Putting Your System Together

George Kuepper Kerr Center for Sustainable This publication outlines the origins of organic agriculture. It highlights the concepts, ideas, and milestones that define it as a distinct and sustainable approach to farming that involves more than simply precluding synthetic pesticides and . 23 pages.

Copies can be downloaded free- of-charge at: http://www.kerrcenter.com/publi cations/organic-philosophy- report.pdf

Print copies can be requested from: The Kerr Center for P.O. Box 588 Poteau, OK 74953 Tel: 918-647-9123  A Production System that… respond(s) to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. §205.2 A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole. from: Answers.com

HEALTHY SOCIETY

HEALTHY PEOPLE

HEALTHY FOOD

HEALTHY SOIL

Evolution Of and the Influences On American

F.H. King J.I. Rodale Wm. Albrecht OFPANA/

OTA NOP Standard R. Steiner & A. Howard E. Balfour Silent Spring USDA’s Anthroposophy OFPA Implemented Events Organic Report

Pioneers L. Bromfield E. Pfeiffer Organizations

USDA Countercultural Influences Organic National Environmental Consciousness Certification Standard Organic By Neglect & Sustainable Practices Industry from the Asian Standards Continent Certified Organic Production Convertible Husbandry (America Mid-1800s) Humus Organic Eco-Agriculture High Farming Farming Farming (Europe 1800s) Integrated Production, etc. & Demeter Biodynamics Certified Production

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2006 Organic Soil Management

— An Old Saying among Organic The Soil Food Web

2005 National Center for

What the Food Web Needs

Sunlight Air Water

Organic Nutrient

2005 National Center for Appropriate Technology Elements Matter Organic Soil Management

Feeding the Soil Food Web means providing organic matter as food. In organic farming, this has been called the Law of Return— returning mineral- rich organic material to the soil. Plant Nutrition Under Natural Conditions

Source of plant nutrition: Digestive - plant residues processes and - animal remains nutrient recycling - animal wastes in the Rhizosphere: The Soil Food Web

Parent Soluble Minerals Plant Rock Organic Compounds Roots 11 Other “phytamins” Material 2005 National Center for Appropriate Technology

Conventional Management

Organic Matter Conventional

ζ as Soluble ζ Residues Fertilizers Digestive ζ processes and nutrient recycling in the Rhizosphere: The Soil Food Web

Parent Soluble Minerals Plant Rock 12 Organic Compounds Material 2005 National Center for Appropriate TechnologyOther Benefits Roots

Humus Farming/Organic Management Organic Materials and Methods: Crop Residues Green Manures Manures Natural Fertilizers Biological Inoculants Digestive Rotations w/ sod processes and nutrient recycling in the Rhizosphere: The Soil Food Web

Parent Soluble Minerals Plant Rock 13 Organic Compounds Other Benefits Roots Material 2005 National Center for Appropriate Technology

Self-Generated Fertility Weed Suppression •Fixes nitrogen •Less weed stimulation •Releases bound nutrients •Weed seed predation •Makes nutrients available •Easier cultivation •Air/water balance

Suppresses Disease Pest Insects Reduced •Natural antibiotics •More predators & parasites •Nematode predation •Natural insect disease agents •Aeration/Drainage •Induced resistance in crops •Induced resistance in crops Organic Farmers claim: Organic Crops Resist Pests

Do organically- grown plants develop induced resistance to diseases and insect pests? Organic Crops Resist Pests

•Predisposition theory

•Insect pests as nature’s garbage men

•Organic as plant- positive vs. pest- negative approach Organic Crops Resist Pests

Mycorrhizal Associations as an element in stress reduction and induced resistance Root from sorghum with vesicles ("little sacs") of the mycorrhizal fungus called Gigaspora rosea.

http://microbezoo.commtechlab.msu.edu/zoo/zdrm0194.html

CANNON PROJECT

A D

691 ft K e r r R o a d  

Field A Field A Field A Field A

- - - - 2 .58 a 1 .58 a 3 3 .58 a 4 .58 a Field U .35 a

Herb Herb Bed

BlockBed

 

 

B

Field Field U: 308’ 56’ x Fields A Block Bed: 38’ 5’x Herb 10’ Bed: 32’ x Greenhouse: 22’ x 30’ Dimensions: 90’ x 90’ x 282’ N C

- 1, A 2011 Boundaries & Dimensions  -

Cannon HorticultureCannon Plots 2, 2, A

Denotes Hydrants/Irrigation access Hydrants/IrrigationDenotes - 3, 3, A

Totalarea: 6.67 acres

-

4: that side. or doors air occur intakes on side. NW the However, no buffer organically on managed The of feet 15 has Greenhouse organically buffer.of managed All fields beds 25have and feet Buffering: Kerr Center’s

= approx.50 ft

Heritage Vegetable Trials (Okra & Sweet Sorghum in 2008 shown)

Copies can be downloaded free-of- charge at: http://www.kerrcenter.co m/publications/summer- cover-crops.pdf

Print copies can be requested from: The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture P.O. Box 588 Poteau, OK 74953 Tel: 918-647-9123 1. (the sequencing of crops over time on a field) 2. The inclusion of cover crops and/or perennial forage crops within a crop rotation Kerr Center’s 2008 Tomatoes A-1 Cannon Horticulture Plots 2009 * 2010 * 2011 * 2012 Tomatoes Example of how a tomato crop might A-2 2008 * 2009 Tomatoes be rotated 2010 * 2011 * 2012 *

A-3 2008 * A-1 A-2 2009 * 2010 Tomatoes 2011 * 2012 *

A-4 2008 * A-3 2009 * A-4 2010 * 2011 Tomatoes 2012 *  Cover crops are plants you grow or allow to grow, not for harvest, but for purposes such as preventing erosion, improving the soil, and .  Can be categorized by season— winter & summer Kerr Center’s 2008 Rye w/peas, or vetch A-1 Cannon Horticulture Plots 2009 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2010 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2011 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2012 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch Winter Season: A-2 2008 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2009 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch What you’d find 2010 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2011 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch In the fields. 2012 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch

A-3 2008 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2009 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch Fall-seeded winter cover crops 2010 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2011 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2012 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch

A-4 2008 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2009 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2010 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch 2011 Rye w/peas, clover or vetch * Winter 2012 Cover Tomatoes Crop

Winter 2013 cover Tomatoes Crop This is NOT what we mean by rotation! Kerr Center’s A-1 2011: Early Vegetables Cannon Horticulture Plots 2012: Summer 2013: Late Vegetables Crops and Cover Crops 2014: Summer Cover Crop DURING THE GROWING SEASON 2011: Summer Cover Crop A-2 2011-2014 2012: Early Vegetables 2013: Summer Cover Crop 2014: Late vegetables Summer Late Cover 2011: Late Vegetables Vegetables A-3 Crop 2012: Summer Cover Crop 2013: Early Vegetables 2014: Summer Cover Crop

2011: Summer Cover Crop Summer Early A-4 2012: Late Vegetables Cover Vegetables 2013: Summer Cover Crop Crop 2014: Early vegetables One in which a significant percentage of the land is planted to season-long cover crops each year. INSECT & DISEASE CONTROL  Clubroot, fusarium yellows, blackleg, & black rot in cole crops  Black rot in pumpkins  Northern & Western Corn Rootworm in sweetcorn, popcorn and decorative corn  Root rots in beans & peas  Gummy stem blight in cucurbits Photo: Gummy Stem Blight  Early blight in solanaceous crops—2 years  Black rot in cucurbits—2+ years  Blackleg in brassicas—3-to-4 years  Fusarium wilt in peas—4-to-5 years  Clubroot in brassicas—7 years  White rot on alliums—20 years  Brassicas: cabbages,  Solanaceous: broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes, kale, brussels sprouts peppers, eggplant,  Cucurbits: melons, tomatillo squashes, pumpkins,  Umbels: carrots, dill, cucumbers, gourds fennel, parsley, celery,  : English  Composites: peas, southern peas, sunflower, lettuce, peanuts, beans, faba artichoke, jerusalem beans, soybeans artichoke  Alliums: onions, garlic,  Grasses: popcorn, chives sweetcorn, sorghum

WEED CONTROL

 Changes in timing of cultivation and mowing  “Cleaning crops”  Some crop plants are naturally more competitive with weeds November 1, 2007 Bermudagrass Bermudagrass Strengths Perennial Summer season  Drought tolerant  Encouraged by mowing Many means for propagation and spreading

Weaknesses  Winter tillage  Shade Cover crops grown for the purpose of out-competing and controlling weeds.

← Crotalaria

Pearl Millet→

← Buckwheat

Southern Peas→

Field A-1: Sorghum- Sudangrass

Seth Stallings Student Intern 2010 SOIL FERTILITY

 Green Manures build/recycle organic matter

crops & cover crops fix nitrogen  Green manures are cover crops grown primarily to improve the soil by adding organic matter and nitrogen (in the case of legumes), and making nutrients more available  Summer green manure crops include annual sorghums, millets, buckwheat, soybeans, southern peas, sesbania, crotalaria, sweetclover Nitrogen is the most limiting crop nutrient in most crop and garden soils.

Legumes include: English peas, southern peas, peanuts, beans, faba beans, soybeans, also , sweet clovers, alfalfa, vetch, and lespedeza.

#1 As a winter cover crop when you can’t grow most vegetables. #2 As an option for a green fallow #3 In rotation with other vegetables planting.

Peas, Late Cowpeas Beans, Green Sweetcorn Vegetables edamame fallow soybeans

Tomatoes, Early Soybeans Sweet peppers, Green Vegetables potatoes eggplant Fallow

Buckwheat and southern peas are exceptionally good for beneficial insect habitats.

Beneficials include pollinators, predatory and parasitic insects, predatory mites and spiders. Prey upon, or parasitize, pest insects Domestic or wild  Provides for soil fertility, especially nitrogen  Suppresses many crop diseases  Thwarts many insect pests  Reduces weed pressure  Creates a biologically healthy soil which in turn: . Self-generates soil fertility . Suppresses Disease . Reduces insect pests . Suppresses weeds

G o o d O r g a n i c C r o p

O f f - Inputs Fertilizers — Pe s t i c i d e s

Compost, Manure Organic Cultural Practices

A Sound Organic System R o t a t i o n s — Cover Crops

Biologically Healthy Soil G o o d O r g a n i c C r o p

O f f - Farm Inputs Fertilizers — Pe s t i c i d e s

Compost, Manure Organic Cultural Practices

A Sound Organic System R o t a t i o n s — Cover Crops

Biologically Healthy Soil Summer Squash Root Crops Beans Cucurbit beets, carrots, etc. legume

8-Year Rotation Proposed Tomatoes Irish Potatoes by Eliot Coleman Solanaceous Solanaceous Described in The New Organic Grower

English Peas Sweet Corn Cabbage Family + winter-killed Graminae + hardy cover crop cover crop (grass) Brassicas Legume G o o d O r g a n i c C r o p

O f f - Farm Inputs Fertilizers — Pe s t i c i d e s

Compost, Manure Organic Cultural Practices A Sound Organic System R o t a t i o n s — Cover Crops Biologically Healthy Soil Kerr’s 4-Year Bio-extensive Rotation

Winter cover crops of grain rye with winter annual Legumes—all plots. Green Typically a Vegetables warm season Fallow smother crop of sudangrass

Green Vegetables Fallow Alternate BioextensiveRotation

Winter cover crops of grain rye with winter annual Legumes—all plots. Green Vegetables Fallow

Vegetables Vegetables

Green Fallow Alternate Green Fallow Rotation

Winter cover crops of grain rye with winter annual Legumes—all plots. Green Vegetables Fallow

Vegetables Vegetables

Green Vegetables Fallow Alternate Green Fallow Rotation

Winter cover crops of grain rye with winter annual Legumes—all plots. Green Vegetables Fallow

Vegetables Vegetables Theoretical Relationship Between Green Fallow and Need for and Pest

Control Inputs

FARM INPUTS FARM

- INCREASING NEED FOR OFF FOR NEED INCREASING

INCREASING PERCENT OF LAND IN GREEN FALLOW Sweet- Contracted Summer Sweet- Green corn Cabbage Squash potatoes Beans

Tomatoes & Peppers

Southern Contracted U-Pick Sudangrass Peas Canning Peas Pumpkins Green fallow

Okra BFRDP Main Demo Plot 2012 (Field A2) Eight-Field Rotation This is a single long raised bed, 10 ft X 280 ft. Plots shown are about 10 ft X 30 ft. (This

allows about 5 ft buffer between plots for turning tillers and other equip around.)

→

→ Okra 1 Green Fallow Sweet potatoes 1 row Peanuts

→ Buckwheat Dbl Crop: Eng. peas Dbl Crop: Proso Millet Spring-planted Southern Peas Broccoli, Cabbage, Cucumber

Chinese Cabbage

Kerr Road Road Kerr

←

←

←

White Potatoes 1 row Beans Dbl Crop: Greens & radishes Sweetcorn 3 rows Green Fallow Dbl Crop: Buckwheat Caged Tomatoes 1 row Squash Dbl Crop: Greens & radishes 2 or 3 rows Iron & Clay Eggplant & Peppers 1 row Dbl Crop: Beans Cowpeas 280 ft Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping on the Organic Farm by Seth Kroeck. NOFA Organic Principles and Practices Handbook Series. 95 p.

Gaining Ground by Canadian Organic Growers, Inc. 2005. COG, 323 Chapel St., Ottawa, ON KIN 7Z2. 311 p.

Organic Crop Production Overview by G. Kuepper & L. Gegner. 2004. http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/organiccrop.html

Crop Rotation on Organic : A Planning Manual (NRAES-177) by C. L. Mohler & S. E. Johnson. 2009. NRAES/Cornell Cooperative Extension , Ithaca, NY. 156 p.

Cover Crops on the Intensive Market Farm by John Hendrickson. 2003. CIAS, University of Wisconsin–Madison. 20 p. Anne & Eric Nordell, Beech Grove Farm, Trout Run, PA. Look for their column: The Bioextensive In The Small Farmers Journal the international agrarian quarterly

Mailing address Physical address Phone numbers PO Box 1627 192 west Barclay Drive 800-876-2893 Sisters, Oregon Sisters, Oregon 541-549-2064 97759 97759 541-549-4403 fax

[email protected] www.smallfarmersjournal.com

Contact Information: George Kuepper Kerr Center P.O. Box 588 Poteau, OK 74953 Tel: 918-647-9123 Fax: 918-647-8712 [email protected]