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Practical Conservation Tillage for Organic Cropping Systems

The National Organic Standards require certified organic producers to implement tillage and cultivation practices that “maintain or improve the physical, chemical, and biological condition of soil and minimize soil erosion.” While continuous no-till may be impractical for organic production of annual vegetable or field crops, innovative farmers and researchers have developed many tools and strategies to reduce tillage intensity and to minimize the adverse soil impacts of field operations in organic systems.

Tech Talk: Livestock Forage Balance Worksheet

In this Tech Talk Jeff Duchene, NRCS State Grazing Specialist, provides an overview of the Livestock Forage Balance Sheet available in Section IV of the eFOTG under the CPS 528 Prescribed Grazing Conservation Practice Standard. Jeff discusses how to develop the livestock and forage inventory portions of the forage balance worksheet. Jeff also reviews the equations used to develop the livestock/forage balance and how to use those calculations in the field.

Tech Talk Replay: Wildlife Habitat Planting (CPS 420)

Jeff Kalin, NRCS Wildlife Biologist, and Karin Jokela, Xerces Society Pollinator Planner and Partner Biologist, for an overview the new Wildlife Habitat Planting practice (CPS 420). In this session, we will discuss:

  • The rationale for a wildlife specific conservation practice standard
  • Key differences between Wildlife Habitat Planting (420) and Conservation Cover (327)
  • Wildlife WHEGs
  • Selecting the appropriate scenario
  • Implementation requirements
  • Plant selection to support wildlife

Tech Talk: Economics of Soil Loss

This Tech Talk highlights the economic and social implications of soil loss. From a farm level economic perspective, soil is an important input in agriculture production and productivity. Loss of soil is not only a concern for agriculture producers, as the movement of soil off of fields has downstream effects. In this session, participants will become familiar with the current approaches used to evaluate economic value of soil loss.  Additionally, they will become familiar with the evidence surrounding the costs and benefits of conservation practices that reduce soil loss.

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