Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Organic and non-organic vegetable producers from Missouri and neighboring states, scientists, students, and Extension specialists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1 MSc level graduate student trained. 1 Postdoctoral associated trained. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A video story of the replicated experimental plots at LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm was produced (https://youtu.be/tOMBoRVL29o), generating163 views at the time when this reported was written. The video story is also published by the popular Cover Crop Strategies webcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkUiyRgtgiM), generating 289 views at the time of writing this report. Lincoln University Cooperative Extension is currently partnering with the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA) to train a new generation of farmers in central Missouri. On July 29, 2024, a group of 17 apprenticeships visited the Organic Transitions project plots at LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm and learned about vegetable-cover crop companion production strategies. On January 12-13, 2024, Project Director Tunsisa Hurisso presented poster at the 2024 Great Plains Growers Conference in St. Joseph, Missouri. The title of the poster presentation was: "Soil Health and Vegetable Yield Responses to Perennial versus Annual Cover Crops in Traffic Pathways." On 24 June 2024, graduate student Poonam Karki successfully defended her master's thesis titled "Integrating Living Perennial Cover Crops into Organic Vegetable Systems: Impacts on Soil Health and Cover Crop Biomass Production." Graduate student poster presentation: Poonam Karki presented a poster tilted "Integrating Living Perennial Cover Crops into Organic Vegetable Systems: Impacts on Soil Health and Cover Crop Biomass Production" at the 21st Symposium of the Association of 1890 Research Directors Inc. (ARD) held in Nashville, Tennessee, from April 6-9, 2024. She once again won a 3rd place award for her poster presentation. Graduate student poster presentation: Poonam Karki gave poster presentation at the Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies of America international conference held in St. Louis, Missouri, from October 29-November 1, 2023. Poonam Karki won a 1st place graduate student poster competition. The title of her poster was: "Evaluation of Labile C and N Indicators of Soil Health After 2-years of Living Perennial and Annual Cover Crops During Organic Vegetable Transition." What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the third year of the field season which will end in late September 2024, and we will need to collect final yield and soil data.We are planning on having three years of data to present at three major meetings: American Society of Agronomy in November 2024. Great Plains Growers Conf. in January 2025. Midwest Organic and Sustainable and Extension Conf. in February 2025. These meetings are critical for sharing scientific results with both the scientific community as well as the producers. Producing a podcast and video stories on the three-year results of our study is a large part of this grant and we plan on doing that in fall 2024 and winter 2025 after we have all of the yield and soil health results.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Below are Year 3 accomplishments broken down by the project objectives. Accomplishments by Objective Objective 1: Evaluate the impact of integrating perennial vs. annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production rows on soil health, weeds, and insect pests and diseases. Task 1: To achieve Objective 1, the following activities were performed: At the LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm, a certified organic research farm, replicated plots that consisted of 4-feet wide vegetable production beds separated by 6-feet wide walkways have been established in Year 1 of the study. The pathways between vegetable production beds were either seeded with cover crops or tilled for weed management (i.e., no cover crop control). Perennial ryegrass/white clover mix (Treatment 1) and orchard-grass/red clover mix (Treatment 2) were drill seeded in mid-October 2021 and mowed periodically since then. A mixture of sorghum-sudangrass and annual sweet clover (Treatment 3) was seeded each year: May 2022, May 2023, and May 2024. Each year, vegetable production beds were planted in an off-season cover crop mixture of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas (except for the no cover crop control): October 2021, October 2022, and October 2023. Between March and mid-May 2024, cucumber, kale and tomato transplants were propagated in the greenhouse located at Alan T. Busby Research Farm and the seedlings were transplanted in the vegetable production beds in late-May 2024 following termination of the winter wheat and Austrian winter pea cover crop mix. Soil samples collected after the final round of vegetable harvest in Year 1 and 2 have been analyzed for a multitude of soil health indicators. Using the soil data from Years 1 and 2, graduate student Poonam Karki gave poster presentation at the Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies of America international conference held in St. Louis, Missouri, from October 29-November 1, 2023. Poonam Karki won a 1st place graduate student poster competition. The title of her poster was: "Evaluation of Labile C and N Indicators of Soil Health After 2-years of Living Perennial and Annual Cover Crops During Organic Vegetable Transition." Poonam Karki presented another poster tilted "Integrating Living Perennial Cover Crops into Organic Vegetable Systems: Impacts on Soil Health and Cover Crop Biomass Production" at the 21st Symposium of the Association of 1890 Research Directors Inc. (ARD) held in Nashville, Tennessee, from April 6-9, 2024. She once again won a 3rd place award for her poster presentation. On 24 June 2024, Poonam Karki successfully defended her master's thesis titled "Integrating Living Perennial Cover Crops into Organic Vegetable Systems: Impacts on Soil Health and Cover Crop Biomass Production" and officially completed her MSc degree program. She is currently hired as a research associate (0.5 FTE) to continue working on the same project. On January 12-13, 2024, Project Director (Tunsisa Hurisso) presented poster at the 2024 Great Plains Growers Conference in St. Joseph, Missouri. The title of the poster presentation was: "Soil Health and Vegetable Yield Responses to Perennial versus Annual Cover Crops in Traffic Pathways." Objective 2: Determine the impact of integrating perennial vs. annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production beds on vegetable crop yields and nutrient uptake. Task 2: To achieve Objective 2, the following activities were performed: Kale (variety Darkibor F1), cucumber (variety Paraiso), and tomato (variety Galahad) were planted in late-May 2024, and currently all of them are being harvested until first week of September 2024. From the start of 1st harvest in late June 2024 up until now, 1352 pounds of cucumber, 217 pounds of kale, and 140 pounds of tomato have been donated to two food pantries (Catholic Charities of Northern and Central Missouri and the Samaritan Center in Jefferson City, Missouri) after completion of produce yield data collection. Cover crop aboveground biomass data is being collected until the end of September 2024. Biomass samples from Year 1 and 2 of the study were ground and analyzed for carbon and nitrogen content at University of Missouri Soil and Plant Testing Laboratory. Objective 3: Conduct collaborative on-farm research to assess the potential benefits and drawbacks of integrating perennial and/or annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into diversified vegetable systems in Missouri and Kansas. Task 3: To achieve Objective 3, the following activities were performed: Three collaborator producers are involved in this study. The type of vegetable crop produced at each collaborator's site varied based on collaborator's choice, but all three of them established perennial ryegrass in the pathways between vegetable production beds. For the control, the pathway had no-cover crop and involved tillage for weed control. Soil samples collected from collaborator farmer fields were analyzed for a suite of soil health indicators, including active carbon (a.k.a. permanganate oxidizable carbon, soil respiration, potentially mineralizable nitrogen, and phospholipid fatty acids). Soil test reports have been shared with the producers. Objective 4: Perform economic analyses assessing the cost of inputs, labor, and the value of marketable vegetable produce associated with each set of cover crop-cash crop companion production system relative to the corresponding control(s) considered in the study. Task 4: To achieve Objective 4, the following activities were performed: Collected data on current market price for each vegetable crop produced, along with cost of inputs (seeds of vegetables and annual cover crops). This will be used in the economic analysis at the end of the study period. Objective 5: Effectively educate diverse vegetable producers within and beyond Missouri about the implications of cover crop management strategies investigated in this study through university field days, workshops, video/virtual field days, along with farmer cooperator field days. Task 5: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 5 include: A video story of the replicated experimental plots at LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm was produced (https://youtu.be/tOMBoRVL29o), generating163 views at the time when this reported was written. The video story is also published by the popular Cover Crop Strategies webcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkUiyRgtgiM), generating 289 views at the time of writing this report. Lincoln University Cooperative Extension is currently partnering with the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA) to train a new generation of farmers in central Missouri. On July 29, 2024, a group of 17 apprenticeships visited the Organic Transitions project plots at LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm and learned about vegetable-cover crop companion production strategies.

Publications

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Organic and non-organic vegetable producers from Missouri and Kansas states, students, and research and Extension faculty and staff from both Lincoln University of Missouri and University of Missouri-Columbia. Changes/Problems:Organic seed availability is one major problem that the project team faced during this reporting period. For example, of the organic vegetable varieties we used in year 1 of the study - i.e., "Darkibor F1" kale, "Corinto F1" cucumber, and "Wisconsin 55" tomato - seeds of the latter two were unavailable in the market for year 2 of the study. Thus, "Paraiso" cucumber and "Galahad" tomato varieties were used in place of Corinto F1 and Wisconsin 55, respectively. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? A graduate student, Poonam Karki, who was recruited as part of this project has successfully completed first year of coursework and involved in the ongoing research including field data collection, laboratory analyses of samples, and will present first and second year project results in the the 2023 Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America meeting, which will be held from October 29-November 1 in St. louis, Missouri. One postdoctoral research associate who is partially supported by the project has been trained in the laboratory procedures to conduct a multitude of soil health tests including soil respiration via 24-hour CO2 evolution, permanganate oxidizable carbon, several enzyme activities, and ACE soil protein at the PD's lab. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Lincoln University Cooperative Extension is currently partnering with the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture to train the new generation of farmers in central Missouri. On July 24, 2023, a farm tour was held to showcase the Organic Transitions project plots at LU Alan T. Busby Research Farm. There were 15 participants. As described above, an abstract has been submitted and accepted by the Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America and a graduate student will present project results from first two years of study at the meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project team will continue the tasks/activities described under each of the five project objectives just as it has been done in the first two years of the study.While the ORG granting period runs only for 3-years (fall 2021-summer 2024), this project was designed in a such way that in year 4 of the study (i.e., fall 2024 - summer 2025), the vegetable beds will be moved over to the pathways where cover crops had been growing for three consecutive years, allowing the research team to evaluate the cumulative impacts of three-years of annual vs. perennial cover crops on soil health, yields of vegetables, and other effects including weed density and diversity as well as insect pests and diseases. Thus, we will likely request a no-cost extension after next reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Below are year 2 accomplishments broken down by the project objectives. Project Progress by Objective Objective 1: Evaluate the impact of integrating perennial vs. annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production rows on soil health, weeds, and insect pests and diseases. Task 1: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 1 include: At the LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm, a certified organic research farm, replicated plots that consisted of 4-feet wide vegetable production beds separated by 6-feet wide walkways have been established in year 1 of the study. The pathways between vegetable production beds were either seeded with cover crops or tilled for weed management (i.e., no cover crop control). Perennial ryegrass/white clover mix (Treatment 1) and orchard-grass/red clover mix (Treatment 2) were drill seeded in mid-October 2021 and mowed periodically since then. A mixture of sorghum-sudangrass and annual sweet clover (Treatment 3) was first seeded in May 2022 and again in May 2023; The vegetable beds were planted in an off-season cover crop mixture of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas (except for the no cover crop control) in October 2021 and again in October 2022. The latter was tilled into the soil in mid-May 2023 prior to planting vegetable crops; Between March and mid-May 2023, cucumber, kale and tomato transplants were propagated in the greenhouse and the seedlings were transplanted in the vegetable production beds in late-May 2023 following termination of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas; Soil samples collected after the final round of vegetable harvest in year 1 have been analyzed for a multitude of soil health indicators; Using the soil data from year 1 & 2, an abstract has been submitted to the 2023 Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America meeting, which will be held from October 29-November 1 in St. louis, Missouri. A graduate student, Poonam Karki, who was recruited as part of this project will present first year project results in the meeting. Objective 2: Determine the impact of integrating perennial vs. annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production beds on vegetable crop yields and nutrient uptake. Task 2: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 2 include: Collected 2nd year vegetable harvest data. (Note: Of the organic varieties we used in year 1 of the study - i.e., "Darkibor F1" kale, "Corinto F1" cucumber, and "Wisconsin 55" tomato - seeds of the latter two were unavailable in the market for year 2 of the study. Thus, "Paraiso" cucumber and "Galahad" tomato varieties were used in place of Corinto F1 and Wisconsin 55, respectively.) All three vegetables (Darkibor F1, Paraiso, Galahad) were planted in late-May 2023, harvested during the summer, and will continue to do so until end of September. Thus far, more than 1000 pounds of produce have been donated to Catholic Charities of Northern and Central Missouri and to the Samaritan Center in Jefferson City, MO, after completion of produce yield data collection; Collected 2nd year cover crop aboveground biomass data and will continue to do so until end of September; Cover crops biomass samples from both 1st and 2nd year of the study have been ground and will soon be analyzed for carbon and nitrogen content at University of Missouri Soil and Plant Testing Laboratory. Objective 3: Conduct collaborative on-farm research to assess the potential benefits and drawbacks of integrating perennial and/or annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into diversified vegetable systems in Missouri and Kansas. Task 3: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 3 include: All three of our collaborating producers visited the replicated experimental plots at LU Alan T. Busby Research Farm in August 2022. Then, all three of them established their own on-farm trials in October 2022. They spaded the vegetable production beds, then spadedthe test plot pathways and left the control as is. They hand broadcast all cover cropseeds. The perennial ryegrass in the pathways established well. Clover not as much, but there is some. They only needed to mow the pathways once since establishment. One of the producers commented: "I like the rye in the pathways. It's very pleasant to work in. The control pathways had a lot of spiky weeds (like thistle and horse nettle) and morning glory." The winter wheat all came up in the production areas and was decent cover. Producers flail mowedthe wheat and spaded in the residue in May 2023. Vegetable crops were planted into white on black plastic in late May 2023. At one location, all vegetable crops struggled and were destroyed in July by a swarm of blister beetles. They did not recover. According to the producer, June's dry hot weather was too much for all the plants. The plants were irrigated, but it only helped so much. Objective 4: Perform economic analyses assessing the cost of inputs, labor, and the value of marketable vegetable produce associated with each set of cover crop-cash crop companion production system relative to the corresponding control(s) considered in the study. Task 4: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 4 include: Collected data on current market price for each vegetable crop produced, along with cost of inputs (seeds of vegetables and cover crops). This will be used in the economic analysis at the end of the study period. Objective 5: Effectively educate diverse vegetable producers within and beyond Missouri about the implications of cover crop management strategies investigated in this study through university field days, workshops, video/virtual field days, along with farmer cooperator field days. Task 5: Activities performed in the second year of the project to achieve Obj. 5 include: In October 2021 (1st year of the study), demonstration plots were established at the University of Missouri (MU) Jefferson Farm and Garden where a 90-feet by 84-feet area was split into nine 4-feet wide vegetable productions rows, alternating with 6-feet wide travel pathways. (Note: The demonstration plots at MU's Jefferson Farm and Garden are replicated only two times); Travel pathways between vegetable production beds were either seeded with cover crop mixtures of ryegrass/white clover, orchard-grass/red clover, sorghum-Sudangrass and annual sweet clover, or tilled to simulate the favored method used by vegetable growers to control weeds between vegetable productions beds; In year 2, vegetable production beds were planted in an off-season cover crop mixture of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas in fall 2022, terminated in May 2023, and vegetables were transplanted in early-June 2023; In summer 2023, the project team will be showcasing the demonstration plots at Jefferson Farm and Garden at the popular Tomato Festival on September 7th (annual attendance 1000+). Additionally, video stories of the demonstration plots at Jefferson Farm and Garden and the replicated experimental plots at LU Alan T. Busby Research Farm will be done in September 2023. Lincoln University Cooperative Extension is currently partnering with the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture to train the new generation of farmers in central Missouri. On July 24, 2023, a farm tour was held to showcase the Organic Transitions project plots at LU Alan T. Busby Research Farm. There were 15 participants.

Publications

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Organic and non-organic vegetable growers from Missouri and Kansas, students, andresearch and Extension faculty and staff from both Lincoln University of Missouri and University of Missouri-Columbia. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One MS-level graduate student (Poonam Karki) has been recruited and started her coursework in fall 2022-semester. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A news article has been distributed to local and regional media outlets highlighting first year project progress (see https://www.lincolnu.edu/news/2022/10/usda-organic-transitions-farming-grant.html). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is a 3-year project invlving research at Lincoln University of Missouri Alan T. Busby Organic research Farm, demonstration at University of Missouri's Jefferson Farm and Garden, and on-farm research/innovation trials at cooperator producer sites. For the next reporting period, we plan to continue collecting research data from LU's Alan T. Busby Organic Research Farm, hosting field days at both MU's Jefferson Farm and Garden as well as at producers' sites, including presentation of results at regional/national conferences by the graduate student and the PD.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Summary Year 1 was a big success. Following NIFA's official award notification, Lincoln University (LU) Marketing and University Relations issued press release in September 2021 to make official announcement on the project; we held project initiation and planning meeting (via Zoom) with our project advisory board on October 4th, 2021; conducted a baseline soil sampling and established fully replicated experimental plots at Lincoln University (LU) Alan T. Busby Organic Research Farm, seeded our perennial cover crop treatments in late-September / early October of 2021, planted the annual cover crop treatment and vegetable crops in May 2022, collected first year cover crop aboveground biomass and vegetable harvest data, collected soil samples after first year vegetable harvest; established demonstration plots at University of Missouri Jefferson Farm and Garden; recruited MS-level graduate student (Poonam Karki) who started her coursework in fall 2022-semester; distributed a News article in September 2022 to publicize the first year project progress (https://www.lincolnu.edu/news/2022/10/usda-organic-transitions-farming-grant.html), and have established three on-farm trials at our cooperator-producers sites where cover crops of producers' choice were seeded in October 2022. Below are our year 1 accomplishments, in brief. Project Progress by Objective Objective 1: Evaluate the impact of integrating perennial and annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production rows on soil health, weeds, and pests (insects and diseases). Critical Accomplishments Task 1: During the first year of the project performance period, multiple activities were performed including the following: -Following NIFA's official award notification on 15 September 2021, Lincoln University (LU) Marketing and University Relations Office made an official announcement on the project; -On 4 October 2021, a project advisory board meeting was held via Zoom for planning and project initiation including discussion centered around selection of cover crop treatments for the on-farm trials; -At the LU's Alan T. Busby Research Farm, a certified organic research farm, we established replicated plots that consist of 4-ft. wide vegetable production beds separated by 6-ft. wide traffic paths, or walkways. The traffic paths between vegetable production beds were either seeded with cover crops or tilled for weed management (i.e., no-cover tilled control). Ryegrass/white clover mix (Treatment 1) and orchard-grass/red clover mix (Treatment 2) were drill seeded in mid-October 2021. A mixture of sorghum-sudangrass and annual sweet clover (Treatment 3) was seeded in May 2022; -The vegetable beds were planted in an off-season cover crop mixture of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas (except for the no-cover tilled control) in October 2021. The winter wheat and peas were tilled into the soil in May 2022 to help provide nitrogen for vegetable crops; Cucumber, kale and tomato transplants were produced in the greenhouse and transplanted in the vegetable production beds in May 2022 following termination of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas; -Following the final vegetable harvest, we collected soil samples in late-September 2022. The soil samples are being analyzed for multiple soil health indicators. Objective 2: Determine the impact of integrating perennial and annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into travel paths between vegetable production beds on vegetable crop yields and nutrient uptake. Task 2: Activities performed to achieve Objective 3 include the following: -Collected first year vegetable harvest data. Three vegetable varieties (Darkibor F1 organic kale, Corinto F1 organic cucumber, and Wisconsin 55 organic tomato) that were planted in late-May 2022 have been harvested during the summer and fall of 2022. -Donated more than 1000 pounds of produce to Catholic Charities of Northern and Central Missouri after completion of produce yield data collection; -Collected first year cover crop aboveground biomass data;Note: Nutrient uptake data will be collected in the 4th year of the project when vegetable production beds are moved over to cover cropped areas. Objective 3: Conduct collaborative on-farm research to assess the potential benefits and drawbacks of integrating perennial and/or annual grass/legume cover crop mixes into diversified vegetable systems in Missouri and Kansas. Task 3: To achieve Objective 3, activities performed include the following: -Established demonstration plots at the University of Missouri (MU) Jefferson Farm and Garden where a 90-ft. by 84-ft. area was split into nine 4-ft. wide vegetable productions rows, alternating with 6-ft. wide travel pathways. (Note: The demonstration plots at MU's Jefferson Farm and Garden are replicated only two times); -The vegetable production beds were planted in an off-season cover crop mixture of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas (except for the no-cover tilled control) in October 2021; -In spring 2022, the travel pathways between vegetable production beds were either seeded with cover crop mixtures of ryegrass/white clover (Treatment 1), orchard-grass/red clover (Treatment 2), sorghum-Sudangrass and annual sweet clover (Treatment 3), or tilled to simulate the favored method used by vegetable producers to control weeds between vegetable productions beds; -Three vegetable crop varieties (Darkibor F1 organic kale, Corinto F1 organic cucumber, and Wisconsin 55 organic tomato) were transplanted in the vegetable production beds in May 2022 following termination of winter wheat and Austrian winter peas; -Established three on-farm trials at our cooperator-producer sites where a cover crop mixture of perennial ryegrass/white clover was seeded in October 2022. Objective 4: Perform economic analyses assessing the cost of inputs, labor, and the value of marketable vegetable produce associated with each set of cover crop-cash crop companion production system relative to the corresponding control(s) considered in the study. Task 4: Activities performed under Objective 4 include the following: -Vegetable market price, along with production input (vegetable and cover crops seeds) cost, has been collected and will be used for economic analysis. Objective 5: Effectively educate diverse vegetable producers within and beyond Missouri about the implications of the advanced cover crop management practices investigated in this study through university field days, workshops, video/virtual field days, along with farmer cooperator field days. Task 5: Regarding Objective 5, activities performed include the following: -On 11 August 2022, held two field days. One at LU Alan T. Busby Research Farm (11 participants) and another at MU's Jefferson Farm and Garden (7 participants) to showcase the research and demonstration plots to the stakeholders; -On 3 November 2022, conducted a farm tour at one of the cooperator productors' site (Millsap Farm). There were eight participants at the event. -Distributed a news article titled "Lincoln University of Missouri Researchers Tackle Weed control in Organic Crops" to local and regional media outlets for possible coverage in spring 2023. The news article is published at LU's website (see https://www.lincolnu.edu/news/2022/10/usda-organic-transitions-farming-grant.html).

Publications