Sustainable Agriculture
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Conservation tillage with agronomic crops (i.e., cotton, corn, soybeans, etc.) has been successful in Georgia production. Such production practices have several benefits, the most notable being the elimination of soil erosion. Other benefits include but aren’t limited to increases in soil organic matter, maintaining a healthy rhizosphere (root-zone soil), reduction of riparian and waterway pollution, and water conservation.
Some examples of conservation tillage practices include no till, ridge till, and strip till. No–till production involves no tillage of field soils and leaves all of the previous crop residue on the soil surface. Ridge–till production involves building a ridge during cultivation, then scalping the ridge and sowing seed. The scalping process moves most of the previous–crop residue to the row middles, leaving a clean row for sowing. Strip–till production is when a narrow strip is tilled for each row that will be planted, leaving the row middles intact with the previous–crop residue. Strip–tillage may reduce yields if weeds in the untilled area are not killed, as these weeds will compete with the crop for water and nutrients. Although the planted row is free of previous crop residue, it may be advantageous to kill the cover crop to prevent it from competing for nutrients and water with the vegetable crop.
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The purpose of this guide is to help users identify insects, spiders and mites that are beneficial to the garden. Such beneficials help manage pests that can damage plants. Tips to conserve and protect beneficials are also included.
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C 1077
Cover Crop Biomass Sampling
Cover crops are one of the most important practices that farmers can use to improve their soils and the sustainability of their production system. Knowing how much biomass there is in a field is a critical piece of information for cover crop management. Part 1 of this circular provides a step-by-step guide to taking a sample that will be representative of your field. Part 2 provides additional steps for preparing a fresh cover crop sample to send to the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory so it can be analyzed to determine nitrogen availability to the following crop. Equation examples and data sheets are also provided in order to help users calculate necessary information for submission using the given formulas.
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Cover crops are in essential part of an organic production system. Cereal rye and crimson clover are cover crops that are commonly used. If organic cover crop production is a viable enterprise for growers, it could improve the availability of varieties adapted to the Southeast; provide a source for locally grown seeds; and be another profit center for growers, seed cleaners, and local seed companies.
This bulletin discusses what farmers need to know about producing cover crops organically and gives example enterprise budgets for cereal rye and crimson clover. A two-year on-farm trial indicated that producing organic cover crop seed may be profitable.
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Weed management is one of the most critical and costly aspects for container nursery production. High irrigation and fertilization rates create a favorable environment for weed growth in addition to crop growth. Weeds can quickly out-compete the crop for light and other resources, reducing the rate and amount of crop growth as well as salability. Weed management in nursery production is most effectively achieved by preventative practices, primarily with the use of pre-emergent herbicides. However, there are valid reasons for managing weeds using alternatives to synthetic herbicides. Weed management alternatives to synthetic herbicides include sanitation, exclusion, prevention, hand weeding, mulching and use of cover crops, heat and non-synthetic herbicides. Only some of these alternative methods can be used to control weeds in containers, but all can be used to manage weeds around containers and in non-crop
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