Feature Regenerative Farming Practices
He told AcreageLife that the USDA NRCS program is built on the idea that your soil’ s organic matter is your pantry for the soil.“ That’ s where your water and nutrients are stored.” The top strategies to ensure sustainable water usage include:
Reduce or eliminate your tillage. Organic no-till systems, such as the roller-crimper, have helped organic producers reduce the intensity of soil disturbance in annual crop rotations.
Always have something growing and producing roots. Sometimes people plant one crop but keeping plants growing throughout the year feeds the soil.
Improve rotational grazing. Rotational grazing plays a role in preventing overgrazing. This practice allows vegetation to recover, promoting root growth.
Implement cover cropping and plant diversity. This protects the soil from erosion and adds organic residues. Many cover crops like peas can extend your grazing season. Plant diversity helps with crop growth but can also impact animal gains.
Use tools like the free web soil survey. This tool helps a homeowner or farmer learn more about their soil. This provides information about your starting point and potential for your soil type. Some soil types are predetermined to be bad due to texture and salinity.
Feed humate to your poultry and livestock. Feed humate to livestock free-choice and use it as a soil amendment. Humic and fulvic acid-based products can help with nutrient management to help increase forage production. These products improve soil structure, enhance nutrient uptake and increase microbial activity.( Feeding animals freechoice involves providing unrestricted access to various feed options. This method allows animals to regulate their intake).
When considering cover crops, it’ s crucial to select those that enrich the soil and support a thriving soil food web. In just a teaspoon of healthy soil, a myriad of organisms coexist. Certain cover crops excel at retaining essential nutrients and nitrogen while also attracting beneficial insects. Among the top choices for maintaining nutrient levels are alfalfa, barley, buckwheat, clover, mustard, oats, peas, radishes, ryegrass, vetch and wheat. If you choose barley, oats or wheat you’ ll even have something saleable to harvest.
Humic Acid-Based Products for Various Feed Additives
Humate has organic acids and minerals that can enhance the health of soil. It’ s about two-thirds organic acids and one-third minerals and livestock eat it just for the mineral content!
“ I feed the humate to the livestock on my ranch free-choice and use it as a soil amendment. Humic and fulvic acid-based products can help with nutrient management to help increase forage production,” he added.
“ These products improve soil structure, enhance nutrient uptake and increase microbial activity. Increasing nutrient availability, such as phosphorous, can help produce deeper roots, making pastures more resilient to drought.”
“ Anything with hooves, feathers and fins can be fed this mineral supplement. The animals are fed humate and the byproduct is rich in organic acids.” Humic acids are the backbone of your soil organic matter. For years, farmers have observed positive results from including humates in their livestock feeding programs,” Taylor said.
What about techniques for poultry to improve soil health and their overall wellbeing? The latest poultry research shows humic substances used in poultry diets improve feed conversion and egg production. Humic acid has a positive role in boosting productive performance in chickens, including nutrient utilization and absorption. This plant biostimulant is used as an alternative growth promoter for antibiotics in improving poultry health. The supplement fed in water or their diet improved feed consumption, feed efficiency, egg weight, egg mass and egg production of laying hens.
Although he may no longer have flocks of chickens due to his busy schedule and focus on organic beef, he actively participates in poultry feed studies.
“ The biggest things you see in the published research about poultry is reduced odor from waste and improved feed conversion.”
Emerging Studies
Research is advancing in areas such as adaptive multipaddock( AMP) grazing, which optimizes grazing patterns for soil health and uses amendments like humate to improve soil structure and water retention. Research has produced clear data showing that AMP grazing increases carbon sequestration and soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and improves soil microbial life.
In the veterinary field, humic acid in ruminant feed may exclude the possibility of antibiotic residue or microbial resistance. According to the latest studies exclusively about cows, humic acid supplementation increases eosinophil levels and the activity of neutrophils, protecting individual animals against bacterial pathogens and reducing mortality in acute bacterial infections.
Livestock and poultry play a critical role in enhancing soil organic matter and water conservation. Taylor and other experts encourage livestock farmers to adopt these practices and stay informed about new trends for sustainable agriculture.
26 AcreageLife August 2024 AcreageLife. com