Best "crop" for building OM?

[steveR]

The question has come out from a discussion I have had locally where STW need to "stockpile" water on the land, as they are taking so much out from local boreholes, that the water flow has dropped in a specific water course. The chap organising the scheme seems to be a bit focused on glorified reserves/reservoirs and hard landscape measures which will not succeed I reckon, without big funding.

One of the ideas that might have legs with landowners, is to create "buffer" strips or areas on land that drains into the watercourse that will retain rainfall and slowly release back. I suggested say, "within 500m of the watercourse", as a "Blue Sky thinking" suggestion, based I would add, on absolute zero research!

If something like this was to be a goer, then what is the best "crop" to plant. I assume PP would hit the mark, and maybe even trees? But I suspect neither will be popular, and trees/SRC is problematic as readers will be aware as the land is effectivel sterilised afterwards.

So what would build OM long term in the soil, but is still an "arable" cropping option? The comment about miscanthus made me wonder about this type of biomass, but leave it on the field to rapidly increase OM?

Ideas?

 

[DanM]

The question has come out from a discussion I have had locally where STW need to "stockpile" water on the land, as they are taking so much out from local boreholes, that the water flow has dropped in a specific water course. The chap organising the scheme seems to be a bit focused on glorified reserves/reservoirs and hard landscape measures which will not succeed I reckon, without big funding.

One of the ideas that might have legs with landowners, is to create "buffer" strips or areas on land that drains into the watercourse that will retain rainfall and slowly release back. I suggested say, "within 500m of the watercourse", as a "Blue Sky thinking" suggestion, based I would add, on absolute zero research!

If something like this was to be a goer, then what is the best "crop" to plant. I assume PP would hit the mark, and maybe even trees? But I suspect neither will be popular, and trees/SRC is problematic as readers will be aware as the land is effectivel sterilised afterwards.

So what would build OM long term in the soil, but is still an "arable" cropping option? The comment about miscanthus made me wonder about this type of biomass, but leave it on the field to rapidly increase OM?

Ideas?

Maize, sorghum, sunflowers or a mix of all 3 if mulched back in would give you lots of biomass, especially if they were understory cropped with grass.
Not sure if anyone has ever done any research into what organic matter a crop removes during growth, versus what the grown crop then returns if not harvested?

 

[steveR]

Maize, sorghum, sunflowers or a mix of all 3 if mulched back in would give you lots of biomass, especially if they were understory cropped with grass.
Not sure if anyone has ever done any research into what organic matter a crop removes during growth, versus what the grown crop then returns if not harvested?

Interesting plant mix. Would need redrilling each year, and this might be an issue? DD into that level of mulch!!

You might think the Americans might have done some work on this...

 

[DanM]

Interesting plant mix. Would need redrilling each year, and this might be an issue? DD into that level of mulch!!

You might think the Americans might have done some work on this...

The annual redrilling part would keep the arable farmer interest and the mulch would certainly get your earthworms working!
It’s an area of research I think would have huge value with regards to future direction for agriculture

 

[steveR]

Well Aber Uni is doing work on miscanthus locking up carbon, maybe I should ask about the water retention abilities...

Climate change: Aberystwyth University's role removing greenhouse gases

The crops remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[PSQ]

Hemp.
Joking apart, it grows like a weed to 8 foot tall and would be the ideal crop to mulch back into the soil, taking a lot of carbon with it.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Perennial grasses + legumes + c.10% canopy of trees.

Intermediate tree cover can maximize groundwater recharge in the seasonally dry tropics - Scientific Reports

Water scarcity contributes to the poverty of around one-third of the world’s people. Despite many benefits, tree planting in dry regions is often discouraged by concerns that trees reduce water availability. Yet relevant studies from the tropics are scarce and the impacts of intermediate tree...

www.nature.com

 

[No wot]

When establishing a Summer/Autumn cover crop was an option for claiming EU sub , I spun some oats & vetches on winter oat stubble and disced them in , they came very well , sown early August and ploughed in end of Oct , there was alot of cover ploughed back in , but what i really remembered was the mass of root structure from the oats almost like when ploughing grass , wether this increased OM don't know but would say it did .

 

[Kidds]

I have never known anything better than rhubarb to increase soil OM, incredible stuff.
Fertiliser bill will make you sit down though, it likes circa 500kg AN/acre a year.

 

[steveR]

Hemp.
Joking apart, it grows like a weed to 8 foot tall and would be the ideal crop to mulch back into the soil, taking a lot of carbon with it.

Didn't like my sandy land when I found a large number of plants groing in my game mix a year or 3 ago, weedy little things.

 

[clbarclay]

I have never known anything better than rhubarb to increase soil OM, incredible stuff.
Fertiliser bill will make you sit down though, it likes circa 500kg AN/acre a year.

I do wonder whether it would be ecological better not to plant anything (just let weeds grow) than planting anything with that much artificial fertiliser.

 

[Kidds]

I do wonder whether it would be ecological better not to plant anything (just let weeds grow) than planting anything with that much artificial fertiliser.

Ecologically you could probably say it about any crop, won't give you much food or make much money though.
You can grow it with less but there is an economic benefit to apply that much.

 

[steveR]

I do wonder whether it would be ecological better not to plant anything (just let weeds grow) than planting anything with that much artificial fertiliser.

It does seem like a ludicrous quantity of fert I must say...

 

[Kidds]

It does seem like a ludicrous quantity of fert I must say...

Blackcurrants will respond to the same amount too but without adding OM to the ground.

 

[WildSussex]

I do wonder whether it would be ecological better not to plant anything (just let weeds grow) than planting anything with that much artificial fertiliser.

Agreed, that just seems mental. Not to mention you can often find rhubarb growing out of cracks in concrete/seems like it can grown anywhere

 

[Spud]

Nowt like grass for surviving flood watter

 

[clbarclay]

Agreed, that just seems mental. Not to mention you can often find rhubarb growing out of cracks in concrete/seems like it can grown anywhere

Whether it will grow or not without any, some niche crops can consume vast amounts of fertiliser to produce a commercially desirable product.

I have heard of farms that on paper spread a lot of nitrogen on grass to balance all the records when growing crops like that which consume far more nitrogen per ha than most arable farmers or legislators can comprehend.

Supply and demand can seem like a crazy world. Then again, this probably is a crazy world.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Whether it will grow or not without any, some niche crops can consume vast amounts of fertiliser to produce a commercially desirable product.

I have heard of farms that on paper spread a lot of nitrogen on grass to balance all the records when growing crops like that which consume far more nitrogen per ha than most arable farmers or legislators can comprehend.

Supply and demand can seem like a crazy world. Then again, this probably is a crazy world.

I've seen 2T/ha applied annually to lily crops... 2T of AN that was on alluvial soils over gravel

in the same catchment farmers were copping flak for using over 100kgN as urea across a season, despite the local council being aware of where the nitrate was coming from, it didn't fit the "dirty dairy" narrative

bit of an aside but there you go

 

[Kidds]

If you know what you are doing you should be able to make £5k profit on an acre of rhubarb each year (not the first year while it establishes), treat it as a 3-5 year crop and then dig it up and split the roots for circa £10-15k profit assuming you keep enough back for the next planting. (and I do mean profit not income)
Half a ton of Nitram even at current prices is feck all and the next crop grows like mad due to the OM and probably residual N. I doubt much washes away as rhubarb can't get enough water so none washes through. Make the next crop raspberries or strawberries and you are making more per acre than any cereal grower can imagine.
Next time someone comes on here and says "I just bought 2 acres of land, how can I make enough profit to build a house on it?" just nudge that Welsh straw dealer and ask if he knows.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Why are there hardly any ponds over there? In the US there are man made ponds everywhere. They help slowly release water and have a bunch of other uses. Haven’t seen all of the UK but don’t remember seeing many ponds at all. Seems to all be focused on drainage

Increasing the water holding capacity and infiltration rate of soil can never be a bad thing. But why do we need certain areas for this and certain areas to grow a crop? Why can’t it be both improving the soil and producing a crop?