Setting Seeding up for Success

Establishing a perennial pasture mix is no easy task.  Moisture is generally the limiting factor for success.  Fortunately, spring 2019 was an exceptionally wet one for the Gallatin Valley in Southwest Montana. 

Duke reached out to Regenerative Land Solutions in June to get some advice on seeding two of her fields.  These two fields had historically been farmed for annual row crops and she wanted to plant them back into an alfalfa grass mix.  June is late in our area for a project like this as her fields were not irrigated, but she wanted to give it a go anyway.

Here are pictures of the two fields taken in July after the initial seeding:

And here are some taken in September at the end of the growing season:

As you can see she had about a 60% success on the front field and zero on the back field (don’t let the annual Kochia confuse you with success). These fields were 100 yards apart and separated by a substantial irrigation ditch that dissects her property. This area has a long history of farming and no one knows what management historically has been done to either side of the ditch. Otherwise the moisture and seeding rates were the same.

To attempt to solve the mystery, Duke sent in two samples to Earthfort Labs for direct microscopy soil biology tests (test #2).  The front field had a fungal to bacterial ratio of 1.27 and an active fungi to total fungi ratio of .01.  The back field had a fungal to bacterial ratio of .39 and an active fungi to total fungi ratio of 0.0. What we are also seeing  through DNA testing is that impacted systems from agricultural disturbances like tillage, pesticides, and high salt index fertility take decades or longer to become healthy again without thoughtful intervention. This is where biological inoculates can help jumpstart a system.

To help these numbers make sense, it is important to have a basic understanding of soil biology.  All plants like certain microbial ecosystems.  Perennial grasses and alfalfa like a balanced fungal to bacterial system.  Annual weeds, Kochia for example, like a bacterial dominated system.  This is very evident with seeding projects.  The perennial grasses and alfalfa were able to germinate in the front field because it had a welcoming soil life community.  In the back field, it was suited for Kochia instead.

Before doing a seeding project, it would be wise to take an Earthfort test to make sure you don’t waste your seed and time.  The back field should have been seeded in combination with an application of Provide and Revive, products that can move the soil community needle from bacterial to more fungal.  This would have allowed for more germination of the desired perennial grasses and less germination of the undesirable annual Kochia.  The biology underground is a leading indicator of your above ground success.  Moving forward, Duke has inoculated both fields and we are looking forward to full cover of desirable germination in 2020.