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Producer Profiles
Darrell Parks
Manhattan, Kansas
Even if Darrell Parks didn't like working with pigs,
he probably would still raise hogs on his 400-acre farm in the Flint
Hills of Kansas, if only for the manure. Parks cut back from 100
to about 30 sows because of low pork prices, but continues to integrate
manure into his soil fertility program. In addition to pigs,
Parks raises corn, milo, wheat, soybeans and alfalfa.
Recently, he received organic certification, so no longer uses any
purchased fertilizer. Instead, he plants nitrogen-fixing legume
cover crops such as red clover, Austrian winter peas and vetch to
amend the soil and spot-treats with hog manure to help areas in
need of extra fertility.
"I've been working to better utilize farm-produced
manure and cover crops as well as a crop rotation and management
system that will allow me to eliminate purchased fertilizer, herbicides
and insecticides," says Parks, who received a grant from USDA's
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to
hone his use of manure on cropland.
Parks likes how manure corrects micronutrient deficiencies
in his soil. He regularly tests his soils, then targets problem
areas with a thicker application of manure.
Cover crops supply his nitrogen. Parks grows a legume
cover crop in the winter, followed by a cash crop of milo or soybeans.
On some fields, he'll grow a wheat crop planted in the fall. Before
planting, he'll treat the field with manure to ensure the wheat
will not lack nutrients. He follows wheat with alfalfa or clover.
Parks has learned the benefits of such "green" manures,
finding them to be a more economical way to build the soil than
to import compost. And with his small herd, he can't produce enough
manure for all of his fields. "If I'm going to do organic crops,
I need to do this combination," he says. "I expect to
see some real benefits."
At the root of Parks' program is increasing organic
matter in the soil, which will improve water infiltration and soil
structure. The cover crops help compensate for what Parks describes
as "heavy" soils. He chooses cover crops such as sweet
clover that break through compacted soil with their deep taproots.
He anticipates an improvement in soil structure over the next five
years as he continues to perfect his rotation.
"Back in the '20s and '30s they did some of these
things and had good systems in place, then fertilizer became cheap
and everyone forgot about cover crops as a possible solution,"
he says. "I have some fairly tight, heavy soils, and this is
a way to make those soils better over time. I'm committed to improving
the land I own, and I think this is a better way to do it."
Parks has pushed his organic matter up above 2 percent
on his sandy soils and close to or more than 3 percent on his heavy
clay soils, but notes that his tillage regime makes improving organic
matter content especially challenging. That's why he remains committed
to his dual nutrient regime of both animal and "green"
manures.
Moreover, his organic system, which should yield him
more in the marketplace, demands it.
"I don't push for the higher yields most farmers
think are necessary and, for the way they're farming, they are necessary,"
he says. "This is more of a low-input, higher-value crop with
a lower yield."
Conventional farmers in the area would benefit by
emulating Parks' heavy-on-cover-crops rotation, says Ed Reznicek
of the Kansas Rural Center, who works with producers to develop
crop ping plans. Seeding clover under wheat, or frost-seeding it,
makes for good forage, increased nitrogen and much biomass, he says.
"From what I've seen, both Darrell's weed control
and production seems to be increasing," Reznicek says. "He's
motivated to net as much as he can from his farming operation, using
a strategy of lowering costs and finding alternative markets."
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