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Soil Organic Matter Accumulation at the George Jones Farm:. A comparison of organic treatments with natural processes and conventional management. December 10, 2003 Nathaniel Decker, Kate Merrick, Tina Bosch. SOM and Organic Farming. Soil Fertility
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Soil Organic Matter Accumulation at the George Jones Farm: A comparison of organic treatments with natural processes and conventional management December 10, 2003 Nathaniel Decker, Kate Merrick, Tina Bosch
SOM and Organic Farming • Soil Fertility • Importance for Organic vs. Conventional Farming • OSAP aims to increase SOM • Treatment Types
Treatments Note: C/M- COVER CROPPED AND MOWED FOR 3 YEARS CHX- CHICKEN TRACTOR LM- LEAF MULCH XLM- EXTRA LEAF MULCH M- MANURE 1,2- YEARS IN CULTIVATION
SOM and Organic Farming • Soil Fertility • Importance for Organic vs. Conventional Farming • OSAP aims to increase SOM • Treatment Types • OSAP would like to know what effects the organic amendments used have on SOM
Objectives and Hypotheses • Organic management increases SOM - conventional management - pre-OSAP SOM • SOM content will be higher in proportion to amount of organic amendments - GH>N & S Beds> Orchard • Will the Wetland Edge also increase SOM?
Methods • Soil cores • Loss-on-ignition • Sampling sites
North Beds South Beds
OSAP SOM 10% A 9% 8% 7% B, C 6% B B, c B, c B 5% SOM Content C 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% North Beds South Beds Wetland Edge Fallow Field Neighbor Orchard Greenhouse Beds Results
OSAP SOM 10% A 9% 8% 7% B, C 6% SOM Content B B, c B, c B 5% C 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% North Beds South Beds Wetland Edge Fallow Field Neighbor Orchard Greenhouse Beds Analysis • Greenhouse – high • Fallow Field – low • No significant differences among treatments • Neighbor – lower than GH but not other organic treatments • Wetland indistinguishable from treatments • SOM increased since 2000
Recommendations/Lessons • Experimental setup would be helpful - effect of different crops - cause and effect in GH
Shout Outs • Yay Greenhouse! • Yay Amendments! • Further study to determine precise mechanisms for SOM increase
Acknowledgments JP and his lab Brad and his farm Becca and her car A Group Phoenix Production