701 No Cows? No Problem.
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Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I had intended to get Season 7 going again in February, but I decided to take a little more time to focus on what I actually wanted from the podcast this year. Samantha Stilwell is probably someone none of you know, but she's become a good friend of mine on LinkedIn. We don't have any professional interests in common, and I think that's why we've been able to connect so well. We can talk about business stuff without worrying about being in each other's spaces.
What we do hold in common is wanting to run independent businesses and follow our passions in life. We're both using exactly what we went to school for and want to make it into a career. You're probably curious what she does: she's a cultural anthropologist. She's been posting lately about slowing down production for the content machine. The more you feed it, the more it asks for. So, for this year, I'm going to focus on one thoughtful episode a month and call that good.
I still plan to take a winter break, though. The podcast will go until November or December then I'll take January and February off. These past few months have been great. For all of us involved in agriculture, the summer is the busy season. It's also the fun season. I love seeing things come to life! But there is something nice about the winter hibernation time—the time to slow down, do less, and read more.
Podcast Intro
So, if you're new here, let me introduce myself. My name is Scott Gillespie and I'm an author and independent agronomist rooted in the Canadian Prairies focusing on Climate-Smart Agriculture. I share science-based practices that benefit the planet while contributing to the profitability and resiliency of those who farm it.
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Business Highlight
In last episode of Season 6, I talked about how the winter would be mostly about funding programs. I also managed to get some press about my services. I had spoken with a reporter back in the fall from the The Furrow (John Deere's monthly publication), and I only realized the article had been published when I started getting inquiries from people specifically referencing it! If you’d like to read it, it’s a bit tricky to link directly because it redirects to the main page, so just head to my Media page and look for the article called Agrologist, Accountant, Grant Writer? — then click on "PDF."
The funding season is mostly wrapped up now. Many of the programs are already full for the year, and I expect the last one to fill up at any moment. It’s critical to be prepared before these programs open so that your application is near the top of the list. If any new opportunities open through the summer, I’ll highlight them here — but I don’t expect much until fall and winter.
Featured Article
An interesting development this winter is that Better Farming – Prairies has invited me to be a regular contributor to their magazine. I’m not sure yet whether this will be for every edition, but so far I have articles in the April and May/June editions. I’ll be profiling these as they’re published in future podcast episodes. I’m planning to highlight it a month after its release to ensure the links work properly and that you’ll be able to download it right away. If you receive the print edition, this also gives time for it to arrive in your mailbox.
Another publication I regularly write for is the Lethbridge County Rural Living and Extension Newsletter. I’ll be profiling these articles in between the Better Farming ones. Since they’re moving to a twice-yearly schedule, they’ll appear less frequently.
This change—from doing a standalone agronomy-focused episode each month to profiling published articles—is part of my rethink on content. Rather than producing separate podcast content and written articles, I’m aiming to focus on one solid piece of content per month and share it here. There’s already so much out there that I don’t need to add to the noise.
Interesting Articles I've Come Across
Now it's been a while since I've updated you on the other news articles that I've come across. There have been a lot! But rather than list a whole bunch of them, I'm going to focus on three of the best ones I've seen and hopefully encourage you to read them in full. They aren't the top headlines of the day. They are the things that when you really get down to it are the ones that will move the needle on your efforts to make a resilient and profitable farm.
Assessing the Impact of Grazing Annual Forage Cover Crops in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System
This is an article that I came across while working on some client work this winter. I wasn't do all funding work! I was reviewing curriculum for an organization and this was listed as one of the supplemental readings. This ended up to be one of the most important studies that I've come across for years!
So here's the setup: Take a standard rotation of legume / cereal / oilseed / cereal and replace the broadleaf years with an annual forage. The annual forage could be a simple mixture of oats & barley or it could be complex mixture - usually referred to as cocktail cover crop blends. Proponents of integrating animals into cropping systems will tell you that this will improve the soil health and lead to greater productivity. The most zealous will insist they have to be multi-species blends and they have to be rotationally grazed. For this study they did that: cocktail cover crop blends with cattle to graze them for an entire year out of cash crop production. If you're going to see an effect, you should see it in this experiment.
This study was completed over four years and at multiple sites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There were sites at research stations but there were also sites on farmers fields. The good news is that they were able to change the soil health scores when growing these multi-species blends. They also found that in good growing conditions the multi-species blends gave higher biomass and equal or better forage quality. The bad news is that multi-species blends had a lot more diversity than was planted (they had a lot more weeds).
The disappointing news was that the soil health scores didn't last. They were transient. When the cereal was planted again there were no differences as compared to the standard rotation where a broadleaf crop was grown and the seed harvested. They also found that the grazing didn't affect the soil health scores. The change in the soil health values was entirely related to the crop that was grown. Finally, the yield of the crop following the annual forage was not impacted.
So what does this mean? If the economics of grazing make more sense than growing another cash crop - go ahead. However, if you don't have cattle, don't want them, or don't have neighbours nearby that can bring them onto the land, don't worry. You're not missing out on the latest and greatest in soil health.
Cover Crop Benefits Depend on Biomass: How Much do You Need?
https://csanr.wsu.edu/cover-crop-benefits-depend-on-biomass-how-much-do-you-need/
When it comes to cover crops many studies conclude that biomass drives the effect. In other words, the more plant growth there is, the greater the chance is that it is doing what you want to do. Since it is so hard to measure root growth the best proxy we have for this is to measure what grows above ground.
I've always said that the first thing you do is to make sure your soil isn't moving - whether by wind or water erosion. Once 60% of the soil surface is covered by plants the risk of erosion is reduced by 80%. In the studies this was usually achieved with 0.75 ton/ac of biomass, on a dry matter basis. To help visualize this, 6" of growth represents about 250-500 lbs depending on whether the stand is thin or thick. At the average of 375 lbs this means you need 24" or 2' of growth to effectively stop erosion. However, even just some plants are better than nothing, so don't let that discourage you from planting a cover crop when erosion is a concern.
When it comes to fixing nitrogen from the air or capturing the leftover in the soil, 12-18" of growth is needed. If you want to increase soil organic matter you need to get above 30" of growth. Weed suppression is where it gets challenging. For organic no-till you need a lot: 7200 lb/ac. This corresponds to a little over 9' of growth at the average biomass accumulation. If you have a thick stand this comes down to 6-7' of growth. Even when looking for a moderate level of suppression you need 2-3' of growth.
So I want you to think about how much cover crop growth you get in the fall after harvesting a crop. I rarely see more than 6" of growth before freeze up. This is why we just don't see the benefits of cover crops here in the Prairies. They have an effect where there is a longer season and there is more rain. But when every drop counts and the season is so short, you really need to question why you are putting the time and money into a cover crop.
Where the ‘Wood-Wide Web’ Narrative Went Wrong
https://undark.org/2023/05/25/where-the-wood-wide-web-narrative-went-wrong/
I came across this when I found a new podcast called "In Defense of Plants" and started going through the back catalogue. The person who co-authored this opinion piece was on Ep. 425 What Data Tell Us About the "Wood Wide Web". How does this relate to agriculture? Just listen to the first two paragraphs:
"Over the past few years [2021/2022], a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.
But is any of it true?
The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike."
I encourage you to check out the full article. I see the same thing happening when talking about fungal networks in agriculture. Yes, they are a real thing. But no, we don't have to change the entire system due to this discovery.
Thanks for listening! If you found something thought-provoking—or want to share a piece I should check out—get in touch. On Spotify, you can leave a voice message. On other platforms, just follow the links in the episode description to get to my website — www.plantsdigsoil.com — and send me a message through the contact page.
While you’re there, be sure to check out my book: Practical Regeneration: Realistic Strategies for Climate-Smart Agriculture. I keep the podcast free, and if you’d like to give a little back, buying the book is a great way to do it. In Canada, I can mail it to you for same price as retail: $28 (GST & shipping included). I can do this because there's no bookstore margin. I just put some of that cost towards the shipping cost and still make my authors royalty. If you're local I just ask $20 when we can meet in person. It's also available in some local independent bookstores (check the listings on my website). Worldwide, it’s available through major booksellers or directly from the publisher. Print-on-demand is a bit pricier due to courier costs, but that’s the tradeoff for global distribution.
If you need agronomy help—whether you're on the prairies or not—get in touch. All my pricing is listed transparently on the website. I can work in person, online, or a combination of the two. If you're not a farmer but your organization needs support for a specific project, feel free to reach out through the contact page. I have put together many custom packages over the years and I'm sure we can come up with something that works for both of us.
And of course, you can always help me by sharing the episode directly with someone who might enjoy it or post to your social networks.
Here’s to growing more, believing less, and always digging a little deeper.
