March 12, 2017 - Quiz #89

We have a second-in-a-row CT Crop Quiz winner, folks!

Dr. Kabir Zahangir of the USDA NRCS Soil Health Division in Davis, CA correctly provided the first set of answers to CT Crop Quiz # 89 which means that he is the recipient of the $100 award. Congratulations, Kabir, on submitting the correct answers.

What was shown in this quiz photo was the cover crop roller-cutter that Alan Sano and Jesse Sanchez are using at their farm in Firebaugh, CA this year. Over the past several days, the roller has been working its way across all of their pre-tomato cover crop acreage as shown in the photo.

 

Here are the answers to the questions for CT Crop Quiz #89.

 

What is shown in the attached photos? (What conservation agriculture practice or operation is going on here?) 

rolling, cutting a winter cover crop with a ground-driven sharp-bladed roller

 

What is the crop or plant material that is shown in the photos?

a winter mixture of cover crops including mustard, radish, and triticale

 

Where is the farm field where this is taking place located? Give the nearest town and state.

Firebaugh, CA

 

Why is this farmer doing this conservation agriculture practice? Give the specific reasons. 

to add carbon to the soil and improve the tilth of the soil

 

Give an estimate to the nearest hundred pounds for the amount of dry biomass that is being contributed to this field by this practice.

roughly 9,000 lbs of dry matter per acre

 

By being the first to provide correct answers to the questions of CT Crop Quiz #89, Kabir will now receive the $100 cash award at one of our CASI Workgroup's events this summer.

Because there have been two back-to-back winners recently, maybe we need to begin making the CT Crop Quiz once again more difficult in the future.

We'll be posting videos of the roller as well as similar work that is being done in the long-term NRI Project in Five Points soon at You Tube for anyone who's interested.

All the best,

Jeff

 

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