardeners and they are plants that do well in our area. In addition, master gardeners will be on hand the day of the sale to answer questions about plants and provide you with more information about the plants offered for sale. Plant selections will include perennials, annuals, herbs, houseplants, vegetables and more. There will be plants for both sunny and shady conditions.
The money raised in this sale supports master gardener educational projects.
MAY GRAZING COUNCIL MEETING
The May grazing council meeting/pasture walk will be hosted by Joe and Donna Marks at their farm located at 17222 Lawson Road in Lodi Township. The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 22 and will begin at 6:30 pm.
Joe and Donna have a cow/calf operation of about 40 brood cows split between fall and spring calving. Last year’s drought reduced water options on the farm, which affected pasture management. This past winter, due to hay shortages, Joe fed corn silage, however the wet winter combined with daily silage feeding resulted in some serious pasture damage. At this meeting we will be looking at some of the effects of the 2007 drought and the wet winter on pasture recovery. Other topics that will be discussed as we tour the farm include:
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Water systems
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Soil fertility
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Spring seeding
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Heavy use feed pads
This will be an interesting meeting for all levels of graziers and anyone interested in improving their pasture management is invited to attend.
DIRECTIONS: From Athens, take SR 50 East. From the intersection of SR 329 and 50 East, look for the Marathon gas station, go another 1.3 miles to County Road 24. Turn right on to CR 24 and go about another 0.7 miles to CR 57. Turn left on to CR 57 and drive about 1.1 miles, where at the bottom of the hill you will turn right on to CR 42. Go about 0.7 miles on CR 42 and at this point continue going straight, back on to CR 57. Stay on CR 57 for another 0.7 miles. At this point CR 57 curves to the left, a big house is directly in front of you, Greiner Road is straight ahead and Lawson Road, township road 102 goes to the right. Turn right on to Lawson road and go 1 mile to the Marks farm. Watch for “Grazing,” signs to guide you.
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IS CRITICAL
By: Candace Pollock, OSU Extension Communication & Technology
The world may be on the verge of a second Green Revolution, says an Ohio State University soil scientist. But while the original pulled people from the brink of starvation using genetics, he believes the success of the current movement will be rooted in careful management of Earth’s natural resources.
Rattan Lal, a researcher with the Ohio Agricultural Research and
Development Center and world-renown for his work in sustainable management of
soil and natural resources, said seed germplasm to improve crop production
won’t be useful if soil, water and climate aren’t carefully managed and
conserved. “This second Green
Revolution has to be different than what was done in the 1960s. It must be
resource-based, not seed-based. It means restoring degraded soils and conserving
water resources, while providing seed genetics that support changes in
climate,” said Lal, a professor with the School of Environment and Natural
Resources. “This approach will require a different kind of thinking and must
involve a host of experts: soil scientists, climatologists, social scientists,
and plant breeders.” It’s a
philosophy that Lal sees as a solution to the current global food crisis -- a
phenomenon of skyrocketing food prices, driven by a multitude of factors, that
is putting over 1 billion people worldwide out of reach of the very basics of
survival. And it’s a situation that won’t be alleviated anytime soon, and
most likely will get worse as the world’s population increases, said Lal.
“People whose income is less than a dollar a day are finding that food
is not accessible. It’s a problem that will persist for quite a while and more
than likely become more severe,” said Lal. “We are at 6.5 billion in world
population now. By 2050, we will be at 9.5 billion. Ninety-nine percent of that
population increase will be in developing countries, places like Africa and
Southeast Asia, where resources are already in short supply. What we are
experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg.”
It is in those developing countries, where farmland is abused and equity
shifts with political and economic unrest, that natural resource management is
of the greatest importance in stabilizing the global food crisis.
A way of managing the environment is to start with the soil, said Lal.
“Improve the soil by improving its quality, and to do that you must restore
carbon to the soil,” said Lal, adding that carbon sequestration increases soil
health and improves soil structure. “Places like Africa have benefited from
improved plant genetics, but research has shown that improved seed germplasm
does not perform well under poor soil conditions, generally yielding one-third
to one-sixth of its potential. Crops grown in Africa are only yielding 1,000
pounds per acre per year, but have the potential to yield two to four times
more. The plant genetics are not being fully utilized.”
Lal said production practices, such as no-till, agroforestry, cover crops
and manure application, are all ways to restore, conserve and build carbon in
the soil.
Wisely managing water resources through efficient harvesting, containment
and conservation is another important aspect of natural resource management.
Throw in worldwide climate shifts that are having a greater impact on crop
production, and managing soil and water become even more significant, even in
areas where land remains fertile. “There
are 5 billion acres of agricultural land worldwide that were once productive but
are now degraded. It’s important to save that land, as well as preserve the
land that is still fertile,” said Lal. “Because of climate change, our
food-production zones are shifting northward. For every 1 degree centigrade
change in temperature, those zones are shifting 150 miles north. So places like
Siberia and Canada are becoming prime land for crop production.”
Modern technology, combined with resource management, can help bring
farmers into the next phase of crop production and management, said Lal.
“Modern technology can play an important role in that resource-based
strategy,” said Lal. “Such land-saving technology includes nanotechnology
that can improve fertilizer use, sub-drip irrigation systems that bring water
and nutrients directly to plant roots, and crops that emit molecular-based
signals when they need nutrients and water before yields suffer.”
But the implementation of resource management techniques and
technological developments is a slow process, and whatever immediate solution
proposed for the global food crisis is just a band-aid, said Lal.
“Improving soil quality, conserving water resources -- that takes time.
Any improvements implemented today take years for results,” said Lal. “But
they have the potential to solve our food deficit problem. Global leaders just
need to recognize that new paradigm shift.”
According to Ohio State University soil science research focusing on soil
quality in such countries as the United States, Africa, India, South America and
Latin America, if soil carbon content was increased by one ton per hectare
(roughly 2,000 pounds per 2.5 acres) using conservation practices, grain yield
would increase 220-440 pounds per 2.5 acres, wheat yield from 44 pounds to 110
pounds per 2.5 acres, and soybean yield from 44 pounds to 88 pounds per 2.5
acres. “What that means for
countries like Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, whose food deficit will be 22
million tons by 2010, is that if farmers can adopt carbon-storing practices,
food production could increase by 32 million tons every year, basically
eliminating that food deficit,” said Lal. “In addition, there will be an
increase in the production of root crops (cassava, yam and sweet potato, which
are food staples in sub-Saharan Africa) by as much as 7 to 11 million tons per
year.”
The key to such success, said Lal, is to add value to Earth’s natural
resources through agriculture. “We
are undervaluing those natural resources, like soil and water. And when we do
that, those resources can be abused, and that is what is happening,” said Lal.
“Agriculture, once blamed for environmental degradation, can now be part of
the solution to the crisis that the world is facing.”
ATHENS AREA BEEKEEPING ASSOCIATION
Anyone interested in learning more about beekeeping, or sharing your beekeeping experience with other beekeepers should consider becoming involved with the Athens County Area Beekeeping Association (ACABA). Some of the upcoming events offered by the association include:
· The May meeting is scheduled for May 18, 1:00 pm at the Jack/Dixie Cantrell residence at 13250 Possum Hollow Rd in the Shade area. Contact Jack at 696-2337 for more information.
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Paul Cline will be teaching a Queen class on May 15 and May 17. The May 15 session is at 6:30 pm at the Athens County Extension office and the May 17 session will be at the Paul/Deb Cline residence at 10233 Porter Lane. Class size is limited. Contact Paul Cline at 797-0904 to register or to get more information.
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The state beekeepers association meeting. The Athens County association is hosting the state meeting this year. It is scheduled for Saturday, June 21 at the Athens High School. For more information about the meeting contact Paul Cline at 797-0904, or Jack Cantrell at 696-2337.
