Cover crop-based, organic rotational no-till (CCORNT) corn and soybean production is becoming a viable strategy for reducing tillage in organic annual grain systems in the mid-Atlantic, United States. This strategy relies on mechanical termination of cover crops with a roller-crimper and no-till planting corn and soybean into cover crop mulches. Here, we report on recent research that focuses on integrated approaches for crop, nutrient and pest management in CCORNT systems that consider system and regional constraints for adoption in the mid-Atlantic. Our research suggests that no-till planting soybean into roller-crimped cereal rye can produce consistent yields. However, constraints to fertility management have produced less consistent no-till corn yields. Our research shows that grass-legume mixtures can improve N-release synchrony with corn demand and also improve weed suppression. Integration of high-residue inter-row cultivation improves weed control consistency and may reduce reliance on optimizing cover crop biomass accumulation for weed suppression. System-specific strategies are needed to address volunteer cover crops in later rotational phases, which result from incomplete cover crop termination with the roller crimper. The paucity of adequate machinery for optimizing establishment of cash crops into thick residue mulch remains a major constraint on CCORNT adoption. Similarly, breeding efforts are needed to improve cover crop germplasm and develop regionally-adapted varieties.

No abstract

High soybean populations have been shown to hasten canopy closure, which can improve both weed suppression and soybean yield. In conventional soybean production, the high cost of genetically engineered seed and seed treatments have led growers to plant at lower rates to maximize profitability. For organic farmers, market price premiums are typically double the price received for conventional soybean. Without chemical or mechanical weed management, cultural practices are particularly important for adequate weed suppression in cover crop–based organic no–till planted soybean production. In 2014, an experiment was conducted in Aurora and Hurley, New York, to assess the effects of increasing soybean planting rates on weed suppression, soybean yield, and partial economic return. Five planting rates ranging from 195,000 to 914,000 seedsha−1were arranged in a randomized complete block design. As soybean planting rate increased, weed biomass decreased and soybean yield increased at both sites. An asymptotic model described the relationship between increasing soybean planting rate and yield, and the estimated maximum yield was 2,504 kgha−1in Aurora and 3,178 kgha−1in Hurley. Despite high soybean populations, minimal lodging was observed. Partial returns decreased beyond the predicted economically optimal planting rate of 646,000 seeds ha−1in Aurora and 728,000 seeds ha−1in Hurley as higher seed costs were no longer offset by yield gains. Based on our results, planting rates that are more than double the recommended rate of 321,000 seeds ha−1for wide row (≥76 cm) conventional soybean management in New York can enhance weed suppression, increase yield, and improve profitability in organic no-till planted soybean production.

Maximizing cereal rye biomass has been recommended for weed suppression in cover crop–based organic no-till planted soybean; however, achieving high biomass can be challenging, and thick mulch can interfere with soybean seed placement. An experiment was conducted from 2012 to 2014 in New York to test whether mixing barley and cereal rye would (1) increase weed suppression via enhanced shading prior to termination and (2) provide acceptable weed suppression at lower cover crop biomass levels compared with cereal rye alone. This experiment was also designed to assess high-residue cultivation as a supplemental weed management tool. Barley and cereal rye were seeded in a replacement series, and a split-block design with four replications was used with management treatments as main plots and cover crop seeding ratio treatments (barley:cereal rye, 0:100, 50:50, and 100:0) as subplots. Management treatments included high-residue cultivation and standard no-till management without high-residue cultivation. Despite wider leaves in barley, mixing the species did not increase shading, and cereal rye dominated cover crop biomass in the 50:50 mixtures in 2013 and 2014, representing 82 and 93% of the biomass, respectively. Across all treatments, average weed biomass (primarily common ragweed, giant foxtail, and yellow foxtail) in late summer ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 Mg ha−1in 2013 and 0.6 to 1.3 Mg ha−1in 2014, and weed biomass tended to decrease as the proportion of cereal rye, and thus total cover crop biomass, increased. However, soybean population also decreased by 29,100 plants ha−1for every 1 Mg ha−1increase in cover crop biomass in 2013 (P=0.05). There was no relationship between cover crop biomass and soybean population in 2014 (P=0.35). Soybean yield under no-till management averaged 2.9 Mg ha−1in 2013 and 2.6 Mg ha−1in 2014 and was not affected by cover crop ratio or management treatment. Partial correlation analyses demonstrated that shading from cover crops prior to termination explained more variation in weed biomass than cover crop biomass. Our results indicate that cover crop management practices that enhance shading at slightly lower cover crop biomass levels might reduce the challenges associated with excessive biomass production without sacrificing weed suppression in organic no-till planted soybean.

No abstract

No abstract

Addressing human and social values is a core element of agroecology, including questions of equity and social justice in food systems, supporting autonomy and well-being of food producers, fostering meaningful, dignified forms of food systems work, and reshaping ways of interacting with nonhuman species and ecosystems. In this article, we review peer-reviewed literature related to human and social values in agroecology. We identified a growing social science literature on agroecology and related social theory. We organized and summarized our review around the following themes: social well-being, livelihoods, meaningful work, and gender and social equity. There is considerable evidence that agroecology can improve social well-being, in part through increased food security and improved dietary diversity, which often contributes to culturally meaningful foodways. There is less literature demonstrating how agroecological approaches can increase people’s livelihoods through increased income, reduced dependence on inputs, greater financial autonomy, and increased self-provisioning. In some cases, more embedded local markets build connections between producers and consumers and increase employment. Some case studies of agroecological territories point to the salience of understanding how to shift discourses and support social innovations. While there is evidence that agroecology offers an alternative path away from industrial approaches to agriculture, there is minimal research on the meaningful and dignified nature of that work itself. There is also limited research on gendered implications of agroecology, such as impacts on care work, although emerging literature points to transformative methods that address structural inequities for women and other marginalized groups in agroecological initiatives. There is a small but growing literature on racial inequities and agroecology, primarily in the Americas. Major research gaps include racial inequity and agroecology in different cultural contexts, the health impacts of agroecology, such as through the reduced use of pesticides, and the meaningfulness of work derived from a shift to agroecology.

No abstract