In the Puget Sound Region, it’s clear that climate change impacts will involve changes in precipitation that will impact agriculture, especially agriculture in floodplain areas (Mauger et al. 2015). However, it’s not yet known how precipitation pattern changes will combine with changes in stormwater run-off and sea-level rise…
As a long time farmer and recent graduate student, going to conferences like the Tilth Conference are opportunities to go see my people. People who know what it is like to work where they live and work hours that are not governed by a clock but by the work that needs to be done. The conference is also an opportunity for those that live with dirt on their boots to shake hands and share thoughts/ideas and a meal with the researcher…
Since my 2016 post, “Cover crop best bet is monoculture, not mix,” I have continued to follow the research on cover crop mixtures looking for evidence contrary to my prior conclusions. However, I found much the same as when I wrote the 2017 update of the post. In this 2018 update, I cover all the research I found published during the past year, give some guidelines for conditions under which mixture research should be done to match…
What will climate change look like on Pacific Northwest rangelands, which cover a huge area of our region? It will undoubtedly have complex impacts on the physical environment, environmental stressors, socio-economic factors…
Topsoil has often been referred to as the “thin skin” of our planet, essential for producing the food that feeds us. Because it’s not easy to create new topsoil, conserving the soil that we have is essential…
In a previous post, I argued that green manures require big biomass to achieve benefits that outweigh the damage done by tilling the crop into the soil. This is the point-in-time need, but…
Green manuring is the lesser-used option in cover cropping. Most cover crops are killed and left on the soil surface, but green manures are tilled into the soil. That is where they have their unique effects. They feed …
Wheat residue on field near Ritzville, Washington, which is part of the a grain-fallow cropping system. (Photo: D. Kilgore) In non-irrigated areas that are too dry to support annual cropping, fallow (the practice of leaving…
Anne Schwartz is a long-time CSANR Advisory Committee member, former Tilth Producers of Washington president, proprietor of Blue Heron Farm, and lifelong advocate for sustainable agriculture. Anne is a guest blogger, challenging College of Agricultural,…
Farmer and long-time CSANR advisory committee member, Dale Gies. Photo: S. Kantor. What are the climate impacts of a given farm practice? While we know lots of strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on farms,…
