Sano Farms Farm Visit Video Now Available on You Tube and at the CASI Website

On June 24, 2016, about 40 visitors came to the public field day at Sano Farms in Firebaugh, CA and learned about the innovative, climate-smart, and reduced disturbance production systems that they have developed over the past 13 or so years for processing tomatoes. In the fall of each year, Sano and Sanchez grow a cover crop mix that consists of several species. They are now thinking of planting the cover crop flat, without beds. In the following spring, they come in with a 5-row (25 ft wide) cover crop roller that cuts and crimps that standing cover crop and knocks it down on the surface of the soil. They then run a Wilcox-Agriproducts Roller-Cutter implement that cuts the cover crop into pieces. Finally, they use a Wilcox-Agriproducts Performer reduced pass implement to reshape their tomato planting beds ahead of tomato transplanting. They unveiled the 25-ft wide cover crop roller and talked about a variety of soil improvements that they've seen as a result of the practices that they now employ. For instance, fertilizer inputs have been reduced by about half since they've been on this management program.

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