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