No-till farming & cover cropping conversation draw a crowd

Coös County field specialist Will Hastings of UNH Cooperative Extension recently led an informal and interactive discussion with some 25 farmers on both no-till farming and cover cropping at Northwinds Farm in Stratford, NH. In 2021, Scott and Heidi Mason sold their registered herd of Jersey cows and heifers. They’ve worked hard to transition into a diversified farm where beef cattle, sheep, pigs, hay, sweet corn, poultry and eggs are now raised and sold. They aim to be sustainable but are not organic. They’ve been no-till farmers for 10 years and cover croppers for fewer, making the farm they bought in 1994 a good place to discuss these two topics that both support soil health. Hastings asked attendees to list the pluses of cover cropping. It results, they replied, in both nitrate and carbon sequestration; pulls free nitrogen from the air; retains moisture and organic matter; suppresses weeds; reduces water runoff; and breaks up soil compaction. A six-page “Small Scale Cover Cropping” handout, developed by Hastings and his Grafton County counterpart Heather Bryant, describes several cover crops often used in northern New Hampshire, where winters are longer than in the state’s southern counties. These include oats and peas, buckwheat, winter rye, Brassicas (tillage radish and mustards), sorghum/sudangrass, millets (Japanese, foxtail and pearl) and clovers. Hastings discussed the important topic of cover crop termination. “The idea is to capture the cover crop’s energy when it is at its height,” he explained, “and not to let the plants go to seed to become future weeds.” Termination can be achieved by crimping the crop: bending and breaking each plant’s stem to prevent it from getting any more nutrients. This technique can be done manually or mechanically, depending on the size of the plot. Other options are to plow the cover crop so that it’s incorporated into the soil; to smother the crop by using plastic tarps or other covers; or to spray with herbicides. A big plus of no-till farming is that farmers who practice it can make fewer passes with their tractors when planting seeds on a commercial-sized field, substantially lowering the cost of buying diesel fuel at high prices. This spring, Scott Mason secured a grant under the NH Conservation Districts Climate Resilience Award program so he could buy an Allis-Chalmers tractor plus a four-row no-till corn planter. He incorporated some optional features that made the planter particularly well-suited to his Connecticut River Valley corn fields. Many of the reasons that farmers gave for supporting cover cropping also applied to no-till farming. It is still growing in popularity, and many farmers now think that conventional tillage serves to destroy the natural structure of soils. On the other hand, Hastings warned, some no-tillers have found after several years that they must make a “course correction” because working only close to the soil’s surface can result in its “stratification.” To catch this problem early, the top two inches of soil should be tested separately from deeper layers. Jacob Brady, a middle generation member of the CJEJ Farm in Columbia, NH, brought several new-sized bales of hay of Hastings’ soil conservation and conversation program. He trucked some 400-lb. bales to Northwinds Farm where they supplemented the Masons’ plastic chairs as a good spot for attendees to sit. Brady hopes to sell these large hay bales – 2 by 3 by 8 feet – to customers who are feeding several horses or goats every day and use a forklift or similar device. Two years ago, Brady was given a grant for CJEJ Farm under the NH Conservation Districts Climate Resilience Award program to convert an existing John Deere corn planter so that its modifications now allow it to meet all no-till requirements. He regularly let Scott use it, but this neighborly gesture was inconvenient and time-consuming for both farmers. Farmers were drawn to this meeting from across Coos County as well as from Carroll and Grafton counties. Paula Sweatt of Clear Stream Farm in Millsfield, NH, came with her 26-year-son David. Paula and David, as well as her daughter, Amelia, 27, work off-farm, and they are keen to learn ways they can continue to successfully raise Belted Galloway beeves on their legacy farm by adopting some newer techniques designed to work in today’s changing climate patterns. Paula explained, “David wanted to talk with other farmers and hear their perspectives, and I wanted to talk to some of the specialists with whom Will Hastings works.” Four other professionals were on hand: NRCS District Conservationist Kelly Eggleston; Coös-Carroll County FSA rep Brandee Schmidt; Coos County Conservation District Manager Jessica Lopes; and Denise Rico of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire (NOFA-NH). by Edith Tucker