Farm Calls: Growers Ask for Recommendations on Applying Hardwood Chips to Cropland

Atlantic County Extension Ag Agent Rick VanVranken has been fielding a number of calls from vegetable and hay growers about the use of hardwood chips on cropland.

A June 30, 2012 Derecho windstorm cut a path over Jersey's Outer Coastal Plain farming areas, downing thousands of trees. The area received a federal disaster declaration and crews are clearing trees and chipping.

Understanding the best methods for applying hardwood chips for soil quality improvement while avoiding crop nutrient deficiencies is the key. Hardwood chips from large trees may have a carbon to nitrogen ratio approaching 200:1. A typical healthy soil has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 10 or 12:1. Spread and tilled into soil, without following the recommendations below, will result in crops with nutrient deficiencies due to microbial immobilization of soil nitrogen.

Sustainability Starts with a Marketing Plan

From Growing Produce 3-8-2012

Rick VanVranken gives tips on developing a marketing program that works for your growing operation.

"Your marketing plan is the map that will identify your potential customers and what products you might sell them."

Using un-composted leaf mulch on trellised lima bean

After recent scorching weather, Rutgers' Joe Heckman checks soil moisture retained under leaf mulch layer compared with adjacent cultivated bare ground. A 5-6" leaf mulch layer (~35,000 lb./A) was placed at transplanting in May.