ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER AGRONOMY 23 MANURE AND COVER CROPS Manure and cover crops are also critical elements of the cropping regime. Stubbs says he began incorporating cover crops two decades ago in an effort to build soil organic matter. While effective, the impact was slow. The subsequent addition of manure from broiler chickens was a game changer. While adding significantly to his field's organic matter, he finds the poultry manure also helps unlock existing soil fertility for his crop, while encouraging “all the good insects to eat the bad ones,” removing the need for insecticide treatments. Stubbs adds that the price point for manure, versus relying totally on conventional fertilizer, makes good business sense in his case. The unique soil profile of Stubbs’ home area is another critical factor in supporting high wheat yields. Combined with cover crops and manure, organic matter levels have jumped from one to 10 per cent. “We have a unique area. We call it the ‘Lincolnshire wolds.’ This area here is a chalk base with a clay loam over it. So, we’re only working with six inches of soil,” he says. That means it’s very viable, drains really well, and when it’s dry, we have underground aquifers which come up through the ground, and can get to our plants,” says Stubbs. “With the chalk being soft, it’s not like what you have in Canada, where sometimes you have a bed of limestone. That works completely differently to how the chalk works and how the water moves through it.” Stubbs has found that by mixing manures and cover crops together, he’s able to get a really good breakdown. “With only working the top six inches of soil, I get the organic matter up. So, I’m now running at ten per cent organic matter, which I’ve done in ten years,” he says. RECOMMENDATIONS Stubbs recognizes his system cannot be universally applied. However, he did provide SWAC attendees with ideas on how they could experiment with some of his methods, given their local conditions. “It all depends on the areas where you are. If you’re in a warm, droughty area of Canada and you’re on 10-inch spacing, there’s not a lot I would change about that,” he says. But for those in a fertile part of Canada who are drilling at ten-inch spacing, he recommends drilling a five-acre field to perform a field trial on your farm. “There’s nothing more you can learn about yourself than from a farm trial,” says Stubbs. He also encourages experimentation with fertilizer rates, plant populations, and varieties. “Row spacing is important. Plants per square metre is important, and getting that soil up to a really good level is very important as well. Because if you don’t get your soil correct, it’s not going to work for you.” The economics of wheat is also something Stubbs recognizes. While per-bushel dollar returns for wheat may not be comparable to corn and soybeans, Stubbs thinks figuring out how to consistently drive wheat yields could help remedy the comparatively poor business case. “I think in some of your fertile areas, if you treat your wheat the same as you treat your corn, and give it the same respect, I think you could get yields within 50 bushels of what you’re getting for corn.” •
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