Alternative Agriculture (1989) / Chapter Skim
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5 Crop-Livestock Farming in Iowa: The Thompson Farm
5 Crop-Livestock Farming in Iowa: The Thompson Farm
Pages 308-323
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From page 308... ...
raise the calves through finishing; the farrow-to-finish hog operation has 90 sows. Dick Thompson received an M.S.
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From page 309... ...
The exception is about 15 percent of beef animals, which are sold directly to individuals at a $0.10/pound premium, less the transportation cost to the locker/slaughter plant. Weed control practices Ridge tillage and high plant populations, in conjunction with crop rotation and cultivation with rotary hoe, disk billers, and sweeps, are used.
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From page 310... ...
Because he is still not satisfied with aD the procedures used on the farm, he conducts on-farm research and demonstration trials involving tiliage, weed control, fertility, rotations and cropping systems, cover crops and interseeding, hybrid and variety comparisons, and livestock management. Commodities Produced, Used, and Marketed Soybean yields on the Thompson Farm are 45 to 55 bushels per acre; 7year county and state averages are 40 and 37 bushels per acre, respectively.
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From page 311... ...
They plan to build another crib, narrow and oriented to catch the winter winds, that they hope will allow them to harvest ear corn at 25 percent moisture if necessary. In addition, two metal grain bins (each with a 7,000-bushel capacity)
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From page 312... ...
Other farm equipment includes a 14-ton-capacity manure spreader; a 30foot flexible rotary hoe; a heavy-duty offset disk; a stacker-baler, now used only for corn stalks; a baler that makes large, round bates; a 12-foot windrower-conditioner; a hay turner; an oat windrower; a grinder-mixer; a grain drill; a 4-row ear corn picker; a 4-row combine for soybeans and oats; and a water wagon for manure tea. Climate This grain-producing region is characterized by a continental climate with cold, dry winters (December, January, and February)
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From page 313... ...
January February March April May June July August September October November December Average annual 17.1 23.4 33.0 49.5 61.1 70.1 74.0 71.1 63.5 52.8 37.0 24.3 48.2 Average annual total 0.74 0.95 2.07 3.40 4.37 5.11 3.45 3.89 3.21 2.31 1.33 1.28 32.11 NOTE: The normal monthly temperature is the average of the normal daily maximum and minimum temperatures for that month from 1941 to 1970. The normal monthly precipitation is the average of the inches of precipitation for that month from 1941 to 1970.
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From page 314... ...
In the Thompson modification of the standard ridge-tillage program, the planter shaves off the top two inches of the ridge, throwing soil, weeds and weed seeds, and cover crops into the middle or interrow zone. This method accomplishes two things: it helps to incorporate the manure, which has been applied just ahead of the planter, and it provides a planting strip in soil that is unoxygenated and fairly free of weed seed and that has not been exposed to sunlight.
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From page 315... ...
The benefit to the crop in terms of weed control is great. Thompson maintains that when he is able to rotary hoe twice, his weed problems are well under control.
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From page 316... ...
populations appear to be low or very low in fields in which rye is growing or has recently been grown. Some suggest that an herbicide-free weed control program can only succeed in operations in which there are cover crops and small grains in the rotation to prevent the build-up of weed populations, particularly those of perennials.
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From page 317... ...
Dick Thompson estimates that 2.5 full-time persons are employed in farming, and 1.5 persons do the research and demonstrations. In terms of trips across the field, a conventional farmer might perform the following operations to grow a crop of soybeans: one pass with a combination chisel plow-disk in the fall prior to the cropping year; a pass in the spring to disk again and apply herbicide; two trips with a field cultivator to incorporate the herbicide; a planting trip; one rotary hoeing after emergence; two cultivations; and a final trip with an herbicide wick or spray nozzle to get the remaining broadleaved weeds.
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From page 318... ...
45 45 Harvest 30 30 Hoe weeds — 15 Shred stalks 15 Total time per acre 2:30 2:30 Cost per acre ($6.00/hour) $15.00 $15.00 out a loan in the spring to get the crops planted, the Thompsons are able to distribute their expenses over the growing season and operate on cash flow completely.
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From page 319... ...
The tests had shown that by June, the soil had as much as several hundred pounds of nitrogen; at corn planting, however, around the first week of May, there was very little available nitrogen. The Thompsons now apply 18 tons of mixect sludge and manure per acre at planting of both corn and soybeans, but the substantial amendments of green manure and livestock manure do not begin to benefit the crop until the soil warms, allowing the microbial breakdown of the added substrates.
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From page 320... ...
Dick Thompson reported that this practice has been discontinued for a number of reasons: The success of the weed control program has made it less critical that weed seeds be destroyed by comporting; Nitrogen in the compost was apparently stabilized to such an extent that it could not be mineralized fast enough to supply the corn crop; In the composting process itself, nitrogen was volatilized and potassium was lost in the liquid expressed from the compost windrow; and Finally, the process required a year's delay between the collection of the raw material and the application of compost to the field. Dick Thompson also sees some evidence that compost is a less attractive substrate for soil fauna and flora than the mix of bedding and raw manure: the estimated earthworm population was significantly lower after the application of compost than after raw manure or sludge.
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From page 321... ...
The cash grain rotations on the Thompson Farm do not receive applicat~ons ot manure or sludge. The green manure crop in the 3-year rotation is grown only for nitrogen fixation and nutrient accumulation.
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From page 322... ...
Some of these probiotics seem to be effective in preventing scours, which is also avoided through the inclusion of oats and ground ear corn for bulk in the sows' gestation ration. As a further preventive measure, piglets get steamed rolled oats in a ration that contains no added sugars and only 16.5 percent crude protein.
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From page 323... ...
TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY Communication between the academic community and limited-input farmers like the Thompsons has improved over the years. There are probably at least several reasons for this improvement: Limited input farmers rely on sound management and agronomic orinciples rather than adhering to specific ideologies; The practices used on these farms are supported by empirical data, and incorporate many proven agricultural methods such as crop rotations; Individual scientists and farmers have worked to develop the dialogue; and Circumstances in the farm economy and the environment have led farmers to consider the philosophy of optimization rather than maximization in ways that might not have been foreseen a decade ago.
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