608 Natural Areas Benefit Agriculture
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Welcome to the sixth season of Plants Dig Soil, a podcast about #RealisticRegenAg. I’m your host, Scott Gillespie, and I’m an agronomist from the Western Canadian Prairies specializing in climate-smart agriculture. I discuss scientifically proven practices that benefit the planet and, just as importantly, farmers' economic sustainability. Be sure to visit my website, www.plantsdigsoil.com, for resources and information about the services I that I offer for farmers and agribusiness.
I’ve been watching Mrs. Davis at the recommendation of a new friend*. It’s set in an alternative 2023 where an algorithm rules the world. People do tasks for her to earn wings. For people that want the glory without the work, they pay to level up, but their fate is in the hands of Mrs. Davis. What about those that choose not to participate? They can make that choice, but Mrs. Davis uses her followers to cut off opportunities, sabotage their efforts, or pressure them to do things for her or face loss of points towards wings.
I’ve been pulling back from social media for a long time. I deleted Facebook 5 years ago. The more I posted the more it wanted. I’m still going to be on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn, but much less so. I’ll focus on the newsletter and an in depth agronomy podcast episode once a month. And I think that will be it. I haven’t quite decided if I want to stop posting to my WhatsApp channel on a regular basis or pair it down to just when I publish my newsletter and agronomy episode.
With all that being said: Thank-you for allowing me to send this to your inbox once a month. If you’re a podcast subscriber you’ll hear from me twice a month. Thanks.
Below is a small highlight of my business and then some articles that I’ve come across over the past month.
Scott.
* Nicole & I talked books on the GardenFork podcast. Check it out here.
Transcript:
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/podcast/natural-areas-benefit-agriculture
Newsletter signup:
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Realistic Regen Ag Channel (WhatsApp):
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Practical Regeneration: Realistic Strategies for Climate Smart Agriculture
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/books
My consulting packages:
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/pricing/#consulting
Speaking, Teaching, & Workshop Design:
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/speaking
My funding service offerings:
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/pricing/#paperwork
SCAP program details https://www.alberta.ca/sustainable-cap.aspx
OFCAF program details https://rdar.ca/funding-opportunities/ofcaf
Email: scott@plantsdigsoil.com
X (aka Twitter) (Scott): https://twitter.com/scottcgillespie
X (aka Twitter) (Company): https://twitter.com/PlantsDigSoil
LinkedIn (Scott): https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcgillespie/
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Podcast Subscription Apps: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scottcgillespie
Business Highlight
Hire me for your next event! I’ve given presentations (online and in-person), taught courses at Lethbridge College to diploma & degree students, and created workshops. A full list of my work is on my “Media” page. Most events are not recorded but a few have made it to YouTube. I’m up for just about anything so let me know what you need and we’ll go from there.
607 Oh Phosphorus, Where Art Though?
Following up on the episode earlier this season borrowing a movie title (Dude, Where’s my Nitrogen?), I’m going to focus on the elusive nutrient, phosphorus. This is an offshoot of a talk I gave this winter on using cover crops for break years between forages. It was delivered in person and to participants online. It was recorded so I’ll put a link to the talk in the description. The high-level summary – you need to replace what you export. No biostimulant or cover crop is going to make new phosphorus for you.
https://www.plantsdigsoil.com/podcast/o-phosphorus-where-art-though
How sterile flies replaced Lorsban for two onion growers
Excellent example of how research can help solve a problem an individual farm can’t. It’s also a hard to commercialize solution, so generally not touched by traditional input companies.
https://onvegetables.com/2024/04/11/sterile/
The Pyramid Scheme of High Organic Amendment Rates
“This is an often ignored, but important fact about organic amendments like compost, manure, and biochar … Before these organic materials were composted, turned into manure through livestock, or pyrolyzed into biochar, they were plants fixing carbon through photosynthesis on a piece of land. And when we apply an amendment to a soil where it was not originally grown, the soil where it was grown is deprived of the carbon and other nutrients that were in that biomass.”
https://csanr.wsu.edu/the-pyramid-scheme-of-high-organic-amendment-rates/
Humic Substances Like Humic Acid – Are They Good For the Garden?
Like the substances mentioned above, humic acid is just old plant material that is being moved to a new location. In this case it’s not recent, it just on it’s way to becoming coal. I have yet to find a study that shows their effectiveness. The companies selling them will have their own data to show they work, along with farmer testimonials. At best, they are good nutrient carriers to prevent tie up in the soil. Gardeners apply much, much more product per square foot than any farmer will. If studies can’t see a benefit, how can it ever make sense for farmers to use them?
https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/
Farmers make big soil health strides
“Agriculture Canada says that the Prairie region saw significant improvements in soil organic carbon from the 1980s to the 2010s because farmers abandoned summerfallow and adopted no-till practices. Ag Canada estimates the soil carbon gains in many parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta at more than 1,200 kilograms per hectare, or 1,070 pounds per acre.”
Note: Compost, manure, biochar, or humic substances were NOT a part of this!
https://www.producer.com/news/farmers-make-big-soil-health-strides/
Why crops may not be best for underperforming acres
I used this in my precision ag class. Using data from combines and satellite to determine the areas that don’t make money - or lose you money - and let nature use them. They can give a slight help to the crop I’m the halo.
https://www.agcanada.com/2024/03/why-crops-may-not-be-best-for-underperforming-acres
Creepy crawlies protect apples when flowers are planted on farms
Similar concept except just around the border. There is a real effect to having natural areas. In this case it’s the borders around the orchards.
https://organicalberta.org/article/creepy-crawlies-protect-apples-when-flowers-are-planted-on-farms/
Poly crop grazing has benefits but also pitfalls
I am not an animal nutritionist. This is why when farmers want to start feeding crops to livestock I defer to the experts. (Karin Lindquist & Barry Yaremcio are who I go to first.) Sulphur from brassicas (turnips, kale, radish, canola, mustard), nitrates from immature warm season grasses (or frost killed / drought stressed cereals), prussic acid from sorghum-Sudan grass, and glycosides from hairy vetch seeds can lead to severe health issues or death. Be careful out there.
https://www.producer.com/livestock/poly-crop-grazing-has-benefits-but-also-pitfalls/