www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies roy-and-donnie-tucker-tucker-farms-hamilton-mississippi Roy and Donnie Tucker, Tucker Farms, Hamilton, Mississippi Editor’s note: This case study was written in 2009. The Tucker brothers farm about 3,000 acres in Monroe County, Mississippi. Their farm’s soils are about 75 percent Blackland Prairie clays and the rest are sandy loams and silt loams of nearby Southern Coastal Plain origin. In 2006, they had 1,600 acres of cotton. This fell […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies annie-dee-dee-river-ranch-aliceville-alabama Annie Dee, Dee River Ranch, Aliceville, Alabama Editor’s note: This case study was updated in 2018. Annie Dee manages a 4,000-acre row-crop farm near the Alabama-Mississippi border in western Alabama. She farms with her brother Mike, her two sons Seth and Jesse, and their families. Dee River Ranch has been featured in many state and regional publications as an innovative and modern […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies stanley-walters-gallion-alabama Stanley Walters, Gallion, Alabama Editor’s note: This case study was updated in 2018. Stanley Walters farms 6,000 acres of corn and soybeans in the Black Belt region of Alabama in partnership with his son Clay under the name of Walters Farming Company. The farm headquarters is in Gallion, located seven miles east of Demopolis, and it includes locations in […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies summary-20 Chapter 19 Summary Successful farmers in the Blackland Prairie region recognize the challenges and the importance of reduced-tillage practices as well as other conservation practices such as wheat or rye in a double-cropping system, piped-outlet terraces and precision waterway drainage. They know these practices will preserve the land’s productivity and profitability for future generations. Future research needs to […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies other-considerations Other Considerations Conservation tillage systems are needed in the Blackland Prairie due to the high erosion rates associated with conventional tillage. That said, the rolling topography coupled with clayey soils presents special challenges. A raised-bed system works well for flat, bottomland fields with very little slope. But a winter cover crop may be necessary to preserve the […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies cover-crops-3 Cover Crops Although most conservation tillage systems include cover crops, cover crops can present unique challenges with the clayey prairie soils. Winter annual legumes such as crimson clover, hairy vetch and lupine do poorly, while Balansa clover (Trifolium michelianum subsp. Balansae (Boiss) “Paradana”) has looked promising as a reseeding winter-legume cover crop in Mississippi tests [3]. Small-grain […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies tillage Tillage Historically, conventional tillage for many crops included bedding the land in the fall and planting on the “stale seedbed” in the spring. Bedding involves using tillage and plowing to elevate the soil surface of flat land into rows of broad low ridges that are separated by shallow and parallel channels that allow for drainage [26]. […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies soils Soils The soils in the region were formed from clayey sediments or from chalk limestone deposits (Figure 19.2). These soils are predominately loamy to clayey with smectite clay that shrinks as it dries and swells as it hydrates. The soils range from shallow to very deep and are moderately to somewhat poorly drained. Slopes range from […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies cash-crop-selections-and-rotations Cash Crop Selections and Rotations Historically, crop rotations have been a minor consideration for most row-crop farmers in the region. From antebellum cotton plantations of the early 19th century to sharecropping farms of the early 20th century, cotton and corn were the staple crops with little opportunity for rotations. As in the rest of the South, erosion took its toll […]
www.sare.org publications conservation-tillage-systems-in-the-southeast chapter-19-alabama-and-mississippi-blackland-prairie-case-studies Chapter 19: Alabama and Mississippi Blackland Prairie Case Studies Charles Mitchell, Auburn University Normie Buehring, Mississippi State University Authors’ note: Dennis Reginelli, area Extension agent for agronomic crops in eastern Mississippi, and Charlie Stokes, area Extension agent for agronomic crops in northern Mississippi, provided much help with the case studies in this chapter. The Alabama and Mississippi Blackland Prairie major land resource area (MLRA […]