Soil School: Do your soil a favour — put forage in the rotation скачать в хорошем качестве

Soil School: Do your soil a favour — put forage in the rotation

More organic matter, fewer weed seeds and insect pests, and a nitrogen credit: that's what farmers get when they put forage in the rotation, says independent agronomist Pat Lynch. From better soil health to higher yields, the benefits of forage — especially alfalfa — is a story that Lynch promotes passionately. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Soil School, Lynch joins host Bernard Tobin to make his pitch for farmers to plant more forage. Lynch says alfalfa brings numerous soil health benefits to a field, including increased organic matter. He notes that University of Guelph research indicates that soil organic carbon levels increase after only two years of alfalfa in the rotation. Weed control is another chapter in the forage story. Lynch says herbicide resistant weeds such as waterhemp and Canada fleabane are becoming monumental problems across North America. "The thing with waterhemp is it's an annual and it'll germinate in the springtime. You put that field in alfalfa for a couple of years, those seeds are going to germinate and they're gone." The same strategy can be employed to stamp out resistant fleabane, says Lynch. Pests are also on the forage hit list.  Lynch points out that forages can help defend against corn rootworm, a pest that growers wrestle with across North America. "If you take corn out for one year, and put alfalfa in, that gets rid of the corn rootworm. There are so many different ways that forages, especially alfalfa, benefit soil health." #farming #soil #alfalfa #soilhealth Website: https://www.realagriculture.com/soil-... Find us on our other social media platforms: Twitter:   / realagriculture   Instagram:   / realagriculture   Facebook:   / realagmedia