Sustainable production

[grassfarmer]

Farma, how much different would your precipitation be to Gabe Browns at Bismark ND? He seems to have developed a very elaborate system that works to grow all kinds of crops.
I think there will be considerable reduction in disease risk if you have healthy soil microflora.
At the end of the day I don't see cover crops/intercropping etc being an ideal bolt-on to a straight grain operation devoid of livestock. I think you need the livestock to benefit from the cover crops etc - but then again I believe land management on the prairies can't be sustainable without livestock anyway.

To Wilton Ranch's comment about cover crop seed cost - I'm with you on that - it's just the parasites moving in on the new system the same as they already do on conventional systems. It's already turned a lot of early adopters that I know off cover crops.

[farmaholic]

At the end of the day I don't see cover crops/intercropping etc being an ideal bolt-on to a straight grain operation devoid of livestock. I think you need the livestock to benefit from the cover crops etc -

I think you right about the addition of livestock to get full benefits.

There could be some snake oil biologicals coming for grain farmers to help create synergies between the soil and the parts of the crops we normally don't see, the roots below the soil surface.

[jimmy]

Covercrop seed couldn’t you let it go to maturity and harvest some? Martin Entz from manitoba sure swears by it for organic producers. They are getting same yields as conventional only every other year.

[grassfarmer]

If it's a diverse seed mix as they recommend presumably plant maturity would be varied - make for tricky harvesting.

[WiltonRanch]

Covercrop seed couldn’t you let it go to maturity and harvest some? Martin Entz from manitoba sure swears by it for organic producers. They are getting same yields as conventional only every other year.

That would probably work if an organic producer was under seeding a clover in a crop and letting it go to seed the following year. Any of these other crops may work like the brassicas. I’d wonder about chicory, plantain, or other exotic seeds not able to produce viable seeds in our climate. Biggest thing is to find what is reasonably priced or in your bin, readily available, and shows more benefit than letting whatever in the field goes wild for a green manure.

[grassfarmer]

I know one guy here that interseeded sunflowers and hairy vetch very successfully. Had to separate the seed after harvest then sold the hairy vetch as common seed. A very profitable crop but it might not work as well every time.