What Do Our Soils Look Like after 4 Years of Cover Crops?

[@spoton5981]

A soil test would certainly be interesting to see, but you exude honesty, and if you say it’s made a huge difference, I believe you.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

We don’t you commercial fertilizers anymore and have great growth and production. But these results are on 5 acres of 150 acres so it’s hard work.

[@janlabuschagne4759]

Ja ek doen alles om meer digterstand grasse op my woestyn plaas te kry ,deur diere in n trop te hou . Goeie bouende video vir ons.

[@cardwellfarm2812]

I would love to see you do a water retention test on your soil and a water penetration test. I am fixing to embark on a similar journey.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I have been thinking about that as well. Honestly, I have not gone through the hassle of figuring out where to send a sample for a Haney test or a similar type test. However, after recording the last two videos on pasture improvement, I’m thinking that I could do a water penetration test myself. It may not be an official result, but it would give me a good base for comparison down the road. May try this once it dries out a bit on the farm. Thank you for watching.

[@cardwellfarm2812]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms this guy has a few great tests. It think there is a part two after this video that talks about some other easy tests that you can do. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5bJl4Stn5WCjdU

[@nunyabidness1339]

Your videos are great. I love seeing the pigs getting fat on cover crops. Congratulations, I’m hooked on watching your videos!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching. I appreciate it.

[@joshdonley8394]

I like what your doing and raising pasture pork while rebuilding soil that's awesome

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you. We love doing it.

[@billc3405]

Good information

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you for watching.

[@garybrohard3144]

Those deep diving roots also help mine for minerals and other nutrients. They bring it up and make it accessible to the other plants. There are other plants that help do the say thing as they improve the soil. Most people call them weeds.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, indeed! Where are the animals eat them or not those minerals wind up in the top layers of the soil for the other plants. That’s why we love them. Thank you for watching!

[@Promilus1984]

Well there are weeds and there are WEEDS. I mean everything can be considered weed if it is not the plant intended to be there. But many plants provide benefits like wild legumes or . Even if not intended they still contribute to soil condition. Yet there are some plants which really doesn't contribute much and obviously quickly dominates over all other plants. And that's the actual weed. E.g. couch grass... And no, most wild animals would rather eat stinging nettle than couch grass.

[@w8stral]

Roots do NOT mine minerals. Plants mine hydrocarbons out of the air via photosynthesis, build it into the soil where the Bacteria, Fungi convert those hydrocarbons into FOOD for themselves which allows them to break down the available minerals in the clay/rock etc and TRANSPORT it back TOOOOOOO the roots who then absorb it where the plant can then use said nutrients. Different plants support/need different micro ryzal fungi/bacteria which in turn breaks down/makes available different nutrients at different levels of production. Why Monoculture cultivation sucks is the short answer.

[@davidbass7593]

Yes ive grown them in my garden and ive noticed a big difference in soil color and structure

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

It does make a huge difference.

[@flatsville9343]

Wow. I forgot what a slow process this is.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

It feels like it’s a glacial pace sometimes, but it happens incredibly quickly compared to nature.

[@bryanpearce4440]

I like your videos.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you and thank you for the feedback. Just out of curiosity, do you farm or garden? I’ve discovered that some people watch our videos because they find it interesting even though they do not farm.

[@bryanpearce4440]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms I do not farm. My mom's family owned a dairy farm. It lasted several generations until there were no more girls to work it. I am just interested interested it it.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thats neat. Thanks for letting me know. I’m assuming that the dairy farm was located in the US. Do you mind letting me know the general area?

[@bryanpearce4440]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms Kentucky

[@greighenning9091]

Why is there a water table just a few cm below the surface ? (Is the field next to a dam...?)

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

No. It’s just a wet time of the year. It had been raining a lot and this is clay soil.

[@TheRainHarvester]

I'm building soil over rocky clay. I made a video of it too. First i needed soil. Next I'll try a cover crop. Can you take a look and see what i could grow (its rather mulchy on top due to the way i made my soil)? Its my second-to-last video.

[@TheRainHarvester]

Can any cover crop with a big root mass be used, or is sudan sorghum special? I have Texas Black Amber Molasses. (Sorghum bicolor)

[@TheRainHarvester]

Oh man i realized you were the one i asked before on another video... (I thought you sounded familiar!)

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I watched a couple of your video the other day. I’ll try to check out that other one you mentioned tonight. The main think about the sorghum Sudan is that it regrows and the root system is much more extensive after it’s grazed.

[@TheRainHarvester]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms does it regrow after a winter? Or just after grazing during spring\summer?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

@@TheRainHarvester Just after grazing during the spring and summer.

[@rickconner9864]

I like them gloves

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

They are good gloves. I neighbor gave them to me!

[@666bruv]

You now need a compaction test, a carbon level test, and a soil biology test. Compaction is always the the killer and inhibitor of growth.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, there are always different types of tests that we can run. But I’ve gotten to the point where our crops do pretty well in the system. Honestly, I have not gone through the hassle of figuring out which tests would be most helpful. The standard soil test through our state extension office, Jess tells us, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels in the soil along with the pH of the soil. We are not adding those macro nutrients, so I don’t do the tests

[@666bruv]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms nutrient tests are a waste of money, if you look at mulders chart/wheel you will see that adding nutrients means you always need to add more nutrients, due the antagonistic nature of trying to 'balance' the nutrient profile. Hence why I suggested the fore mentioned

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Agreed. I’m just not sure what soil biology tests I should use and haven’t take time to figure it out. Since I don’t pay attention to the tests I know I haven’t figured it out yet.