Grant proposal
One Sentence Description of Project:
An approach to incorporate laying hens in a sustainable farm system to reduce tillage, cultivation, weed pressure and nutrient losses and increase income, soil fertility and farm diversity.
Project Leader: Pieter Los Address, City, State Zip Code: 1002 hwy 19 N phone: 5732524935
Farm and farmer description
Wil Farm: located in Montgomery county, consists of 16 tillable acres of silt loam, poorly drained, with a 0% slope, where produce, flowers and strawberries are grown on approximately 2 acres. It is not an organic farm yet, but no herbicides are used, (that is a non negotiable choice) and commercial fertilizer is yet sparingly used .
I have been at this farm for 13 years, I have an Msc. degree from Agricultural University Wageningen, the Netherlands, Rn Degree from Lincoln. I have managed an organic truck farm for others but am now diligently working towards my dream of making an independent living off my own land. Previously employed as an agricultural researcher at UMC and a district technician for SWCD, now full time employed at the local hospital as a laboratory scientist.
I finally have a work schedule (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night (7p-7a) that allows full time attention and enough financial stability to make a serious attempt. In the past year many investments were made (high tunnel, a circular drive, walk in cooler, sales pavilion, second tractor, implements, half acre strawberry field). Outlet point were the local farmers markets in New Haven and Hermann and sometimes at the market in Columbia. Next year I want to transition to fully operating as a road side stand/ you - pick operation. Mission statement: To raise flowers and vegetables in a sustainable cooperative way; to market these fruits of labor as locally as possible; to be open to new people and ideas, to spread knowledge and to do all this without too much stress and with joy in labor.
The problems of Wil Farm are common to many small farms that strive towards being organic:
Weed control is the main challenge without herbicides and is often managed with extensive tillage (e.g. stale seedbed prep with secondary tillage), cultivation and hand hoeing. It can be effective but is hard on the soil structure, decreases organic matter (o.m.) and is labor intensive. The dominant weed is giant fox tail, it has a long emergence period and it is thick enough it out competes ragweed. It has a very well established seed bank (at Wil Farm). Attempts at “out-cover cropping were unsuccessful, cultivation and tillage has led to bringing up new seeds to the top and reducing o.m.
I work with cover crops and purchased compost to maintain o.m. but in reality every organic farm needs livestock as the motor to maintain fertility. Cows take up too much crop land to be effective on small farms. These farms often do have a chicken coop/ hen house which has been in the same location for years: a bare slab of compacted soil where nutrient runoff is high and where labor is spent on hauling fertility to the crops.
Much has been written about pasturing meat chickens: daily rotation to provide fresh feed without destroying the pasture. I propose exactly the opposite: I want to rotate laying hens only after all vegetation has been removed. I want to start with approximately 150 laying hens (Buff Orphingtons) that are rotated onto stale seedbeds, into growing vegetable crops and onto ground that is not in production but extremely weedy.
COUP DESCRIPTION
The basis are two moveable hen houses, 8 by 16feet, with laying boxes and shelter, each housing 50 hens. In addition I will have 50 hens as a control group in a conventional chicken coup. Both movable houses, 2 feet off the ground, are enclosed by the same electrically charged poultry fence: 200 feet long and 40 feet wide (based on field length and available netting length. This covers .18 acre with one house on either side of the field and for research purposes an extra fence /divider in the middle.
This mobile unit contributes to the farming system in different ways: in addition to the weed control benefits, there will be less tillage, utilization of chicken manure on site without any additional labor, eggs (cash flow and product diversification), a decrease in insect population, a reduction in feed costs an increase in fertility and at least a reduction in the loss of o.m.
I started raising chickens a few years ago and have had a few flocks, and learned some lessons:
I have reviewed the SARE database: many grants and ideas about pasturing chickens (mostly meat), and it works There is not much but details to add to these studies, grants and experiences. There are quite a few grants about comparisons between soil fertility with chickens on pasture or in different vegetable crops. Cicken manure increases fertility and microbial diversity and quantity and these results will be applied in nutrient contribution estimates. There are a few studies regarding weed control and insect control (one specifically looks at insects and weeds in asparagus) but none have addressed the integration of a laying flock into a farm and the combined benefits it can give in removing anything and everything that grows or can grow on a specific area and that is what I want to add. Research has als shown that chickens are much more effective than other livestock in killing weed seeds. I want to make this a two year study, results from the first year will be used in the second year. Also because the hens, started around February first as day old chicks will not be full grown till August.
Time frame:
February first, purchase birds and start them in the barn,
Build coups, ready to go by April 15,
April 15th start research on fallow ground from 2011
May 15th start stale seedbed study
June 15th, start rotation on raised beds in established crops.
July 15th, use chickens for clean-up and restart stale seedbed study
August 15th, move to harvested fields for clean up and addition studies.
General measuring approach:
Through out the season the amount of biomass growth per acre will change. Since the chickens grow too, the biomass removal ability of the hens has to be determined every time they move in the first 8 months. How much biomass and what type is removed? I want to quantify this by removing and weighing all vegetation within 10 random spots of 3.14 square foot circles from the field the hens go in at the beginning of every rotation, until there is no vegetation left and a quantification of number of weeds. If it becomes clear early on that one week is too short I can adjust the stocking density to a lower square footage by narrowing the field, by changing the location of the divider,or to use an extra divider and paddock of a section in the middle of the field Fallow ground from 2011
Starting as soon as the chicks are big enough to go outside and cannot walk through the fence (Mid April). I want to establish the first indication of biomass removal per bird on untilled raised bed field with fox tail remnants. One week at 80 sq ft/ bird and one week at 40 sq ft/ bird and replicated, with a control bed. This will give enough acreage to jab plant cucurbits. After 3 weeks weed measurements will be taken and time spent cultivating will be recorded.
Stale seedbed
After initial tillage and seed bed prep in May(weather permitting), I want to have a control plot (no hens) and 3 plots where the hens are put on after one week, two weeks and three weeks. I will leave them on for one week at the time at a the same stocking density. Without further tillage I will then plant sweet corn at the same time on all plots. After 3 weeks I will measure the weed density by means of the random circle method.
Established vegetables
To ameliorate the poor drainage of the farm I created permanent raised beds with grassed paths in between. I will have two sets of 3 beds next to each other with peppers, tomatoes and green beans. By June 15th they should be tall (and weedy enough) that they can withstand the hens while not bearing fruit yet. A weed determination and count before the hens are moved on will be made of both sets The “weeding” will be monitored closely to be sure that crops are not destroyed on two sets. Again: the second set will be the control with regular cultivation.
Last year I received an EQIP grant from NRCS to install a high tunnel for vegetable season extension. . In the coming year a Field day is planned to demonstrate the use of the tunnel and to show an alternative to row crop farming, the hen project will be incorporated in the field day.
I will write an article about this in the SWCD newsletter for Montgomery/Warren county and the county of Gasconade and the local Hermann paper.
I have a running website of Wil Farm (Wilfarm.org) where I will describe the project and post progress with photo comparisons and chickens in action.
I want to develop a handout and a poster display for show and tell to use at the farmers markets in New Haven and Hermann and at the road side stand.
I am in involved in the local food circle in Mckittrick that is organized by Joey Los. I will give a presentation and a field tour later in the summer. I interact with many farmers and share information with them. Discussed with Tammy Teeter,district conservationist for NRCS, Montgomery County, to have a farm tour or at least a stop with the local Women in Agriculture group. I will make myself available to the local University Extension and NRCS offices for presentations at meetings with local producers.
Quantification is golden in the grant writing world, yet since this may be something novel and worth while the first part of the evaluation will be a qualitative observations and a description of the bottle necks on which others can elaborate. E.g. which vegetable/flower crops at which time in their growing cycle are suitable candidates for hen hoes? Tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits, flowers, strawberries? What works and doesn't in the coup design, best method of moving, will they behave as two flocks with their own houses or will they mix and predominantly go to one side of the field, implications etc (and if so we will need the divider). I envision describing IPM implications but on this small grant it will not be measured. I want to demonstrate the differences with a time lapse photo documentation to show hen action and I want to photographically document the contrast between control plot and hen plots.
Local egg production and sale can be quantified easily and contributes to a more locally based food consumption and cash flow. An estimate of nitrogen contribution will be made based on literature review. In the second year soil tests of the field with most hen days will be taken to quantify manure contribution.
A comparison in feed input between the control group and the rotating hens will be made. It may show an offset of feeding needs from the weed consumption.
Fallow beds:
I will be able to document differences in time spent cultivating and weed pressure based on count and biomass weight in relation to the control bed and stocking density.
Stale seedbed:
I will be able to quantify weed population after hen hoeing and show that this can be an effective methodology that reduces weed pressure in stale seedbeds. I will be able to get an indication for optimal timing works. Recording time spent cultivating will give an indication whether this reduces weed pressure and the need for additional tillage and compare with late summer study.
Established vegetables;
A description of feasibility and a direct comparison labor input between the two treatments to quantify the benefits of hens.
Through labor time documentation I will show the positive balance of decreased cultivation time versus increased time for chicken management. I see a great potential in incorporating laying hens on a larger scale, especially for limited resource farmers that want to diversify and reduce their dependence on manual labor.
Cackle hatchery Lebanon, mail order day old chicks. Have previously used their services.
On line research/ veterinarian input if diseases develop.
An approach to incorporate laying hens in a sustainable farm system to reduce tillage, cultivation, weed pressure and nutrient losses and increase income, soil fertility and farm diversity.
Project Leader: Pieter Los Address, City, State Zip Code: 1002 hwy 19 N phone: 5732524935
Farm and farmer description
Wil Farm: located in Montgomery county, consists of 16 tillable acres of silt loam, poorly drained, with a 0% slope, where produce, flowers and strawberries are grown on approximately 2 acres. It is not an organic farm yet, but no herbicides are used, (that is a non negotiable choice) and commercial fertilizer is yet sparingly used .
I have been at this farm for 13 years, I have an Msc. degree from Agricultural University Wageningen, the Netherlands, Rn Degree from Lincoln. I have managed an organic truck farm for others but am now diligently working towards my dream of making an independent living off my own land. Previously employed as an agricultural researcher at UMC and a district technician for SWCD, now full time employed at the local hospital as a laboratory scientist.
I finally have a work schedule (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night (7p-7a) that allows full time attention and enough financial stability to make a serious attempt. In the past year many investments were made (high tunnel, a circular drive, walk in cooler, sales pavilion, second tractor, implements, half acre strawberry field). Outlet point were the local farmers markets in New Haven and Hermann and sometimes at the market in Columbia. Next year I want to transition to fully operating as a road side stand/ you - pick operation. Mission statement: To raise flowers and vegetables in a sustainable cooperative way; to market these fruits of labor as locally as possible; to be open to new people and ideas, to spread knowledge and to do all this without too much stress and with joy in labor.
- Problem/ Solution
The problems of Wil Farm are common to many small farms that strive towards being organic:
Weed control is the main challenge without herbicides and is often managed with extensive tillage (e.g. stale seedbed prep with secondary tillage), cultivation and hand hoeing. It can be effective but is hard on the soil structure, decreases organic matter (o.m.) and is labor intensive. The dominant weed is giant fox tail, it has a long emergence period and it is thick enough it out competes ragweed. It has a very well established seed bank (at Wil Farm). Attempts at “out-cover cropping were unsuccessful, cultivation and tillage has led to bringing up new seeds to the top and reducing o.m.
I work with cover crops and purchased compost to maintain o.m. but in reality every organic farm needs livestock as the motor to maintain fertility. Cows take up too much crop land to be effective on small farms. These farms often do have a chicken coop/ hen house which has been in the same location for years: a bare slab of compacted soil where nutrient runoff is high and where labor is spent on hauling fertility to the crops.
Much has been written about pasturing meat chickens: daily rotation to provide fresh feed without destroying the pasture. I propose exactly the opposite: I want to rotate laying hens only after all vegetation has been removed. I want to start with approximately 150 laying hens (Buff Orphingtons) that are rotated onto stale seedbeds, into growing vegetable crops and onto ground that is not in production but extremely weedy.
COUP DESCRIPTION
The basis are two moveable hen houses, 8 by 16feet, with laying boxes and shelter, each housing 50 hens. In addition I will have 50 hens as a control group in a conventional chicken coup. Both movable houses, 2 feet off the ground, are enclosed by the same electrically charged poultry fence: 200 feet long and 40 feet wide (based on field length and available netting length. This covers .18 acre with one house on either side of the field and for research purposes an extra fence /divider in the middle.
This mobile unit contributes to the farming system in different ways: in addition to the weed control benefits, there will be less tillage, utilization of chicken manure on site without any additional labor, eggs (cash flow and product diversification), a decrease in insect population, a reduction in feed costs an increase in fertility and at least a reduction in the loss of o.m.
- Research methodology.
I started raising chickens a few years ago and have had a few flocks, and learned some lessons:
- Electric fence does work very well against predators while keeping the chickens in.
- I saw how destructive chickens can be, how weed free the soil is.
- I did read Joe Salatins insightful book about the chicken tractor on pasture, focussing on meat production.
I have reviewed the SARE database: many grants and ideas about pasturing chickens (mostly meat), and it works There is not much but details to add to these studies, grants and experiences. There are quite a few grants about comparisons between soil fertility with chickens on pasture or in different vegetable crops. Cicken manure increases fertility and microbial diversity and quantity and these results will be applied in nutrient contribution estimates. There are a few studies regarding weed control and insect control (one specifically looks at insects and weeds in asparagus) but none have addressed the integration of a laying flock into a farm and the combined benefits it can give in removing anything and everything that grows or can grow on a specific area and that is what I want to add. Research has als shown that chickens are much more effective than other livestock in killing weed seeds. I want to make this a two year study, results from the first year will be used in the second year. Also because the hens, started around February first as day old chicks will not be full grown till August.
Time frame:
February first, purchase birds and start them in the barn,
Build coups, ready to go by April 15,
April 15th start research on fallow ground from 2011
May 15th start stale seedbed study
June 15th, start rotation on raised beds in established crops.
July 15th, use chickens for clean-up and restart stale seedbed study
August 15th, move to harvested fields for clean up and addition studies.
General measuring approach:
Through out the season the amount of biomass growth per acre will change. Since the chickens grow too, the biomass removal ability of the hens has to be determined every time they move in the first 8 months. How much biomass and what type is removed? I want to quantify this by removing and weighing all vegetation within 10 random spots of 3.14 square foot circles from the field the hens go in at the beginning of every rotation, until there is no vegetation left and a quantification of number of weeds. If it becomes clear early on that one week is too short I can adjust the stocking density to a lower square footage by narrowing the field, by changing the location of the divider,or to use an extra divider and paddock of a section in the middle of the field Fallow ground from 2011
Starting as soon as the chicks are big enough to go outside and cannot walk through the fence (Mid April). I want to establish the first indication of biomass removal per bird on untilled raised bed field with fox tail remnants. One week at 80 sq ft/ bird and one week at 40 sq ft/ bird and replicated, with a control bed. This will give enough acreage to jab plant cucurbits. After 3 weeks weed measurements will be taken and time spent cultivating will be recorded.
Stale seedbed
After initial tillage and seed bed prep in May(weather permitting), I want to have a control plot (no hens) and 3 plots where the hens are put on after one week, two weeks and three weeks. I will leave them on for one week at the time at a the same stocking density. Without further tillage I will then plant sweet corn at the same time on all plots. After 3 weeks I will measure the weed density by means of the random circle method.
Established vegetables
To ameliorate the poor drainage of the farm I created permanent raised beds with grassed paths in between. I will have two sets of 3 beds next to each other with peppers, tomatoes and green beans. By June 15th they should be tall (and weedy enough) that they can withstand the hens while not bearing fruit yet. A weed determination and count before the hens are moved on will be made of both sets The “weeding” will be monitored closely to be sure that crops are not destroyed on two sets. Again: the second set will be the control with regular cultivation.
- OUTREACH. How will you share information from your project with other farmers and ranchers? Who else will you share information with? Be specific.
Last year I received an EQIP grant from NRCS to install a high tunnel for vegetable season extension. . In the coming year a Field day is planned to demonstrate the use of the tunnel and to show an alternative to row crop farming, the hen project will be incorporated in the field day.
I will write an article about this in the SWCD newsletter for Montgomery/Warren county and the county of Gasconade and the local Hermann paper.
I have a running website of Wil Farm (Wilfarm.org) where I will describe the project and post progress with photo comparisons and chickens in action.
I want to develop a handout and a poster display for show and tell to use at the farmers markets in New Haven and Hermann and at the road side stand.
I am in involved in the local food circle in Mckittrick that is organized by Joey Los. I will give a presentation and a field tour later in the summer. I interact with many farmers and share information with them. Discussed with Tammy Teeter,district conservationist for NRCS, Montgomery County, to have a farm tour or at least a stop with the local Women in Agriculture group. I will make myself available to the local University Extension and NRCS offices for presentations at meetings with local producers.
- Evaluation
Quantification is golden in the grant writing world, yet since this may be something novel and worth while the first part of the evaluation will be a qualitative observations and a description of the bottle necks on which others can elaborate. E.g. which vegetable/flower crops at which time in their growing cycle are suitable candidates for hen hoes? Tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits, flowers, strawberries? What works and doesn't in the coup design, best method of moving, will they behave as two flocks with their own houses or will they mix and predominantly go to one side of the field, implications etc (and if so we will need the divider). I envision describing IPM implications but on this small grant it will not be measured. I want to demonstrate the differences with a time lapse photo documentation to show hen action and I want to photographically document the contrast between control plot and hen plots.
Local egg production and sale can be quantified easily and contributes to a more locally based food consumption and cash flow. An estimate of nitrogen contribution will be made based on literature review. In the second year soil tests of the field with most hen days will be taken to quantify manure contribution.
A comparison in feed input between the control group and the rotating hens will be made. It may show an offset of feeding needs from the weed consumption.
Fallow beds:
I will be able to document differences in time spent cultivating and weed pressure based on count and biomass weight in relation to the control bed and stocking density.
Stale seedbed:
I will be able to quantify weed population after hen hoeing and show that this can be an effective methodology that reduces weed pressure in stale seedbeds. I will be able to get an indication for optimal timing works. Recording time spent cultivating will give an indication whether this reduces weed pressure and the need for additional tillage and compare with late summer study.
Established vegetables;
A description of feasibility and a direct comparison labor input between the two treatments to quantify the benefits of hens.
Through labor time documentation I will show the positive balance of decreased cultivation time versus increased time for chicken management. I see a great potential in incorporating laying hens on a larger scale, especially for limited resource farmers that want to diversify and reduce their dependence on manual labor.
- Please indicate the source (name and location) from which you plan to obtain animals for your project. If you already own the animals and they are already at the project site, where did you obtain them and how long have you had them?
Cackle hatchery Lebanon, mail order day old chicks. Have previously used their services.
- What is stocking density (space per animal)? Please provide a response for all forms of housing (pens, feedlots, pastures, etc.) that will be used in this project.
- Describe the housing or shelter available for the animals in normal and inclement weather.
- How is the housing/shelter cleaned? How often?
- Describe how feed and water is provided, how often it is provided, and how often the feed and water containers are checked and cleaned.
- Describe how the nutritional needs of the animals in this project will be met.
- Describe the vaccination program and the routine procedures used to minimize disease and manage parasites. Include what the animals are vaccinated against and provide common names of the products that are used. Include a description of routine worming or parasite management.
On line research/ veterinarian input if diseases develop.
- What procedures will the animals undergo during course of this project? Will these procedures induce or potentially induce distress or pain in the animal and if so, how will you manage or minimize the potential for pain and distress?
- Please indicate if other individuals will participate in handling and or caring for the animals in this project. If other individuals will be involved, please describe their expertise with animal care. If individuals need to be trained to perform the procedures described in this project, please indicate how they will be trained to do the procedures properly.
- At the end of the project--what happens to animals? Please indicate if they will remain at the project site, be sold, or be slaughtered.
- If animals are transported off-site, please describe how they will be transported.
- If animals are slaughtered, please indicate if this will occur at a commercial licensed slaughter facility. If it is not done at a commercial licensed slaughter facility, describe where and how slaughter will be conducted.
- Please indicate if the animals or products from these animals will be used as food for humans and if so, confirm that withdrawal times for medications will be followed before allowing the animals or products from the animals to enter the food chain.
- Identify the veterinarian (name, address, and contact information) that will provide routine and emergency care of the animals used in this project.
