OF August September 2021e

Cover crops also help break up the soil
and help with water absorption.
“You can think of each blade of grass as
being a straw and providing a vehicle,
a pathway for water infiltration and
absorption into the ground,” Handy
said. “In time, you can really increase
your water infiltration. We don’t want
anything to sheet off or suffer erosion.”
In-row cover crop growing at the California Olive Ranch olive oil orchard test-acreage in
Oroville, Calif.
He goes on to say that the more you can
increase life in the soil, the higher and
faster the infiltration rates.
Continued from Page 39
fumigating, spraying and applications
of fungicides, herbicides and synthetic
fertilizers.
“The more we do these practices, the
more we are chained to them because
it creates a system void of microbes,”
he added. “I like to call them trees on
life-support.”
Cover Crops
California Olive Ranch is working to
regain the natural biology, both in
diversity and quantity.
“We can do that by increasing the
amount of green cover on our fields.
So, we plant a very diverse cover crop,
diversity being a key,” Handy said.
According to Dr. Christine Jones, soil
ecologist and cover crop specialist and
founder of Amazing Carbon in Australia,
multi-species covers in orchard and
vineyard inter-rows provide the perfect
vehicle to capture and store soil carbon,
increase water-use efficiency, improve
the nutrient density, flavor and keeping
qualities of produce and reduce the
incidence of pests and disease.
“Dr. Jones’ suggestion in cover crop
diversity is eight-plus species,” Handy
added. “That includes nitrogen fixers,
other broadleaves and grasses.”
This year is the second year the Oroville
test-acreage has been planted in diverse
cover crop.
“We planted in the fall in anticipation
MyAgLife
“For us, this is still all in theory as this
Da
is only the second year we are implementing
these practices,” Handy said.
“But we have seen the studies, and we
know there are things we can do to
increase soil health, and soil health is
determined by the amount of biology
you have working for you in the system.
To have that, you need carbon, and
in order to have carbon, you need a
source.”
of a good rainy season so we have a
good stand of cover crop,” Handy said.
“That is one thing we can do to increase
biology.”
In addition, the ranch is working to
maximize the plant matter on top of
the soil.
“That plant matter will eventually become
carbon, and releases an abundance
of root exudates into the soil,
what is referred to as liquid carbon, and
we want that in the soil, in the system,”
Handy explained.
The ranch tries to stall mowing until
the cover crop reaches ‘boot-stage’ to
maximize growth.
“What you see on top is what you would
see in the ground,” Handy added. “This
adds organic material, and that breaks
down into organic matter to feed the
soil. As you increase organic matter,
you also increase water retention. The
formula is something like for every 1%
increase in organic matter, you have
25,000 gallons of water retention.”
In a study at UF/IFAS Extension, the
research team said just like a sponge,
soils with high organic matter and
aggregates can absorb and hold water
during rainfall events and deliver it to
plants during dry spells.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service states that “for every 1%
increase in soil organic matter, U.S.
cropland could store the amount of
water that flows over Niagara Falls in
150 days.”
For the test-acreage, that means cover
crop and compost.
“Those are the two primary sources of
carbon. We put on 2 tons of vegetative
compost per acre. We also did a trial of
sheep grazing on 20 acres of the Oroville
acreage, and we found it to be very
successful,” Handy said.
The sheep program provided two-fold
benefits through grazing and natural
fertilizers from the ruminants. Handy
said they plan on increasing the sheep
grazing program due to its success in
the trial.
“Although what we are working towards
right now is just in theory, if we are going
to go the organic route, we are going
to go the route of a holistic system
approach where we specifically look
at the system as a whole to increase its
overall health, to decrease the need for
input and increase the quality of the
overall product,” Handy said.
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40 Organic Farmer August/September 2021