Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping

by Kroeck, Seth; Langer, Jocelyn

• ISBN13: 9781603583459
• ISBN10: 1603583459
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-15
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Pub Co

Summary

Part of the NOFA guides. Covers: Historical roots of cover-crop techniques Thinking beyond this season's cash crop (disease and pest reduction, weed suppression, cash vs. cover crops) What is a good rotation? (mapping the farm, grouping crops, sample groupings) The economics of rotations and cover cropping (organizing your work, reducing labor inputs, land and cover-crop seed costs) Including on-farm examples and detailed appendices.

Author Biography

Seth Kroeck has been working and managing organic farms in the Northeast and California for the past eight years. He currently works on his own farm, Crystal Spring Community Farm in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Maura, and their son, Griffin.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Historical Roots	p. 4
Thinking Beyond This Season's Cash Crop	p. 7
Why Make the Effort?	p. 7
Tillage	p. 12
Weed Control	p. 14
Animal Factors	p. 14
Cash and Cover Crops	p. 15
What Is a Good Rotation?	p. 16
Create a Map of Your Farm	p. 17
Grouping Crops	p. 20
Compiling Your Crop Groupings and Adding Them to the Map	p. 29
Sample Groupings/Rotations on a Hypothetical Farm	p. 31
The Economics of Rotations and Cover Cropping	p. 43
Organizing Your Work	p. 43
Reducing Inputs and Labor through Soil Improvement	p. 44
Costs of Establishing a Rotation with Cover Crops	p. 45
Two On-Farm Examples	p. 54
Eileen Droescher, Ol'Turtle Farm, Easthampton, Massachusetts	p. 54
David Colson, New Leaf Farm, Durham, Maine	p. 55
Appendix: Rotations, Cover Crops, and Green Manures (Excerpts from The Real Dirt)	p. 57
Endnotes	p. 73
Bibliography	p. 75
Internet Sources	p. 77
Index	p. 79
About the Author and Illustrator	p. 85
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