Collins, D.

Doug Collins

Quantifying Synergies Among Soil-Based Carbon-Drawdown Approaches

Very large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) will need to be removed from the atmosphere over the course of the next century or two to stabilize Earth’s climate at a safe temperature. A handful of C-drawdown approaches are available to perform this task, three of which involve soils: increasing stocks of soil organic matter (SOM), […]

Rotating out of weeds and into soil health: Optimizing cover crops in three Columbia Basin organic production systems

Weeds cause extensive loss in agricultural production and are particularly damaging in organic systems. Control generally relies on mechanical cultivation which reduces soil carbon, decimates soil fauna, and increases erosion potential. Cover cropping, a biologically intensive practice, can be an effective tool to reduce weed pressure and improve soil quality, but it also introduces new […]

Participatory On-Farm Agroecological Education: Assessing the Effectiveness of a 14 year Farmer-University Partnership

Recent decades have seen a growing recognition that diverse, small, organic, and sustainable farms have been underserved by standard public agricultural research and extension paradigms (FAO 2011, IAASTD 2009, IPES 2016). Following the publication of the seminal USDA report “A Time to Act” (1998), a state legislative initiative established a Small Farms Program (SFP) at […]

Strip tillage and cover cropping for enhanced water use efficiency in western Washington organic vegetable farms

Tillage is an important tool in organic systems for weed control, residue management, seedbed preparation, and regulation of spring soil temperature. As excessive tillage wastes energy and degrades soil quality, organic producers are encouraged to reduce tillage. Soil water also evaporates more quickly from bare, tilled soils, potentially increasing irrigation demand. This integrated research and […]

The effect of tillage on oxidation of soil organic carbon in organically-managed soil

Organic agriculture uses tillage for several purposes including incorporation of organic inputs. Tillage also speeds oxidation of inputs and soil organic carbon (SOC). In order to understand and model the potential of organic inputs to change total SOC, we need to better characterize the effect of tillage on the simultaneous mineralization and oxidation of inputs […]

Tillage reduction and cover cropping for enhanced soil quality and weed management in western Washington organic vegetable farms (OREI)

Organic vegetable growers in western Washington pass over their fields 10 to 20 times annually with tillage equipment ranging from spring tooth harrows to mold board plows. Soil preparation activities such as plowing, rototilling, and even spading pulverize large‐bodied soil organisms and reduce soil carbon storage and aggregates. Successful reduced tillage in organic agriculture relies […]