Evaluating Dairy Cropping Systems Designed to Produce All Forage, Feed, and Fuel.

Our interdisciplinary team, including research and extension educators, has designed and is evaluating two 6-year diverse cropping rotations to minimize off-farm inputs and to provide all forage and feed for a dairy herd.  Within the FORAGE ROTATION, we are comparing two different manure strategies, including a manure injection strategy because it has conserves manure N and P better than broadcasting manure on no-till fields, the current practice.  Within the GRAIN ROTATION, we are comparing multiple-weed-control strategies to reduce herbicide use with a standard practice that relies primarily on herbicides to control weeds.  Another goal of our study is to identify when to integrate canola into a dairy rotation to provide the fuel needed to run a straight-vegetable oil powered tractor, while using the left-over meal as a protein source in the dairy ration.  Our strategies to enhance biological diversity and ecological interactions, conserve nutrients, soil and energy, and minimize environmental impacts include: no-tillage, legumes, green manures, cover crops, manure injection, integrated pest management, and multiple, innovative weed-control strategies.  We are simulating a typical PA dairy farm, approximately 240 acres in size with 65 cows, at one-twentieth the size with farm-scale equipment at the Pennsylvania State University Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center. We initiated the systems in spring 2010, with all six years of our cropping rotations present each year.  Statistical analyses in 2010 indicated that we could obtain comparable crop yields when using the innovative management practices, such as manure injection or alternative weed management strategies, as compared with current standard practices.   One challenge we found in managing these diverse cropping systems included suppressing weeds in the establishment year in the perennial alfalfa crop without suppressing the production potential of alfalfa.  Results and challenges from 2011 will also be presented.