Soil Testing and Management in Organic Systems M'Wander mwanderuiuc'edu

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Soil Testing and Management in Organic Systems-
M.Wander (mwander_at_uiuc.edu)

• Organic Movement
• Organic Ag Status
• Organic Fertility
• Critical Issues

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The Organic Market

• A large and growing market
• The organic market is the fastest growing
  segment of food sales in North America with a
  consumer market of over 90 million. Almost 30 of
  the U.S. population already buys organically
  grown products.
• Rapidly growing sales
• Organic products retail sales have grown 150
  between 2000 and 2005 and are expected to top 20
  billion in the U.S. by 2005.

• Over 1500 new product introductions yearly
• Organic personal care products are growing the
  fastest, with sales rising approximately 38
  between 2000 and 2001, and an average annual
  growth rate of 20 projected through 2005.
• Organic non-food and fiber products grew by 14
  between 2000 and 2001, with sales projected to
  continue growing 26 annually through 2005.
• Facts from the Organic Trade Association

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Organic Quality
Organic products command a price premium based on
perceived quality. Head to head comparisons
between organic and conventional products are
difficult to make because so many aspects of
their production, handling and marketing differ
and quality standards vary with item. Organic
products increasingly meet or set the quality
standards for the high end market.

• Extensive pesticide residue testing carried out
  by the USDA has shown that most oils, dairy, meat
  and poultry products contain few detectable
  pesticides. However, USDA found conventionally
  grown fresh fruits and vegetables and those grown
  using integrated pest management (IPM) were far
  more likely to contain pesticide residues than
  crops that were organically grown. Conventional
  produce also more frequently had multiple types
  of residues found at higher concentrations.

Figure 1. Frequency of Residues by Market Claim
graph is based on review of six years of data
from USDA Pesticide Data Program, 1993-1999
(Baker et al. 2002).
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Are Organic Foods Better?

• Extensive pesticide residue testing carried out
  by the USDA has shown that most oils, dairy, meat
  and poultry products contain few detectable
  pesticides.
• USDA found conventionally grown fresh fruits and
  vegetables and those grown using integrated pest
  management (IPM) were far more likely to contain
  pesticide residues than crops that were
  organically grown. Conventional produce also
  more frequently had multiple types of residues
  found at higher concentrations.

What about..? Nutritional value Health promoting
factors
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Organic Certification

• National Organic Program guidelines set in 2002
  state organic food is produced by farmers who
  emphasize the use of renewable resources and the
  conservation of soil and water to enhance
  environmental quality for future generations. 
  Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products
  come from animals that are given no antibiotics
  or growth hormones and fed organic feed.  Organic
  food is produced without using most conventional
  pesticides fertilizers made with synthetic
  ingredients or sewage sludge bioengineering
  (GMOs) or ionizing radiation.  
• Government-approved certifiers inspect farms
  where organic food is grown to make sure the
  farmer is following all the rules.  Companies
  that handle or process organic food before it
  gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must
  be certified too.
• Any USDA accredited certifying agents is capable
  of certifying in any state.  A number of USDA
  accredited certifying agents are operating in
  Illinois. Products for export must consider
  international organic standards (JAS or IFOAM,
  QSA) which may be more stringent than USDAs
  standards.

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Organic Labeling
These products may use the USDA seal
Farms that do not comply with the full set of
organic standards including certification when
sales exceed 5000- are not organic and can be
fined if they present themselves as such. Farms
using natural or sustainable techniques, may
or may not be using methods consistent with
organic principles.
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Status of Organic Agriculture

• Organic farming practices are used in over 100
  countries-
• leading producers of organic products include
• Australia 25 million acres
• Argentina 7.4 million acres
• Latin America 14.3 million acres
• Europe 13.5 million acres
• North America 3.7 million acres
• At present there are about 200 certified organic
  producers in Illinois and estimates suggest they
  only supply 3 of our local organic market, which
  is worth over 300 million.

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Places to find information

• http//www.ota.com/
• http//www.organicaginfo.org/
• http//www.newfarm.org/ocdbt/
• http//www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/ofp/orgfind.htmwho
• Development and delivery of research based
  information needed

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Less than 1 of available research acreage is
devoted to organic production at Land Grant
Universities.
From OFRF's 'State of the States' 2nd edition,
2003, acreages generally rouned to nearest half
acre.
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Soil Stewardship

• Produce healthy plants, people and animals
• Tighten the nutrient cycle,
• Increase nutrient and water use efficiency,
• Suppress diseases and pests, including weeds,
• Resist degradation,
• Buffer environmental onslaughts,

Illustration from National Geographic
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Organic Fertility

• Soil and soil management is the foundation of
  organic production.
• Organic growing systems are soil based, they care
  for the soil and surrounding ecosystems and
  provide support for a diversity of species while
  encouraging nutrient cycling and mitigating soil
  and nutrient losses.
• IFOAM Norms, 2002

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USDA's National Organic Program's Soil Fertility
and Crop Nutrient Management Practice Standards
(Section 205.203)
"A producer may manage crop nutrients and soil
fertility to maintain or improve soil organic
matter content in a manner that does not
contribute to contamination of crops, soil, or
water by plant nutrients, pathogenic organisms,
heavy metals, or residues of prohibited
substances by applying (1) A crop nutrient or
soil amendment included on the National List of
synthetic substances allowed for use in organic
crop production (2) A mined substance of low
solubility (3) A mined substance of high
solubility, (approved list), That, the substance
is used in compliance with the conditions
established on the National List of non-synthetic
materials prohibited for crop production (4)
Ash obtained from the burning of a plant or
animal material, except as prohibited in
paragraph (e) of this section (approved list),
That, the material burned has not been treated or
combined with a prohibited substance or the ash
is not included on the National List of
non-synthetic substances prohibited for use in
organic crop production and (5) A plant or
animal material that has been chemically altered
by a manufacturing process (approved list),
That, the material is included on the National
List of synthetic substances allowed for use in
organic crop production established in
205.601." Additional requirements address
manure and compost handling, with emphasis placed
on disease avoidance.
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Modern notions of soil fertility1850s

• Justis von Liebig disproves the humus theory
  and formulates the law of the minimum
• Louis Pasteur proves decay is a biotic process

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Humus benefits the soil in three ways
mechanically, as a plant food, and by
fundamentally modifying the soil bionomics. Of
the three, this last, hitherto largely ignored,
is probably the most important".
Lady Eve Balfour- In "The Living Soil" 1943
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Plant and soil tests

• Soil testing
• To determine the proper fertilization for plants
  to be grown
• Nutrient management plans
• Conservation planning tool. The process
  integrates ecological (natural resource),
  economic, and production considerations in
  meeting both the owner's/operator's objectives
  and the public's natural resource protection
  needs.

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Nutrient Supply
Additions
Biologically Active SOM
Disease Suppression
Vegetation
Physically Active SOM
Erosion Resistance Water Holding
Capacity Immobilization /detoxification Sequestr
ation
Disturbance
Chemically Active SOM
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added input?
Yield ?
C B A
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Wander, 2004
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Corn Yield Trends in Morrow Plots are Influenced
by Soil Quality
Theoretical functions describing the influence of
soil quality on yield response and input use
efficiency Ya initial or optimal state Yb
reduced input use efficiency Yc reduced yield
potential Yd reduced input use efficiency and
yield potential From Cassman, K.G. PNAS. 1999,
96 5952-5959.
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What would Liebig think?
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Nutrient cycling through organic reservoirs
During transition one accumulates nutrient stocks
held in and supplied from an organic matter
reservoir
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MIT
NH4, NO3-
NH4
Mineralization, Immobilization, Transformation
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D
C B
A
NH4 Plants and microbes actively compete
NH4 Limited competition, net mineralization
becomes active
Organic N
NO3-
Proportion of N taken up
Low N availability
High N availability
Adapted from Schimel and Bennett, 2004
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Modify Plant-Microbe Relations

• Reliance on N fixation as a source of N
• Mycorrhyzal associations
• Plant induced liberation of nutrients
• General suppression of soil borne disease

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Changing the nature of nutrient cycles
NO3- NH4
-C-NH3 , N2, NH4
N2O NO3-
-C-NH3 NH4
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Inorganic and labile P
Organic and occluded P
Inorganic and labile P
Organic and occluded
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NO3
Grand unified field theory
A. Simple agronomic systems that rely on
inorganic N/ P and are frequently C limited
NH4 Limited competition, Net mineralization
important
Organic N
C. Natural and diversified systems that are C
rich and N/P limited
B. Diversified systems that are C and N/P rich
NH4 Plants and microbes actively compete and
partner
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Where do we start?

• Adapt recommendations for organic systems-
  organic by substitution
• Investigate influence of organic management on
  soils
• Identify suitable measures for testing

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Can Organic Practices Build SOM?

• 9 long-term farming systems trials
• 10 years old on average
• All include organic and conventional systems

Marriott and Wander 2006
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Types of Farming Systems

• Conventional
• Fertility from synthetic fertilizers
• 8 sites
• Manure-based organic
• Fertility from compost or manure
• 7 sites
• Legume-based organic
• Fertility from N2 fixing legumes
• 3 sites
• Sampled in Spring before heavy feeding crop from
  plow depth

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Total Organic C and Total N Concentrations
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C concentrations of POM fractions
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N concentrations of POM fractions and IL-N
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IL-N .
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Stepwise multiple regression
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Are organic/diversified systems really more
efficient?

• Samples collected from Illinois farm fields
• CT conventional corn soy
• RT conventional corn soy
• R-CT diversified, 3 of 4 were organic
• Nissen and Wander, 2003

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Farms sampled Christian County Jack Erisman
(ORG), John Hebert (NT), Len Corzine and Dale
Brix(CT). Virden soil series Piatt and Champaign
Co. Allen Williams (ORG and NT), Don Parkhurst
(CT) and Steve Jurgens (CT). Drummer/Flannagan
soils. Vermillion Co. Jim and Eleanor Smith
(CT), Barbara Buchanan (NT), and Terry Brewer
(LR). Drummer/Flannagan/Raub soils. DeKalb and
Lee Cos. Jerry Winterton (NT), Dean Hipple (CT),
Joel Gerlt (NT), Joel Rissman (ORG) and Aaron and
Paul Butler (ORG). Saybrook/Drummer/Flanagan
series.
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Cores were subjected to the worst case (typical)
rainfall scenario flood, drought, flood
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Fertilizer use efficiency recovery of fertilizer
(FUE-15N) System fertilizer-use efficiency
(Sys-FUE) fertilizer recovered in biomass and
soil. Difference in amount of N recovered from
fertilized and unfertilized cores (FUE-diff).
Three of four sites were organic, CT and NT
systems in corn-soy rotations, Div included
corn-soy with a small grain and a ley or cover
crop (Nissen and Wander, 2003)
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Needs

• Develop or adapt tests for diverse systems and
  crops
• Test for environmental success, demonstrate
  efficiency or provide proof of stewardship

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From the ATTRA site
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Sources for Organic Fertilizers
AmendmentsAgronomy Resource Listhttp//attra.nca
t.org/attra-pub/orgfert.html Appropriate
Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)

• Bio-Dynamic (BD) Preparations and Homeopathic
  Fertilizers Composts/Manures/Blended Fertilizers
  Compost Inoculants Bioactivators Cover Crop
  Seeds Humates/Humic Acids Hydrogen Peroxide
  Hydroponic FertilizerMarine ProductsMicrobial
  Inoculants Micronutrients Mycorrhizal
  Inoculants Plant By-ProductsRock Minerals
  Phosphates Rock Minerals Non-Phosphates
  Worms for Vermicompost

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Commercially available tests Heterotrophic
bacteria 107-109 Anaerobic bacteria 101 Yeasts
and molds 105-106 Cfu/gdw Actinomycetes 105-106
Cfu/gdw Pseudomonads 103-106 Cfu/gdw N fixing
bacteria Bacterial Fungal Community
structure
Results are very inconclusive and inconsistent
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Raw Manure
Composted Manure

• High available nutrients N forms, P, K, etc.
• Heterogeneous, high volume
• Very biologically active
• Wet with strong odor
• Contains weed seeds, pathogens
• 60-90 day time restriction

• Low available nutrients, esp. N
• Relatively Homogeneous, reduced volume
• Biologically stable
• Moist-dry with non-offensive odor
• Weed seeds, pathogens killed
• No time restrictions

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Testing and budgeting

• Sample at a consistent time point
• Consistent depth
• Baseline samples

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Blue Moon Farm we have been farming organic
vegetables for nine years

• Annual soil testing of our actively cropped land.
  
• Beds are cropped for three years and then seeded
  to perennial legume/grass cover and left for
  three years.
• This is a more frequent testing regime than we
  need to have to follow trends.

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What we see

• Samples are collected from the top 6-8 inches
• Green houses are tested too.
• Over time we have been able to see organic matter
  levels remain constant
• Most nutrient stocks, particularly P, have
  increased. Most test values are reported as high
  or very high.
• Abrupt and lasting increases were associated with
  single additions of compost amendments made at
  low rates (approximately 5 tons acre). This
  surplus of P has really made us focus on growing
  our N.
• Calcium to magnesium ratios are declining
• Conductivity levels in our green houses are
  increasing. These test based indications point
  to nutrient excesses not deficiencies but of
  course, we don't have a test for N.

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Dr. Michelle Wander (mwander_at_uiuc.edu) NRES
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Windsor OrganicResearch Team
Cathy Eastman Insect Vectors of Plant
Pathogens and Insect Pests of Vegetables Ed
Zaborski Soil Invertebrate Ecologist Darin
Eastburn Plant Diseases Michelle Wander
Soil Fertility/Ecology John Masiunas Weed
Science Leslie Cooperband Soil
Science/Compost Specialist Deb.
Cavanugh-Grant Research Specialist/Sustainable
Ag. Daniel Anderson Extension Specialist/Network
Coord. Dr. Dave White Economics Dr. Adam
Davis Weed Ecology Dr. Angela Kent Microbial
Ecology
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Study Site - Rotations
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High- frequency cropping/tillage- struggle to
build while you grow (market garden) Med- annual
systems- increase crop coverage, diversity,
rotational tillage with goal of minimization
(row-crop) Low- commit to perennial crop to
build soil (pasture or market garden with extra
land)
With N fertility from raw waste plus plant
matter With N fertility from compost plus
plant matter Without/little N fertility source
is plant matter
X
N treatments as split with in intensity trt
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Nematodes are important contributors to the
decomposition of soil organic matter and
recycling of nutrients.
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Soil Nematodes

• Nematodes, which are roundworms, are used as
  indicators of environmental quality because of
  their sensitivity to changes in their habitat and
  position in the food web.
• Nematodes are classified in five groups according
  to their feeding habitats and the groups are
• Bacterial feeders
• Fungal feeders
• Plant parasites
• Predators and
• Omnivores

Plant Parasite
Bacterial Feeder
Predator
Fungal Feeder
Sources Ferris 2004 http//sacs.cpes.peachnet.ed
u/nemabc/predators.htm http//www.apsnet.org/edu
cation/K-12PlantPathways/TeachersGuide/Activities/
Nematode/text/Figure3.htm http//www.soilfoodweb.
com/03_about_us/approach_pgs/a_02_sfw_diagram.html

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Mulvaney et al. (2001) Mulvaney and Khan (2001)