By Kitty Gifford
This year, the American Farmland Trust completed a series of Resilience Reports focusing on the impact of climate change on soil health management systems in various regions, including western New York.
The reports simulate future cropping systems from 2022 to 2072 using a computer-based model to assess the resilience of different management practices under projected climate conditions.
The New York report highlights the benefits of no-till farming practices and cover crops, particularly in reducing nitrate loss and improving crop yield resilience in western New York forage cropping systems.
New York Summary:
- Region Focus: Western New York dairy forage cropping systems, specifically in the Genesee River watershed
- Crop Systems Analyzed: Corn grain, corn silage, and corn-soybean rotation
- Management Systems Tested:
- Conventional till with and without a rye cover crop
- No-till with and without a rye cover crop
- Resilience Findings:
- No-till Systems: Showed higher resilience under future climate conditions
- No-till + Rye Cover Crop: Further improved crop yield resilience
- Nitrate Loss Reduction:
- Rye cover crop in conventional tillage reduced nitrate loss by 20%
- Stacking rye cover with no-till reduced nitrate loss by 36% on average
- Potential financial savings in nitrogen fertilizer: No-till with rye cover retained 25% more nitrogen and had a 14% greater crop yield
- Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration:
- Rye cover crops increased the sequestration rate by about 70%
- No-till practices also contributed positively, though to a lesser extent
View the New York report: https://farmlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/AFT-resilience-report-new-york.pdf
View all Resilience Reports: