External Inputs and Livestock for Organic Hill Land Farming Systems in Appalachia

Abstract

Core Ideas Integrating annual crops and livestock will benefit production and soil quality. Integrating organically produced annual crops into low external input grazing livestock systems will increase livelihood of hill land farmers. High external inputs increase organic crop production and soil quality. Hill land farmers, especially in Appalachia, are usually low external input grassland‐based livestock producers with low output per hectare. Most of their land is unsuitable for annual crop production. Very little research has been published on organic crop production incorporated into livestock farming systems on hill land. Our objective was to compare the effects of four such systems on crop production and soil test results. The experiment had two fixed rotations, 4 and 7 yr, with two treatments at two levels. Treatments were low and high external inputs, without and with livestock, using three replications. All treatments had the same four annual crops in the same sequence. The with‐livestock treatments had an additional 3 yr grass–legume ley. Sheep (Ovis aries) grazed the with‐livestock treatment fields. Initiated in 1999, the experiment was terminated in 2011. Production of all crops and cover crops and soil organic matter (OM) was higher on systems with high external inputs than on systems with low external inputs. Under low external inputs the system with livestock produced more wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and soil OM and available K were higher compared with the system without livestock. We conclude that integrating crops and livestock in a farming system can increase soil quality and crop productivity. Furthermore, Appalachian livestock farmers could increase stocking rate by implementing an integrated crop livestock system irrespective of level of external inputs. A major barrier to such integration is the lack of experience in applying good management practices to livestock, crops, and grassland.