Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience includes farmers, educators, and the general public. We have reached these groups through presentatons at professional meetings, meetings for growers, field days, and through electronic media, webinars and websites. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? We have held interactive sessions at field days and grower conferences, given webinars through eOrganic and the NRCS, and organized a panel discussion at the National Soil and Water Conservation Society's annual meeting. The panel discussion "Beg, Borrow or Steal to Improve Stewardship: Will Segmenting Midwest Row Crop Actors Improve Management?" considered how technical standards and decision tools might be used to alter lease agreements and federal programs to improve stewardship and be tailored for effective use by different farming segments, consumers, and the public. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Interactive session: Partnerships for Conservation Innovation Field Day, Alison Organic Research and Demonstration Farm, Illinois Organic Growers Association. Roseville IL. August, 2011. Wander, M.M. Benefits of Organic Management. Organic Environmental Benefits: Climate Change & Water Quality Use Session. Invited speaker. Organic Trade Association, All Things Organic, Expo East. Baltimore, MD. September, 2011. Wander, M.M. Organic Agriculture and Soil Conservation. Invited presentation. Illinois Specialty Growers, Agritourism and Organic Conference. Springfield, IL. January, 2011. Wander, M. and C. Ugarte. Soil Quality and Stewardship. Invited presentation. MOSES and the Illinois Organic Growers Association's Organic Grain Production, Soil Carbon Monitoring, and Cover Crops Field Day.Malta IL. September, 2012. Ugarte, C., Zaborski, E. and M. M. Wander. Total and Active Soil Carbon Fractions in Row Crop Systems Under Organic and Conventional Management: Assessment for Adequate Sampling. Volunteered presentation. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. Cincinnati OH. October, 2012. Wander, M., Jackson, L., Snapp, S. and Grossman, J. Highlights from E-organic's Soils and Climate Change Communities. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting.Cincinnati, OH. October, 2012. Andrews, S.A., Ugarte, C. and M.M. Wander. eOrganic Webinar. NRCS Conservation Practices Organic Management and Soil Health Webinar.http://www.extension.org/pages/67366/. Also on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87poEEwckvM. March, 2013. Wander, M. and C. Ugarte.Methods and Metrics for Soil Conservation and Stewardship; What Works for You? For the Organic Track at the Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism and Organic Conference, Springfield, IL. January, 2014. Wander, M. , Ugarte, C. and E. Phillips. Illinois Grain Farmers' Goals and Soil Stewardship Behaviors. For theNational Soil and Water Conservation Meeting. Chicago, IL. July, 2014. Wander, M., Ugarte, C. and E. Phillips. Beg, Borrow, or Steal to Improve Soil Stewardship: Will Segmenting Midwest Row Crop Actors Improve Management? Panel discussion at the National Soil and Water Conservation Meeting, Chicago, IL. July, 2014. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Sampling and preliminary analyses of data gathered from 72 farm fields and participating farmers have been completed. The field sampling effort assesses how different soil management practices influence soil function including soil productivity and soil carbon storage by comparing soils from organically managed farms with soils from conventionally managed sites that have used standard and reduced tillage practices for at least five years. We sampled fields that had been in corn or soybeans the previous year with a truck-mounted soil probe, taking 5.08 cm soil cores to a depth of 60 cm from a 10-acre area within each field. Soil analyses include: standard soil test measures (pH, plant available P and K, base saturation), texture and bulk density, soil organic carbon (SOC), particulate organic matter (POM), soil biological activity using fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDA) and nitrogen mineralization potential (PMN). All analyses are completed and we are finalizing individualized reports for the farmers who participated in the project. The report format modifies the standard soil test to emphasize the functional role of indicators and permit individuals to determine where their values fall in terms of optimums and study norms. We used year one data for power analysis to determine that sampling efforts can be optimized to detect 7% SOC (1.26 Mg SOC ha-1) change with a 90% degree of precision by collecting 16 samples per 10 acre field in a grid sampling design. Power analysis also indicated we needed to sample a greater number of locations than originally proposed to draw robust conclusions about the relative ability of different practices to build SOC and that study power is greater for important dynamic properties (eg: POM, FDA and PMN) that might be used to index stewardship more readily than total SOC. Management histories were used to run evaluation tools and models to predict outcomes for individual farms. The CMT scores ranked Org>Conv-reduced till>Conv-full till, with scores for Org systems being twice those computed for the Conv-full till systems. Measured data suggests organic and conservation management are similar in their ability to increase SOC and active organic matter stocks; the CMT tool over estimates benefits of organic management; and the Century Model accurately ranks sequestration potential if it is initialized and run with detailed field management and yield histories. A mixed method approach was used to apply the theory of planned behavior to and explore the attitudes, norms and perceptions of participants in order to identify groups of farmers and issues that influence practice choice and farmers' willingness to participate in programs to incentivize carbon sequestration and resource conservation. We found business orientation, land access and social connectedness most influence farmers practice choice and propensity to participate in voluntary stewardship efforts. This information can be used to segment producers into groups with distinct information/programmatic needs. Farmer input suggests refining management within segments is unlikely to improve stewardship unless information can somehow reverse trends of farm-size expansion and increasingreliance on crop insurance that promotes resource degradation and discourages conservation. Our results will improve instruments used to assess C sequestration rates and ecosystem services on organic farms and help to identify practices that perform well enough to allow organic farmers to compete for carbon trading and conservation programs. In addition, we are developing indicators that will be useful to individuals, planners, andbusiness entities.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Ugarte, M.C., Kwon, H.-Y., Andrews, S.A. and M.M. Wander. A meta-analysis of soil organic matter response to soil management practices in the continental United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 69:422-430.
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Farmers, educators, researchers, and policy makers. Changes/Problems: We received a no cost extension so the date should be rolled back one year to be 2014. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The second part of our study evaluates tools used to predict changes in carbon sequestration, soil quality and the associated benefits resulting from different farming practices and determines barriers to the use of instruments that rank system performance. We are considering practice-based instruments (organic certification, NRCS program tools, and process models) that focus on soil stewardship and carbon sequestration. We have used a mixed method approach that includes focus groups, interviews, and a quantitative survey to apply the theory of planned behavior to identify groups of farmers and issues that influence practice choice and willingness to participate in the program to incentivize carbon sequestration and resource conservation. The qualitative research phase has been completed. First year efforts included farmer focus groups, expert interviews and a design workshop that used clickers to document behavior and attitude change. We used a post-then-pre instrument design for the clicker exercise to allow participants to more accurately assess their baseline behaviors. First year efforts were used to inform qualitative farmer interviews conducted in 2012 and 2013 that are being used to develop scales, refine questions about attitudes, norms, and perceived and actual behavioral control factors. The qualitative summary is being used to design a quantitative survey that will be distributed in this winter. Farm interviews have also been used to gather management history needed to run evaluation tools and models to predict outcomes for individual farms. Preliminary analysis of the CMT shows that the tool ranks the performance of organic farms more highly than conventionally tilled grain farms for all eight macro-concerns. Average CMT scores (conservation points) for organic and conventional farms using conservation tillage both exceed the stewardship thresholds for all eight macro-concerns. Organic systems ranked highest in all cases except for energy. Conventionally-managed farms that use standard tillage practices failed to meet stewardship thresholds for all areas except for plant production. These results will be compared with estimates for carbon sequestration, erosion, and greenhouse gas emissions made using process models that are widely used to rank or inventory stewardship. Where possible, sub-scores for macro-concerns are being compared against measured properties that are dominant contributing factors within the NRCS scoring system. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Extension and/or education activities completed or upcoming: Wander, M.M. Methods and Metrics for Soil Conservation and Stewardship; What Works for You? Interactive session. Partnerships for Conservation Innovation Field Day, Alison Organic Research and Demonstration Farm, Illinois Organic Growers Association. Roseville IL. August 3, 2011. Wander, M.M. Benefits of Organic Management. Organic Environmental Benefits: Climate Change & Water Quality Use Session. Invited speaker. Organic Trade Association, All Things Organic, Expo East. Baltimore, MD. September 2011. Wander, M.M. Organic Agriculture and Soil Conservation. Invited presentation. Illinois Specialty Growers, Agritourism and Organic Conference. Springfield, IL. Jan. 8, 2011. Wander, M. and C. Ugarte. Soil Quality and Stewardship. Invited presentation. MOSES and the Illinois Organic Growers Association’s Organic Grain Production, Soil Carbon Monitoring, and Cover Crops Field Day.Malta, IL. September 6, 2012. Ugarte, C., Zaborski, E. and M. M. Wander. Total and Active Soil Carbon Fractions in Row Crop Systems Under Organic and Conventional Management: Assessment for Adequate Sampling. Volunteered presentation. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. Cincinnati, OH. October 22-24th 2012. Wander, M., Jackson, L., Snapp, S. and Grossman, J. Highlights from E-organic's Soils and Climate Change Communities. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting.Cincinnati, OH. October 22-24th 2012. Andrews, S.A., Ugarte, C. and M.M. Wander. eOrganic Webinar. NRCS Cconservation Practices Organic Management and Soil Health Webinar. http://www.extension.org/pages/67366/. Also on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87poEEwckvM. March 2013. Websites, patents, inventions, or other community resources created: We are now developing a public page for eOrganic’s Climate Change and Organic Farming Systems group that will allow all users of the workspace to aggregate related resources for eOrganic users. The group workspace is at http://eorganic.info/group/5461. Once the public page is launched it will reside on the home page in the list of Projects at eOrganic. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will present an update to IOGA at the January conference (Illinois Soil Quality Initiative III: Stewardship on Organic, Conventional and Conservation Till Grain Farms) and plan to conduct a workshop at the National Soil and Water Conservation July 2014 meeting in Chicago as part of a session on ‘Informing Conservation through Social Science: Factors Influencing Adoption of Agricultural and Natural Resource Best Management Practices’.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have finished sampling and interviewing participating farmers.The field sampling effort was designed to allow us to measure how different soil management practices influence important soil quality characteristics, including soil productivity and soil carbon storage. This work compares soils in organically-managed farms with soils from conventionally-managed sites that have used standard and reduced tillage practices. We used the USDA list of certified organic farms to identify prospective sites followed by phone interviews to identify farms that had applied organic practices in a consistent manner for over five years. We then used soil maps, plat books and word of mouth to identify nearby conventionally-managed fields with similar soil types.We only sampled fields that had been in corn or soybeans the previous year. A truck-mounted soil probe was used to collect 24 (in 2011) or 16 (in 2012 and 2013) 5.08cm soil cores to a depth of 60 cm from a 10-acre area within the field. Soil analyses include: standard soil test measures (pH, plant available P and K, base saturation), texture and bulk density, soil organic carbon (SOC), particulate organic matter (POM), soil biological activity using fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDA) and nitrogen mineralization potential (PMN).We have been preparing individualized reports for the farmers participating in the project as results come in to allow them to use the data for individual decision making. These reports pilot a more holistic approach to soil testing. We have modified the standard soil test representation to allow them to understand the functional role of indicators and where their values fall in terms of optimums and study norms. We conducted power analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic matter measurements from 2011 samples to determine whether sampling intensity was sufficient to meet our objectives and inform the development of protocols for monitoring sequestration in agricultural soils. Power analysis is the probability that the null hypothesis will be rejected when it is false. Power A depends on the aplha value, the replication and the statistical effect size. This evaluates the probability of finding a difference that does exist. Both ad hoc and post hoc power analysis can be very helpful at different stages of hypothesis testing. Using these methods we determined how many fields we need to sample to detect differences of expected magnitudes and how many soil cores would be required to document changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) that might be expected to occur within an individual field during a five year period. After the first year of sampling, the power of our statistical analysis for SOC was around 16% which was inadequate to find SOC differences among systems of 1.8 g C kg-1 soil. This was not sufficient to detect significant differences among crop phases (corn and soybean) or cropping systems that are of the magnitude of interest to carbon trading schemes or aggregators who might need to verify changes in C stocks. We did find a significant depth interaction with higher stocks found in the organic systems. Power analysis of 2011 results suggests that study power is greater for important dynamic properties (eg: POM, FDA and PMN) that might be used to index stewardship more readily. Based on these results, we decided to reduce sampling intensity within individual fields from 24 to 16 0-60cm cores. Conclusions about the C sequestration potential of practices could not be drawn from the small number of fields used in our 2011 analysis. Power analysis indicated we needed to sample a greater number of locations than originally proposed to draw robust conclusions about the relative ability of different practices to build SOC in Illinois. Some of the pairs sampled in 2012 and 2013 only consider the tilled organic and conventional treatments because we were unable to find well-matched no-tillage or even reduced-tillage practices consistently.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Ugarte, M.C., Kwon, H.-Y., Andrews, S.A. and M.M. Wander. A meta-analysis of soil organic matter response to soil management practices in the continental United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. (In Press).
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The 2012 field season began earlier due to the warm dry weather. It was more difficult to identify organic and true no-till farms that had well matched soil types. Due to these challenges we were not able to maintain perfect matching between soybean and corn fields. A total of 21 farm fields were sampled in Spring; 9 of them had produced soybean and 12 had produced corn. We are on track to sample many more fields than initially proposed. On the fields that had produced corn, we established 10ft by 10ft micro-plots with organic soybean provided by Albert Lee. Hand watering was required to rescue crops due to the extreme drought. Poor stand establishment created significant variability and limited our ability to detect differences among systems. Interviews with farmers continued. Instead of meeting through focus groups we visited each farm and conducted one on one interviews after asking them to complete the Conservation Measurement Tool for the fields we are studying. Laboratory analyses continue. Reports summarizing results for 2011 farms and an interpretation guide have been developed and returned. Planning for a future workshop is underway. We had the following presentations: Michelle Wander and Carmen Ugarte presented a project update Soil Quality and Stewardship at the Organic Grain Production, Soil Carbon Monitoring, and Cover Crops Field Day, Organized in partnership with MOSES and IOGA, September, Malta IL. Carmen M. Ugarte, Edmond Zaborski, and Michelle M. Wander. 'Total and Active Soil Carbon Fractions in Row Crop Systems Under Organic and Conventional Management: Assessment for Adequate Sampling' Soil Science Society of America. October, Cinncinatti, Ohio. Michelle Wander maintains ongoing outreach efforts to organize webinars for eOrganic and series of articles on organic and climate change. For more information consult eorganic.info. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
We conducted power analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic matter measurements from 2011 samples to determine whether sampling intensity was sufficient to meet our objectives. Power analysis is the probability that the null hypothesis will be rejected when it is false. Power A depends on the aplha value, the replication and the desired statistical effect size. This evaluates the probability of finding a difference that truly exists. Both Ad hoc and post hoc power analysis can be very helpful at different stages of hypothesis testing. Using these methods we determined how many fields we need to sample to detect differences of expected magnitudes and how many soil cores would be required to document changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) of specified magnitudes within an individual field. The power of the study during the first year of the project was unable to find SOC differences among systems of a 1.8 g C kg-1 soil magnitude. The power was not sufficient to detect significant differences among crops (corn and soybean) or among cropping systems. We did find a significant depth interaction. Differences were evident in the particulate organic matter (POM) fraction from surface soils, with concentrations higher in organic and conservation than in conventional cropping systems. Using this method we were able to determine that C sequestration monitoring programs could evaluate changes within individual fields using approximately 14 soil samples in a 10-acre based field under similar soil characteristics. Based on these results, we decided to reduce sampling intensity within individual fields from 24 to 16 0-60cm cores. Direct measurement and tool-based evaluations rank cropping systems' performance differently with direct measures being less conclusive when applied at the farm scale. Summary of first year CMT surveys was completed and compared against field results and results from meta-analysis on the relative performance of organic, no-tillage and conventional systems estimated from the peer reviewed literature. Conclusions about the efficacy of practices could not be drawn from the small number of fields used in our preliminary analysis; the power of our statistical analysis was around 26%. Analysis suggests we will need to sample a greater number of locations (>15 sets of fields) to draw conclusions about the relative ability of different practices to build soil organic matter in Illinois. Moreover, a much greater number of farms must be sampled to evaluate the use of CMT as a tool to verify C contracts or estimate provision of other ecosystem services of interest.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Multiple sets of farms (locations) selected for inclusion in the study include fields that have been under (1) Conventional, (2) Non tillage, and (3) Organic management for at least 5 years. (1) and (2) were corn-soybean based rotations and (3) were 3-5 year rotations that include small grains and cover crops or forages. Soil samples were collected using stratified grid sampling from 5-ha fields from the corn and soybean phases of the rotation in the spring. Samples (24 cores per field in 24 fields) were collected in depth increments of 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm. Biochemical and physical measures have been or are being analyzed. We conducted four focus groups and had participating farmers complete detailed management surveys used for field assessment using the NRCS's Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT). To Meet Education and Extension Objectives: 1. We partnered with Western Illinois University and the Illinois Organic Growers Association on "Innovations in Soil Conservation" Field Day held on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. Our team added a morning session to the traditional lunch and afternoon tour at the Allison Organic Research and Demonstration Farm. This was an interactive discussion on various aspects of soil conservation, including nutrient management, water quality, and carbon sequestration. Participants included organic and conventional farmers, IEPA, NRCS and SWCDs. 2. We facilitated content development of eOrganic's Climate Change and Organic Agriculture and Soils groups including a webinar series: 1. http://www.extension.org/pages/30850/impact-of-organic-grain-farming- methods-on-climate-change-webinar; 2. http://www.extension.org/pages/32626/greenhouse-gas-emissions-associa ted-with-dairy-farming-systems-webinar; 3. http://www.extension.org/pages/30835/greenhouse-gases-and-agriculture :-where-does-organic-farming-fit-webinar 3. We provided staff support for eOrganic's administrative core by providing copy editing and review support for articles published to eXtension. PARTICIPANTS: Ryan Anderson of the Delta Institute helped to identify potential participants and provided input on educational content to be shared at the field day. Dick Breckinridge, IEPA, and Brett Roberts, NRCS provided educational content and participated in the Field Day. TARGET AUDIENCES: The research component is participatory in nature. This educational exchange is multi-directional (researchers, educators, farmers and agency personnel). The eOrganic community of practice includes farmers, educators and experts in the organic arena. The eXtension website that eOrganic supports serves educators, farmers, and the public including policy makers and industry. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
A poster on the project was presented by C. Ugarte, E. Zaborski, and M. Wander entitled "The Potential for Carbon Sequestration: The Case of Organic Grain Farming Systems in the Midwestern United States" at the ASA/SSSA/CSA held in October in San Antonio, Texas.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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