Conventional Field Production

That’s a pretty standard pasture blend meant to be planted in fall and plowed under in spring. The clovers do fix nitrogen so that’s a big plus.
I was actually thinking about you planting sorghum as a cover at harvest, plowed at the Spring thaw and virtually replanted immediately. Day to day you can see the growth of this grass, sometimes over an inch a day and it’s best when plowed young. But if you want winter cover, just mow it to 4-6" tall for stubble and ground cover, then decide in Spring if you want or have enough time to plant a second time. Your mineral and nutrient situation seems really good so you are actually just looking for tilth and humus now.

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Farmer Dan,
I don’t know where your farming, so hard to advise.
Have you done any soil analysis ?
Are your Ca, Mg, Na ratios correct ?
Watch out for Iron issues with pH adjustment.
are you applying any pgrs, nematodes or microrizee ?
Have you sampled for depth of soil profile ?
You should start doing tissue analysis (macro & micro nutrients) at harvest to see how much tN (as biomass) was taken out of your system as well as any other nutrients that may be depleted.
Not sure of what cultural practices you use (plant spacing, raised beds, irrigation method, so its hard to say which cover crop you need. That said, russian fescue, vetch, alfalfa, barley all work very well, but should be turned at heading so as not to compete.
I hope you consider drip, either surface or subsurface( to aid in increasing soil oxygen levels) and being efficient water wise and fertigate to reduce soil compaction.
The addition of compost is necessary every year to replace PAN, create better soil texture / composition and renew the microorganisms required for mineralization of the organics.
Fertilizer is cheap insurance to prevent soil deficiencies, but also leads to nitrate leaching, ground water pollution and a waste of resources ($$$) and time.
best of luck

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I am in the Oregon valley in the footslopes of the coastal mountain range. Near Eugene, Oregon.

I have done basic soil analyses. Ample P and K, deficient N, with 5% organic matter.

No PGRs, no nematodes, no chemical pesticides, but yes mycorrhizae were inoculated on the 600 yards of compost.

Soil is well over 2 feet deep (foot slope). Texture is silt loam, it’s a blend of Dupee and Waldo.

Tissue samples aren’t in the card this year, but I have remineralized the soil in a broad sense using Azomite and Sea-90. I don’t think we have any major mineral issues, our biggest problem so far waterlogging. The solution is that I will be hilling this year. It would be nice to know how much N is used, but there are ways to conscientiously use synthetic fertilizer without poluuting the waterways. That is the last thing I want to happen to my pond. Misused organics can also pose a threat. The 4 Rs apply in either case, right type, right amount, right place, and right time.

We will do raised double rows this year, drip irrigated. Fertilizer will be split applied, soil nitrogen will be monitored, and plants will be fertigated what they need, when they need. Of all fertilizer 1/3 will be applied dry prior to planting, 1/3 will be fertigated (nitrogen stopping at the end of July, PK boost will be done as a foliar), and 1/3 organic matter decay to take through flower. Aside from that, a cover crop should help catch the minimal leftover I intend to have.

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Looks like you know what you’re doing. Keep your soil phosphate levels very low to promote mycorrizae and protect your waterways. Reduce tillage as you get your soil in shape and weeds under control. Conventional isn’t that far from no-till sustainable. Keep up the good work!

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I probably won’t go the 100% no-till route, but reduced tillage could work out later on. I don’t see tilling as a bad thing to avoid, and no-till as a good thing to strive toward. They are both aspects of agriculture to consider and both require proper management. Both have benefits and both have drawbacks. No-till systems lose carbon without inputs, just as full tillage would, but at slower rates, perhaps adding a bit of foolproofness to the equation. Before I put this field into production it was no-input pasture. It had next to nothing for soil organic matter at the beginning. At 5%, it now has amazing structure.

Some other no-till cons for me:
-Increased fungal pathogens from surface residue decay.
-Increased use of herbicide (I currently use no herbicide), mowing isn’t enough for some weeds.
-Long time frame until it becomes a benefit, not something that I can afford to at the moment.

My biggest tillage concern is compaction, so I went out and found a used Tortella spader for $1300, a steal! This conservation tilling device is quite amazing. I will post some pictures and video when I get to this point.

The spader shatters soil down to a foot without inversion. One of its key features is its ability to break up compaction. Last year, all I used was the spader, however, since it doesn’t invert, it didn’t kill the sod that I wanted gone, this was a problem later in the season.

After this year, I may not need to plow, but I try not to stay married to any one idea. If my cover crop does well I was considering trying strip tillage with my spader as a form of conservation tillage.

Erosion isn’t really an issue due to topography, this field sits in a shallow basin. My entire property is a micro watershed, it gets wet, real wet… Tilling helps dry it up, but some years are better than others.

Run-off is my number 1 concern! Even with 100% organic you can mess up the waterways. My P and K levels are pretty close to ideal for estimates that I have read for NPK uptake per acre. I am adding 35lbs/acre of P and K pre-plant, this should be all that it needs. Nitrogen is very low, so I am adding 70lbs/acre, soil organic matter should add another 70lbs. This is near the low N estimate, but another 70lbs from the high estimates. My initial application of N should be gone within 4 weeks. I will test soil at this point and decide if I want to inject more N as needed through July (peak veg growth). Soil organic matter may be producing plenty of N at this point, but I will test and see. August thru harvest will see no more soil additions. Just a foliar PK boost early and mid flower.

Striking a balance between ecology and economy is no simple task…

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Here is my makeshift propagation trailer that cost me next to nothing. It was originally a metal shop created by the previous owner. Juiced up with 100 amps, plenty for what I do in here.

One way we saved money is settling for good enough. Do I want a state-of-the-art indoor lab? Of course I do! Can I get by with a bare minimum? Absolutely! Eventually, I want a 4th greenhouse, maybe 30x50, fully outfitted with all of the bells and whistles. A fella can dream…

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Here are a couple of pictures of my spader’s mechanisms. Doing some servicing and I should be ripping ground this afternoon or tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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I made record time on the spader this year 2 acres in 5 hours. A super good sign that the soil is ready to go!

I even put out a dumpster fire and watered my plants while spading.

/original/2X/7/71986265d03a91429093e2d003dd3bf40e3995c0.mp4
Time lalapse spading.


My office.


Hey folks!


She’s a beaut!


Nice variety of soil peds.


Ped arrangement in profile.


Loose soil depth.


16-16-16 concentration on the soil before spading.


200lbs of 16-15-16, times 2, over 2 acres. 200lbs of straight urea (46-0-0) will follow before tertiary tilliage.

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9 more day until planting…


Knee high clones with 4ish branches per plant.


Once these babies hit the ground, they may just touch the clouds by flowering.

I grow other things too…


1/4 acre of corn, squash, melons and beans planted as seed.


My tomato starts.


Some Brussels sprouts.


A prsonal plant with a bit more room to stretch her arms.

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No need to spray once the greenhouse friends move in. Besides, why kill these beautiful creatures?

I was getting some stink bug damage, but that stopped about the same time the frogs came in.

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I love following this thread, thanks @Farmer_Dan!

It’s refreshing to see someone not trying to re-invent the agricultural wheel!(Even though I am a sucker for new technology lol…)

I imagine once it’s legalized on the federal level we will see more convential practices take over.

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I’m a sucker for technology that hooks up to my tractor’s PTO. :wink:

Definitely use a lot of science along the way as well.

Thanks for the compliment. I am trying to drive costs down as the market floods. We know our place too, straight to hash! Though I have been asked why we don’t the tops because they do look amazing. The answer is that it costs double and incoming money slows way down on the dried flower market. I will post some pics later.

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

With the hash market doing nothing but growing, you should have no problem with buyers if needed! I am interested how the market here in CO will go with all the outdoor farms in operation. A lot of them are still focusing on trying to produce indoor quality (or the dream of doing it :joy:), instead of going for hash growing. Eventually with the wholesale prices going the way they are it might make it to there.

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For real, they are trying, real hard.

We asked ourselves how we could survive on a bulk wholesale price of $100/lb. This is it. We now have a 2 years of a learning curve over, and now outdoor farms are switching to just oil crops. Others switch to just pushing clones. Everyone with a realistic business model will find their niche. Dreamers just spend money until it is GONE.

We got $325/lb in year one, and $100/lb in year 2. I am expecting it to bounce back to $125-$150/lb, but we can handle $100/lb if we hit yield goals.

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Is that $/lb for frozen wet weight?

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Ha! I wish!

Bone dry, untrimmed, minus stems and as much larger leaf as reasonably possible.

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That’s close to the lb rate for our fresh frozen! It varies between $150-$250lb. The live market out here is booming.

Crazy how different the markets can be just a few states away!

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Too bad I can’t ship to Las Vegas. My hash material buyer opened shop there and said what I grow is worth $1200/lb there… If all else is equal, that should be about $5000-6000/lb for good-good. They said nobody knows how to grow in Nevada, lol.

Oregon over produced by 3x consumption (no cap). 50% of producers either quit or sold to some sucker. The Liquor Control Comission agents are weed garbage men right now. They have collected thousands of pounds from failed businesses and destroyed the material. So, at least I have an in with these hash folks and was able to sell!

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Random near end of harvest shots from previous years.

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Is this for product that is specifically slated for hash/concentrate production?
Or do those numbers include dried flower?

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