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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] No-Till and being a closed loop farmer

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] No-Till and being a closed loop farmer
  • Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 11:54:05 -0600


I'm in the high desert of NM myself at 6,250 elev. where we had three
inches of rain all year until a couple weeks ago. Here its obvious the soil
has very low organic matter, some spots more than others. Permanent grassy
areas that get more moisture show more root mass and I assume higher humus
levels than barren hills and plains. I wouldn't grow green manure crops for
turning under and expose what little humus there is to the air - the net
loss you refer to. I see very large hay fields cultivated and irrigated
24/7, presumably at great cost. And I see similar fields alongside them,
barren and lifeless with faded For Sale signs, that someone gave up on
years ago. But it didn't have to happen. Cover crops can be mechanically
killed and left to protect the soil surface, and that should increase humus
and moisture retention while reducing evaporation. Steve has mentioned his
work with this, and Attra and NewFarm have put out a lot about it.

I might add there is a guaranteed way to fail with any method, and that's
not to try it. 90% of the area around me used to be the "pinto bean
capitol" but lies unused and useless today. They never tried those
sustainable methods. I'd call that personal failure.

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about
it.
- Aldo Leopold in Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 7/8/2006 at 1:18 PM Soilsecrets@aol.com wrote:

>There is no correct answer for the efficacy and usefulness of a No-Till
>system. The variables are many with the system capable of great success
>in some
>parts of the world and complete failure in other areas. For example: in
>the
>high elevations of New Mexico (New Mexico has the highest average
>elevation
>of any state) the air is dry, the average precipitation low, evaporation
>high
>and the Sunshine abundant. We run into a calorie equation limitation
>when
>trying to use green manure because we simply cannot grow enough calories
>as a
>green manure crop to over come the oxidation of organic matter in our
>soils.
> There's a net loss in organic matter that cannot be compensated for when

>you till in just green manure grown on the site. Even the highest
>biomass
>producing crops capable of growing in this region cannot compensate for
>this
>oxidation. Therefore we are faced with transporting organic matter
>generated
>from other sites to supplement. The one exception to this theory and
>observation
>are that the genus of mycorrhizae called Glomus produces proteins called
>Glomalin that seem to contribute in an extraordinary rate to the
>formation of
>humus and may be the single largest contributor of humus formation on the
>face
>of the earth. That's still being studied!
>
>I'm apologize to those who refuses to talk about microorganisms and using

>the power of these microbes. Glomus is destroyed easily by typical
>gardening
>methods and needs to have the correct plants to associate with in order
>to be
>present in your soils. If you are tilling in a green manure crop that
>did
>associate with Glomus, the slicing and dicing of the soil will inhibit
>the
>perpetuation of that association and consequently reduce the quantify of
>Glomalin
>that could be originating on the site.
>
>Dr. Michael
>
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