Roots and earthworms under grass, clover and a grass-clover mixture

White clover has a lower root biomass and a higher abundance of earthworms than grass. This might have an impact on the ecosystem services soil structure maintenance and water regulation when white clover is introduced in a grass-clover mixture. We investigated the root biomass, the abundance of earthworms and a selection of soil physical parameters in white clover, grass-clover, and grass with and without inorganic N fertilizer. The treatment with clover-only had a lower root biomass, a lower C/N-ratio of the roots, a higher abundance of earthworms, a higher number of earthworm burrows, a lower penetration resistance at the 20-30 cm soil layer and a lower proportion of crumbs in the soil, than the other treatments. This confirms the literature that pure clover stimulates the ecosystem services of water regulation, but is less conducive to soil structure maintenance. However, the grass-clover mixture did not differ significantly from the grass treatments, but differed from pure clover in a higher percentage of soil crumbs. We infer that, when clover is introduced in grassland to reduce the reliance on inorganic fertilizer, the mixture of grass and clover maintains the positive impact of grass roots on soil structure but only may show a positive effect of clover - only on water regulation with a higher clover percentage in the dry matter than in our experiment

Soil biota in grassland, its ecosystem services and the impact of management

In the search for sustainable grassland systems, self-regulating processes in the soil become increasingly important. Soil biota play an important role in these processes and in the provision of various ecosystem services. For grassland systems important ecosystem services are supply of nutrients, soil structure maintenance and water retention. For developing and optimising sustainable grassland systems, insight is needed into the mechanisms by which soil biota are influenced by management and what it means for the functioning of the soil-plant system. Interactions between soil and plants can be represented by a cyclic conceptual framework including plant/roots, soil biota and soil properties. The challenge for sustainable grassland is to allow this cycle to function optimally with a minimum of external inputs. In these systems the soil food web is probably bacterial-based with a high density of earthworms. The impacts of grassland management on soil biota are discussed on the basis of two cases: use of grass-clover mixtures and a ley-arable crop rotation versus permanent grassland and continuous arable land

Bi-cropping fodder maize in an existing (grass)clover sward

Organic cultivation of fodder maize is still considered to be difficult. Weed pressure, soil structure degradation during harvest and low nutrient efficiency are some of the common problems. Directly sowing maize in a (grass)clover sward using special-ized drilling machines can solve these problems. In a bi-cropping experiment under organic conditions we found similar yields as the reference treatment (ploughing) when the maize was sown in a clover sward, the roots of the remaining sward were cut one week after sowing and an additional fertiliser was applied

Grassland management, soil biota and ecosystem services in sandy soils

Recent legislative restrictions on the use of fertilizers and irrigation, and a quest for sustainable farming systems have drawn renewed attention to the functioning of the soil and the ecosystem services it provides. Soil biota play an important role in the provision of these ecosystem services, which may be influenced by grassland management. The two objectives of this thesis were 1) to gain insight into the effect of different grassland management measures on soil biota in sandy soils; and 2) to explore the effect of grassland management on the ecosystem services provided by soil biota

Biokennisbericht #9: Geiten en schapen: Thema: Omgevingsverrijking van geiten

Wat hebben geiten in hun omgeving nodig? Klimmen, schuren en schuilen zijn natuurlijk gedrag van geiten. Maar hoe kan je de omgeving het beste inrichten om aan die behoeften te voldoen? Dit biokennisbericht beschrijft de bevindingen uit de inventarisatie op het gebied van klim-, schuur- en schuilmogelijkheden in de biologische geitenhouderij

Organically grown grassclover in nature areas to remove soil phosphate for development of specious rich grasslands

Worldwide the current reserves of phosphate rock are being exhausted. In The Netherlands many former agricultural soils have been enriched by large quantities of phosphorus as a result of fertilization. It is thought that this phosphorus prevents development of target-nature types. Nature organizations currently seek ways to remove it. We tested grassclover, organically managed by local farmers, as a tool to extract excessive soilphosphate from nature areas and reimport it into the mineral cycle agricultural farms. In a small scale experiment we have shown that grassclover with potassium fertilization can remove more than twice the amount of soil phosphate compared to mowing alone. We tested the methodology on 60 ha of grasslands in nature areas and measured large decreases in soil phosphate. We conclude that organically managed grassclover could form an elegant way to solve problems with excessive soil phosphate in nature areas and recycle phosphate

Kostprijsberekening biologische geitenmelk

In 2009 was de gemiddelde kostprijs per 100 liter geleverde geitenmelk, gecorrigeerd voor 7% vet en eiwit, €64,54 excl. BTW. Per kostenpost lopen de kosten per bedrijf behoorlijk uiteen. De voerkosten bepalen gemiddeld 58% van de kostprijs, de arbeidskosten 19%. Het afgelopen jaar was de gemiddelde marktprijs voor 100 liter biologische geitenmelk, gecorrigeerd voor 7% vet en eiwit, €67 excl. BTW voor de betrokken bedrijven bij dit kostprijsonderzoek. Zo was hun melkproductie kostendekkend in 2009

Organic farmers grow grassclover in nature areas to remove soil phosphate for development of specious rich grasslands

While worldwide the current reserves of phosphate rock are being exhausted, many agricultural and former agricultural soils in The Netherlands have been enriched by large quantities of phosphorus as a result of fertilization. In current nature development projects on former agricultural lands, it is thought that this phosphorus prevents development of target-nature types. Therefore nature organizations currently seek ways to remove it. We tested grassclover, organically managed by local farmers, as a tool to extract excessive soil phosphate from nature areas and reimport it into the mineral cycle agricultural farms. In a small scale experiment we have shown that grassclover with potassium fertilization can remove more than twice the amount of soil phosphate as is removed by traditional mowing without potassium fertilization. We tested the methodology on 60 ha of grasslands in nature areas, ranging in soil phosphorus levels, and measured comparable large decreases in soil phosphate. We conclude that these results of 3 years measurements show that organically managed grassclover could form an elegant way to help overcome the problems with excessive soil phosphate in nature areas and recycle phospahte

Helminth parasite control in organic dairy goats

This sheet can be used as an on-farm tool for organic dairy goat farmers in order to prevent helminth parasite infections

Database on feeding value of fodder trees

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