August 29, 2013 – Since growing green manure makes such
great sense, I finally decided to incorporate it into my permaculture approach to
growing veggies. Unfortunately, I didn’t
know that hairy vetch – my green manure of choice – doesn’t fix nitrogen in the
soil until spring. I’ll be piling leaves
and pine straw on top of the hairy vetch in November, so this time around I’ll
only gain the organic vegetative matter, moisture retaining capacity, and soil
aerating qualities of the vetch. Still,
I look forward to the day when I can allow the vetch to grow to full maturity.
The reason for that is that cover crops, i.e. green manure,
fix enough nitrogen to fertilize one year’s entire crop of even a heavy feeder
like corn. In fact, last year the
average cover-cropping corn farmer in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas
enjoyed an average yield of 122 bushels per acre, despite the drought. Those not employing a cover crop grew only
106 bushels per acre, on average. That’s
according to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) latest report, Soil Matters: How the Federal Crop Insurance Program Should Be
Reformed.
Because the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) cost
taxpayers over $17 billion last year,
the NRDC is coming down hard on the side of resilient, sustainable farming
methods. These include no-till farming,
cover cropping, and water conservation.
Just as those who employ conventional farming methods are now being
compensated for their losses through the FCIP, the NRDC maintains that it is
those who control losses by means of alternative farming methods who ought to
be compensated. It makes sense, just
like cover crops do: reward those who do it right, not those who do it wrong.
Here’s a list of some of the plants that not only increase
organic matter and prevent erosion, but fix nitrogen as well: alfalfa,
cowpeas, mung beans, red clover, and sunn hemp.
Gabe Brown, a farmer in the Great Plains, insists that cover cropping
has increased his corn yields and decreased his costs. By combining cover cropping with no-till
farming, Brown avoids synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This allows him to make money even when the
price of corn falls. How? “ … I’m focused on regenerating the soil
resource,” says Brown.
In their
report, the NRDC recommends that FCIP start a pilot program that reduces
premium rates for farmers who utilize cover cropping and no-till farming. (These methods sound kind of old-fashioned,
don’t they?) They plan to take their
proposal to the USDA. By encouraging
soil building in “down to earth” (sorry) ways, the FCIP can guide farmers in
the direction of lowering their costs and improving their yields. Fewer synthetic chemicals being applied to
crops means fewer dead zones in our oceans, and fewer sick kids – and animals.
Sounds like
an example of Back to the Future, if you ask me.
With thanks
to climateprogress.com and ecowatch.com.
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