Soil%20Organic%20Matter%20Accumulation%20at%20the%20George%20Jones%20Farm:

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Soil Organic Matter Accumulation at the George
Jones Farm

• A comparison of organic treatments with natural
  processes and conventional management

December 10, 2003 Nathaniel Decker, Kate Merrick,
Tina Bosch
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SOM and Organic Farming

• Soil Fertility
• Importance for Organic vs. Conventional Farming
• OSAP aims to increase SOM
• Treatment Types

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Treatments
Note C/M- COVER CROPPED AND MOWED FOR 3
YEARS CHX- CHICKEN TRACTOR LM- LEAF MULCH XLM-
EXTRA LEAF MULCH M- MANURE 1,2- YEARS IN
CULTIVATION
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SOM and Organic Farming

• Soil Fertility
• Importance for Organic vs. Conventional Farming
• OSAP aims to increase SOM
• Treatment Types
• OSAP would like to know what effects the organic
  amendments used have on SOM

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Objectives and Hypotheses

• Organic management increases SOM
• - conventional management
• - pre-OSAP SOM
• SOM content will be higher in proportion to
  amount of organic amendments
• - GHgtN S Bedsgt Orchard
• Will the Wetland Edge also increase SOM?

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Methods

• Soil cores
• Loss-on-ignition
• Sampling sites

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Site Map
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North Beds
South Beds
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Results
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Analysis

• Greenhouse high
• Fallow Field low
• No significant differences among treatments
• Neighbor lower than GH but not other organic
  treatments
• Wetland indistinguishable from treatments
• SOM increased since 2000

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SOM in 2000 at OSAP

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Recommendations/Lessons

• Experimental setup would be helpful
• - effect of different crops
• - cause and effect in GH

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Shout Outs

• Yay Greenhouse!
• Yay Amendments!
• Further study to determine precise mechanisms
  for SOM increase

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Acknowledgments
JP and his lab
Brad and his farm

• Becca and her car

A Group Phoenix Production