Virginia Field Trials; proposals & questions

[erich]

Dearest Char Advocates,

 

Please review, edit, add your thoughts , concerns, to this proposal I plan to send out this week to all my TP contacts, the academics, private companies,

Ag & fertilizer companies and many others I have collaborated with.

 

Thanks for you attention

 

Erich

 

Virginia Field Trials; proposals & questions

 

Dear VT folks & others,

 

I have been advocating char for 2 1/2 years. My review of the soils work leads me to the proposals and questions below.

 

Please share your thoughts and experiences as how to best structure a 1/2 acre biochar field study/demonstration. I will be using Biocarbon kindly offered by Doug Guyer of Carbon Diversion.

 

Ten research priorities were identified at the IBI conference, The following priorities

I would hope to address:

• 1- Economy research/market research

• 2- plant+soil research depending on biochar

• 5- field trials

• 8- application to soil (depending on agricultural or other

systems/remediation`)

 

The intent is representing a standard biocarbon product, at differing application rates, that would help Carbon Diversion to establish a basis for agriculture productivity, retail products and Green awareness campaigns.

 

 

On Soil Trials :

 

I've seen no Biochar soil studies which incorporate MYC/

VAM inoculates to their treatment groups.

 

The Carbon Charcoal Group's Carbon-Based Soil Amendment (CSA), which is in on going plot trial at VT;

( Nitrogen Management and the Effects of Compost Tea on Organic Irish

Potato and Sweet Corn

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=2d31956211&view=att&th=11ce7b0bf4838d9a&attid=0.1&disp=vah

"Subplots (two beds, 23 m long) were in-row placement of CSA granules at planting—control (no CSA) and CSA applied at

22-33 kg/ha (30#/Acre) CSA is a proprietary product composed of dehydrated compost tea absorbed on charcoal." )

 

This study only states compost tea amended char, but I am told by the

maker of CSA that root analysis MYC rates were high. The VT study

got a 20% increased yield in corn with this very low application rate of 20# / acre.

(Most biochar studies application rates have ranged 1% by volume to

30% at which growth benefits decline.)

 

Dr. Mike Amaranthus will supply his corn MYC to me , liquid or granular, applied

at planting, and lab support for harvest root analysis.

"Dr. Mike" Amaranthus 866 476 7800 Tools, articles and resources to help answer your mycorrhizae questions

 

I spoke with David Douds at ARS, their head

MYC / VAM and glomalin researcher, he suggested that root analysis is

the way to economically define baseline and experimental group's MYC

data.

 

I find this lack of MYC / VAM & biochar trials surprising in light of

Johannes Lehmann <[email protected]> recent work;

 

Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil – concepts

and mechanisms

Daniel D. Warnock & Johannes Lehmann &

Thomas W. Kuyper & Matthias C. Rillig

 

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/PlantSoil%20300,%209-20,%202007,%20Warnock.pdf

 

 

I tentatively plan a compost conditioned biochar, 1/2 acre strip trial with three

repetitions in corn.

 

Using a banding application of compost amended biochar

with no-till drill, or with minimum chisel-tooth tillage. I am also

considering doing a companion plot with full tillage plowing and roto-tilling or disc

for uniform incorporation of increased but proportional amounts of

amended biochar.

I would like to explore the economic efficacy of even more aggressive application rates using sub-soilers / rippers to 24 inches, in addition to full tillage.

 

 

My Treatment groups;

 

1. Char + Compost

2. Char + Compost + soluble fertilizer

3. Char + Compost + Mycorrhizal (at planting)

 

Control ; Local standard practices & fertilizer recommendations

 

Banding applications in conjunction no-till would be the simplest farm

practice for field studies and to be quickly implemented by farmers.

 

Since most of the biochar papers at the ACS Huston meeting tested in .5 , 1 , & 2% char / soil.

I would like to boost this a magnitude for field trials, with treatment groups of 5, 10 or 20% .

 

Biochar at ACS;

 

Most all this work corroborates char dynamics we have seen so far . The soil GHG emissions work showing increased CO2 , also speculates that this CO2 has to get through the hungry plants above before becoming a GHG.

The SOM, MYC& Microbes, N2O (soil structure), CH4 , nutrient holding , Nitrogen shock, humic compound conditioning, absorbing of herbicides all pretty much what we expected to hear.

See Ron Larson's post to our biochar group;

Yahoo! Groups

 

Biochar Studies at ACS Huston meeting;

 

578-I: Session: Symposium --Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: I. Classification, Formation, and Occurrence

 

579-II Session: Symposium --Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: II. Identification and Characteristics

 

665 - III. Session: Symposium --Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: III. Environmental Function

 

666-IV Session: Symposium --Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: IV. Stability and Carbon Sequestration Potential

 

 

Any assistance you can provide on this proposed strip trial for corn, variation of treatment groups, char %, etc. that would fit any established protocols you have already begun, but unpublished, would be most appreciated.

 

Please call for a full brief

540 289 9750

 

Thanks,

Erich

 

Erich J. Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

1047 Dave Berry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

(540) 289-9750

 

 

PS, Other concerns & Questions & Grants;

 

Total CO2 Equivalence:

Even before the total CO2 equivalent credits are validated they should be on the product label. Once a commercial bagged soil amendment product, every suburban household can do it,

The label can tell them of their contribution, a 40# bag = 150# CO2 = 160 bags / year to cover my personal CO2 emissions.( 20,000 #/yr , 1/2 average)

Individual Emissions - Personal Emissions Calculator | Climate Change - Greenhouse Gas Emissions | U.S. EPA

 

Full carbon credit validation should easily follow the path that has garnered carbon credits for no-till practices.

 

But that is just the Carbon!

I have yet to find a total CO2 equivalent number taking consideration against some average field N2O & CH4 emissions. The New Zealand work shows 10X reductions.

If biochar also proves to be effective at reducing nutrient run-off from agricultural soils, then there will also be a reduction in downstream N2O emissions .

 

 

This ACS study implicates soil structure / N2O connection;

Paper: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Soils as Affected by Addition of Biochar.

 

 

 

Temperate Soils Questions ?

 

liming capability of Biochar ?, CCE testing, CaCO3 equivalence:

 

In the Monongahela soils at my site, this is not an issue , needing many units of biochar to bring this soil up to pH 6.5..

Soil series: Official Series Description - MONONGAHELA Series

The site is the part of a 10 acre hay field at my home in VA.. A sand/clay/loam, with a clay hard pan at 4 ft depth. Last in Alfalfa / corn rotation 15 years ago.

Latitude, Longitude

38.373893,-78.708506

 

 

Biochar Grants:

 

http://www.biochar-international.org/policyintheus.html

 

 

 

Erich J. Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

1047 Dave Berry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

540 289 9750

[erich]

These programs were sent to me by contacts at the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).

 

They said there is a NRI soils topic area, and he can view the latest, but closed, RFA and abstracts of awards. I can contact Nancy Cavallaro for further guidance about what the soils topic will address under the new AFRI.

 

I could not find the soil topic area, I'm posting Ms Cavallaro my plans for guidance

 

Anyone with Grantsmanship experience on the list?, this looks like a learning curve I would rather not clime alone.

 

Thanks

Erich

 

 

CSREES Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)

Stakeholder Input

 

 

Sustainable Agriculture;

 

The goals of sustainable agriculture are to provide a more profitable farm income, to promote environmental stewardship, and to enhance the quality of life for farm families and their communities. CSREES promotes sustainable agriculture through national program leadership and funding for research and extension. It offers competitive grants programs and a professional development program, and it collaborates with other federal agencies through the USDA Sustainable Development Council.

 

CSREES Program Sustainable Agriculture

 

 

Natural Resources & Environment (NRE), ( this seems the best fit for Biochar)

NRE programs strengthen the nation's capacity to address critical environmental priorities and contribute to improved air, soil, and water quality; fish and wildlife management; enhanced aquatic and other ecosystems; the sustainable use and management of forests, rangelands, watersheds, and other renewable natural resources; and a better understanding of global climate change, including its impact on the diversity of plant and animal life. NRE programs also demonstrate the benefits and opportunities of sustainable development, and contribute to the economic viability of agriculture and rural communities realizing the impact of environmental policies and regulations.

 

Natural Resources & Environment Overview

[erich]

On Cultivation:

If I had the money, this would be the perfect equipment for cultivating in biochar;

 

Rotocult

 

ROTOCULT ONE PASS Cultivator http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3371954601913388614

[erich]

Hi all,

 

Please comment on this first schematic for my proposed field study.

 

I have tentatively settled on 5% and 20% v/v char to soil, two 20% , 1/8 acre plots , one minimum till 2", one full till 10" , and two 5% plots. Each 1/8 acre plot will have the three treatment groups.

 

I come to this design trying to strike a balance between what we have seen to be successful (char/compost conditioning) and remaining questions on application rate response, first year Nitrogen depletion, and MYC inoculation response differences with char.

 

Treatment Groups;

 

1. Biochar+Compost (BC); 60 day conditioning in wind rows of composted

chicken litter, mixed 50/50 v/v

 

2. Biochar+Compost+Fertilizer (BCF); Raw biochar sprayed with NPK soluble

fertilizer before conditioning in

compost wind rows

 

3. Biochar+Compost+Mycorrhizie (BCM); MYC inoculant applied during

planting

 

Control Groups;

 

1. The Local standard practices on the remaining 9.5 acres of this field put in

corn. Local standard practices will be applied to the whole 10 acres,

herbicide & mineralization & fertilizer recommendations based on soil tests

 

2. Adjacent to the 1/2 acre char amended plot, I plan two more strips:

2a. MYC only

2b. Compost only, applying the same volume of compost used in the 20% minimum till plot ( 6.7 yards compost )

 

These are for comparison with the BCM group and the BC group respectively

 

 

Given this 1/2 acre scale and farm machinery size, I can't do the number of repetitions I would like in order make this study/Demo acceptable to agronomist rigors.

 

Thanks for all guidance

 

Erich

540 289 9750

Biochar Field Trial Schematic.pdf

[Philip Small]

I did some very simple plots for a biosolids application a few years back. You can see the plots in Google maps! The feedback I got during the design phase was to have 3 replicates (Which I know you've said you don't have the resources for) and to randomize plot locations (less burdensome). I had a 3X3 arrangement, (vs your 6X1). I assigned each plot a sequential number of 1, 2, 3,...n. Then I used the random number generator in MS Excel (formula is "=RAND()") to assign a unique numerical ID value to each treatment, ranked them sequentially and assigned treatment-to-plot accordingly. You could do this.

 

The IBI plot design doc also recommends randomized plots.

 

http://www.biochar-international.org/images/Biochar_Research_Plot_Suggestions.doc

[erich]

After speaking with experimental design statisican at JMU, he suggest doing;

 

3- blocks of this split plot design.(see Pdf on above post)

6- split plot tillage groups; 3- Min Till and 3- Full till

Amendment treatment groups (BCM, BCF, & BC ) randomly assigned in each 20%char & 5%char split plot.

 

Adjacent to the char treated blocks, two additional strips

1- Compost only with Min-till ( compost application equal to Min-till, 20% char plots )

1- MYC only with no-till

 

To accommodate these repetitions , I'll shorten the row length to 42 feet.

 

The balance of the ten acre field in standard practice no-till.

[erich]

I would like to announce my trial with JMU has turned into a head to head with three Chars. I am field testing for the 09 corn season with JMU and Dr. Hepperly at Rodale Institute will be doing a sister study.

This will be a published study ( thanks to a grad student JMU gave me.)

 

Time is short , planting date mid to late April.

Three strips , which each are split into a 20% & 5% application rates, cover 1350 Sq ft , with 3 treatment groups with 3 replications

Char+ Compost

Char+ Compost + soluble NPK (sprayed on char)

MYC+Char+Compost ("Dr. Mike's" Mycorrhiza corn inoculent)

Each strip will have a total of 1,200Lbs of Char

 

The Chars are;

 

Charcoal #1: Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal - a commercial cooking product. This material has good surface area, but likely has higher levels of leachable volatiles that the others. Retort produced-Non-Oxidizes,

 

Charcoal #2: Wood pellet gasifying furnace biochar from Chip Energy . This material has lower volatiles and looks like shrunken black wood pellets. It has medium surface area and breaks up very easily.

 

Charcoal #3: Alterna Energy Biocarbon: The Alterna Energy material has low volatiles and high surface area. Kiln produced- Oxidized, It is currently in chip form, but breaks up easily. AE will donate 2 mini-bulk bags of char on pallets to both PA & VA (four bags total), with shipping and customs paperwork by ETG. Each mini-bulk bag contains about 550-600 pounds of biocarbon and ships on a standard wooden pallet.

 

EcoTechnologies is planning for many collaborations (and are supplying char to Paul & I ) NC State, U. of Leeds, Cardiff U. Rice U. ,JMU, U.of H. and at USDA with Dr.Jeffrey Novak who is coordinating ARS Biochar research. This Coordinated effort will speed implementation by avoiding unneeded repetition and building established work in a wide variety of soils and climates.

Eco Technologies

 

It may become a four some horse race, If Dr. Agblevor at VT, can ship his poultry litter char here in time.

 

 

Erich Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

1047 Dave Berry Rd

McGaheysville, VA 22840

BioEnergy Planet One Page Summary 3-22-09.pdf

[erich]

Dear Chartarians,

The char treatment groups are looking strong, about 40% better than the nil balance of the field and about 15% better than Compost alone control blocks.

I have posted pictures of my trials here;

 

Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09 | BioEnergy Lists: Biochar (Terra Preta)

 

 

 

Also ,

Check out my Andy Goldsworthy inspired stone work here:

 

IMG_0069.jpg picture by cloverfrommars - Photobucket

 

 

Erich

[erich]

Virginia Tech did my SPAD Minolta; chlorophyll, tissue N proxy yesterday, controls avg 45, while chars avg 50 with the MYC/char topping at 59., the difference between 5% rate and 20% rate was around 5.

erich

[erich]

Hi All,

Finely the yield numbers for my 09 trials are in , and they are showing me the love.

and will be a poster presentation at ISU.

 

(early photos, description & plan)

My 09 field trials with the Rodale Institute & JMU ;

Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09

Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09 | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)

 

 

The MYC groups suffered from early planting errors

 

I like the differences between the 5% by volume & 20% char groups (averaged, in whole, across each char% treatment groups);

 

Char Treatment Groups

5% Alterna char;..........165 bu / ac

20% Alterna char;........197

 

5% CowBoy char;........172

20% cowBoy char;.......232

 

Controls;

Nil;..............................156

Compost;......................276

MYC;...........................172

Fertilizer;......................142

 

The balance of the 7.5 Ac field had a yield of 60 Bushels / Ac as measured by the Combine/harvester.

The study plot was measured by hand, so can not be directly compared to the machine measure

 

The compost control result was surprising at 276 bu/ac , it was on higher, better draining, ground and excess rain was a limiting factor for growth/yield according to my farmer.

The Nil control group was adjacent to the compost control on this slightly higher ground and may help explain that higher yield . ( all Char groups were amended with compost in a 2 : 1 ratio , compost to char, Compost control got the same volume compost as 20% char groups)

 

I'm still waiting for the soil biota test to come in.

 

Erich