Cover Crops: A Soil Health & Climate Solution December 2, 2019 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cover Crops: A Soil Health & Climate Solution

December 2, 2019 Supported by the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus

Cover Crops: A Soil Health and Climate Solution

December 02, 2019

Rodney Rulon

• 4th Generation family farm
• North Central Indiana
• 100% No-Till since 1989
• Corn-Soybean Rotation
• 19 years cover crops
• Conservation is the best economic model
• We are accountable for what leaves our farm

We are a Legacy Farm

BUILDING SOIL HEALTH REQUIRES

CARBON CAPTURE

5

CAN WE INCREASE SOIL HEALTH? PLANT COVER CROPS SAME DAY AS HARVEST

6

PLANTING CORN AND SOYBEANS INTO GREEN COVER CAN WE INCREASE SOIL HEALTH?

PROVEN CARBON CAPTURE

 Increased Yield  Drought Tolerance (2012)  Resistance to Extreme Weather  Nutrient Efficiency and Cycling (Trap Nutrients)  Increased water infiltration/water holding  Improved Plant Health/Break Disease Cycles  Increased Organic Matter  Remove Compaction  Reduced Erosion

10

HOW DO WE STOP NUTRIENT LEACHING?

Source: Purdue University

• Dr. Shalamar Armstrong

COVER CROPS 60% LESS LEACHING

• Dr. Eileen Kladivko

Agronomy Department

15

Per acre Acres Total Benefit

Fertilizer Saved-P&K (20#P@$.38 + 30#K@$.225)

$14.35 5,200 $74,620 Fertilizer Saved-N (35#/Acre: 200 versus 165) $7.35 2,600 $19,110 Corn Yield (4yearsx64strips:Plot Data: 7.1bu@$4) $28.40 2,600 $73,840 Soybean Yield Increase (1.95bu@$10) $19.50 2,600 $50,700

TOTAL ANNUAL BENEFIT= $41.98 $218,270

Drought Tolerence (2004-17: 30 bu every 5th=6 Bu@$4)

$24.00 2,600 $62,400 Carbon Content (5.35bu/.1 of OM x 50% = 2.7bu@$4) $10.80 5,200 $56,160 Erosion Reduction (2 ton/acre @ $4) $8.00 5,200 $41,600 CSP Program Payment ($40,000) $7.69 5,200 $40,000

TOTAL LONG-TERM BENEFIT= $50.49 $200,160

Total Cover Crop Benefit = $418,430 Net Economic Return = $300,359 ROI = 254% Net Profit/Acre Planted = $57.76

Rulon Enterprises LLC Cover Crop Benefits Fall 2017



You can build HEALTH in your Soil!!



Increased Soil Health increases yield (10 bu Corn/ 5 bu Soybeans)



$$$ Spent to increase Soil Health is a good investment (254% ROI)



Diminished Soil Health will recover faster if you start before it is all gone



Land Owners should be asking to see Soil Health reports, not fertilizer tests



The Soil Health we leave for the next generation is a lasting Legacy

Rodney Rulon rodney@rulonenterprises.com www.rulonenterprises.com

#WEDIGHEALTHYSOILS

Jennifer Nelson Delaware Association of Conservation Districts

Jay Baxter-

from “Conventional Farmer” to Soil Health Champion

Snapshots of Delaware’s Soil Health Outreach

Locally Led Conservation

• In 2015, Sussex Conservation

District developed a custom application program to seed cover crops

• Helps to address issues with

cost and time constraints

Cover Crops are Trending Upward in DE

• 20,000

40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000

FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018

Acres

Delaware Cover Crop Acreage 2005-2018 State Funded Federally Funded

ROB MYERS, PH.D. UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AND NCR-SARE

TAKING A BIG PICTURE VIEW

ON COVER CROPS

Photo credit – Edwin Remsburg

Cover crops get rain into the soil

Phillips Conservation District

Cover Crops Feed the Soil Biology

From NRCS

Number of Farm Operations Planting Cover Crops in 2017

Data source: 2017 Census of Agriculture

Cover Crop Impacts on Yields and Economic Profitability Over Time

Yield Increase Years of cover crops in a field

One Year Three Years Five Years Corn

• $31.36

$1.42 $17.90 Soybeans

• $23.44

$0.42 $10.18

BUILDING SOIL HEALTH AND FARM RESILIENCY

Geospatial data for tracking conservation practices and outcomes

• Dr. William Salas

12/2/19 Briefing on Cover Crops: A Soil Health and Climate Solution

OpTIS – Satellite-based mapping and monitoring ag conservation practices

Operational Tillage Information System OpTIS

• Crop History
• Crop residue fractions
• Tillage Practices
• Cover Crop – vigor and termination
• Days of green/senescent cover

Row and Grain Crop Management History

DNDC – Process-based soil GHG model

• Dr. Changsheng Li

DNDC Model developer

Biogeochemical Model DNDC

• Soil Carbon
• Greenhouse gas emissions (N2O,

SOC, GWP)

• Nutrient Use Efficacy
• Water Use Efficiency
• Reactive Nitrogen

Environmental Outcomes

• Soils
• Weather
• Management
• Grower
• OpTIS
• Surveys
• SOC
• N2O
• CH4
• GWP
• Nitrate leaching

Modeling Soil Health Outcomes and GHG Emissions

Tracking Soil Health Practices & Outcomes to Support Farmer Centric Ecosystem Service Markets

Field-level ag management data… Input to DNDC to model outcomes… 1 2 3 Summarized at the county, watershed, grainshed

• Soils
• Weather
• Management
• Grower
• OpTIS
• Surveys
• SOC
• N2O
• CH4
• GWP
• Nitrate leaching

Set baselines for Supply chain reporting and Ecosystem Service Markets, verify activities/outcomes 4

Corn Belt Conservation Adoptions and Soil Health Outcomes

Units kg C/ha Units: Acres per HUC8

We analyzed conservation practice adoption and associated outcomes across the Corn Belt for 2005 to 2018

Linking conservation adoption with prevented planting…

Prevented Planting was common in 2019 due to flooding in the spring

In all three regions, historical use of conservation practices was more frequent on those fields that successfully planted in 2019.

Analyzed 3 counties: Wood County, OH Hutchinson County, SD Lincoln County, MO Successful Plantings Prevented Plantings Red fields were prevented plantings Green field were successfully planted

Lincoln County, MO Example Planted acres averaged 3 years of historical cover crop. Prevented acres average had essentially no historical cover cropping

Thank you

Bill Salas Email: wsalas@daganinc.com Phone: 603-292-1191

Cover Crops: A Soil Health & Climate Solution

Supported by the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus

Cover Crop Programs & Incentives

AGree 2019 Landscape Assessment covers:

• Supply Chain Initiatives (6)
• Foundation Programs (2)
• NGO Programs (3)
• State Programs (29 states)
• Federal Programs (3)