|
 |
 |
|
Sunflowers have been improved
greatly through recent plant breeding efforts. They provide
great niche marketing potential, from human food products to
wild birdseed mixes. – Photo by Rob Myers |
 |
When selecting alternatives, consider which crops are a good fit
for your climate, soils, marketing skills and proximity to buyers.
Diversify your markets as well as your crops. “Don’t
just grow for one market,” said Myers. “If one goes
down, another may hold its value better.”
Consider:
 Finding
other producers with experience growing the crops you are considering.
Checking
with university crop extension specialists.
Posting
queries on such electronic listservs as the Sanet-mg
discussion group.
Visiting
web sites developed by the Jefferson Institute, Appropriate Technology
Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) or Purdue University (See “Resources”).
Applying
for grant funding to test alternative crops or other sustainable
production strategies through the SARE producer grant
program.
The alternative crops that follow can bring new profits into your
rotation. For more information about production methods for each
of these crops, see the organizations listed in “Resources”.
Pearl millet, grown on 1.5 million acres of U.S.
forage lands, is being developed as a feed grain for cattle, swine,
catfish and poultry. Its substantially higher protein and lysine
contents – when compared with feed corn – have helped
drive interest by poultry producers.
In Georgia, where most livestock producers import their grain from
the Corn Belt, pearl millet’s drought resistance poses a real
opportunity. At the University of Georgia in Tifton, researcher
Wayne Hanna is researching pearl millet as an alternative crop –
and is getting two or three requests a day for seed.
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest from cattle
producers and wildlife people – and the poultry people are
very excited about it,” said Hanna, who got a SARE grant in
the early 1990s to develop and test grain pearl millet hybrids.
With its short maturing season and relative insensitivity to day
length, pearl millet can be planted as late as mid-July, following
wheat and canola.
Buckwheat and amaranth, which are pseudocereals,
or broadleaf plants that are ground into flour like cereal grains,
are a “good choice for farmers who feel comfortable with marketing,”
said the Jefferson Institute’s Myers. Buckwheat,
grown on 70,000 U.S. acres, commands several times the price of
corn. Popular in Japan for “soba” noodles and in Russia
for roasted “kasha,” buckwheat is sold in the United
States for multi-grain breads, breakfast cereals and other products.
A small niche market is even developing for pillows stuffed with
buckwheat hulls rather than feathers or foam.
Amaranth is produced on only a few thousand acres
in the U.S. each year but has earned space on grocers’ health-food
shelves. Some growers also market it on the Internet. High in protein,
fiber and amino acids and low in saturated fat, it is blended with
wheat or other flours to make cereals, crackers, cookies, breads
and other baked products.
Oilseed crops such as canola, sunflowers, flax and sesame are gaining
ground rapidly as the world market expands. Typically at least 40
percent oil by weight – roughly twice as much as soybeans
– alternative oilseeds are increasingly popular in edible
oils and processed foods as well as for livestock, bird feeds and
other non-food uses. Specialty oilseeds like meadowfoam, jojoba,
lesquerella and crambe are building commercial markets as environmentally
friendly, renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products.
Canola now benefits from the same price subsidies
as other commodity crops and is grown on more than 1 million U.S.
acres. With its low levels of saturated fats, canola oil has become
a staple in many home pantries; in fact, more and more movie theatre
chains are using it in their popcorn and domestic demand far exceeds
supply.
New government policies that provide oilseed loan deficiency payments
are improving the economics of sunflower production.
Supplies are responding, especially in the northern and western
Plains states, where farmers value drought-tolerant crops. The premium
market for whole “confectionery” seeds for snacks, granola
bars, multi-grain breads or other baking uses about 10 to 20 percent
of the crop each year. Most of the nation’s 3 million acres,
however, are harvested for either vegetable oil or birdseed.
Sesame’s typically low yields are offset
by a price that can run twice that of sunflowers and soybeans. Its
oil is considered more stable than most vegetable oils and its seed
– 50 percent oil and 25 percent protein by weight –
is often used in baking. Domestic demand for sesame totals 100,000
acres, but only 10,000 to 20,000 acres are grown nationally, mostly
in Texas and the Southwest. Sesame can also be grown in the Southern
Plains and the lower Midwest.
Flaxseed is made into baked products and linseed
oil while flax fibers are used in linen. Once commonly grown in
rotation with small grains, it is now grown on about 500,000 acres
in the U.S., mostly in north central states, where farmers are looking
for fast-growing, cool-season alternative crops.
On their 300-acre livestock and grain farm in northern Illinois,
Joel and Adela Rissman feed organically grown flaxseed to their
cattle and pastured chickens and turkey. The layers get at least
15 percent flaxseed in their feed and the cattle get a half-pound
a day. At those rates, the layers produce eggs with increased levels
of omega-3 fatty acids. Kansas State University research shows that
feeding flax to cattle just before slaughter results in elevated
levels of omega-3 and other beneficial fatty acids in the beef,
compared with conventionally grain-fed cattle. Consumption of these
fatty acids is thought to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes
in humans. All three of their organic meats are “very profitable,”
said Joel Rissman, whose farm is 70 miles from Chicago.
As nitrogen-fixing plants, legumes play an important
role in improving soil fertility. In a crop rotation, they can reduce
or even eliminate the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Because they
convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form for plant growth,
the resulting higher-protein plant parts enhance the diets of humans
and livestock.
A number of domesticated or native legumes have gained acceptance
as ground covers or forages. Among cash crops, however, soybeans
are the only widely grown legume. Dry edible beans
– including navies, pintos and kidneys – usually are
highly profitable, while lentil, dry pea and chickpea sales can
be significant in certain markets. Lesser-known legumes include
adzuki beans, sweet white lupines, pigeon peas, cowpeas and guar.
At the University of Nebraska’s Panhandle Research and Extension
Center in Scottsbluff, crop breeder David Baltensperger said spring-planted
peas show promise as a legume green manure in Nebraska’s dryland
wheat-millet-fallow rotations. They produced more nitrogen than
fall-planted Austrian winter peas while posing fewer weed problems.
They also work well as a forage crop with some nitrogen benefit.
Annual forages are an important potential alternative
for producers who want to increase or stabilize their livestock
production, particularly those living in areas like the central
High Plains, where under-productive, inconsistent permanent pastures
often leave livestock operators high and dry. In Nebraska, a SARE-funded
study led by beef specialist Burt Weichenthal concluded that whole-farm
sustainability increased when irrigated annual forages – such
as dryland triticale, wheat, oats, barley, sorghum, sorghum-sudangrass,
pearl millet and foxtail – kept cows and calves in good body
condition after their dryland pasture stopped producing.
At the University of Georgia, development of grazing-tolerant
alfalfa has helped move sectors of the livestock industry toward
more efficient, legume-based pasture systems. Alfalfa
plays a key role by fixing nitrogen and filling its edible parts
with nutritious protein. In its non-traditional forms – including
sprouts for salads and nutritional supplements for human diets –
alfalfa sales have increased.
Cotton has long been the only significant fiber crop grown in the
United States, aside from forest products. Recently kenaf
– an 8- to 15-foot tall warm-season crop whose dominant use
is for office papers – has gained production acreage. Best
adapted to regions where cotton is grown, kenaf is being produced
on a small-scale in a few southern states and California, although
the rapidly growing crop can also be harvested farther north.
Besides paper, kenaf can be processed into rope, twine, bagging,
rugs and poultry house bedding. The high cost of building processing
plants has been a formidable barrier to kenaf’s development.
Page: 1 | 2
| 3 |
Top