Originally posted by Sheepwheat
View Post
Does anyone have access to any studies which indicate that perennial hay is gaining organic matter? Because my experience in our local soils indicates the exact opposite. Removing all of the top growth multiple times per year year after year has horrendous consequences to the organic matter. No if the removal is accompanied by replacing with livestock on the same property, that is a different story, but that rarely is the case in reality.
The same with perennial pastor land, perhaps with very intensive management, and portable windbreaks and shelters and no trees anywhere, you can improve badly degraded ground up to a certain point, but just like in notill, the law of diminishing returns applies, it will reach a new plateau long-term.
All of which misses the bigger point, which is that we as farmers should be doing everything we can to increase CO2 in the atmosphere not decrease free fertilizer.
The good news is that none of these measures are having, or will have any measurable effect.
Comment