A UVM blog Out Croppings: Important crop news from the field!

In 2020, the University of Vermont E. E. Cummings Crop Quality Testing Laboratory expanded testing services to include assessment of grains for aflatoxin concentrations.

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins. These carcinogenic compounds are produced by several different molds in the Aspergillus family. The FDA limit for human consumption for aflatoxins is 20 parts per billion (ppb). Different crops and growing regions have different levels of susceptibility for aflatoxin contamination and aflatoxin testing should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Grains that should be tested for aflatoxins include:

• Corn grown in hot, humid conditions
• Corn and small grains from fields that have been flooded
• Corn and small grains stored at moisture content above 14%

Aspergillus infection is almost never observed as an infection in the field in small grains. It can occur as a field infection in corn grown in hot, humid conditions. New England very rarely experiences the conditions to foster Aspergillus as a field infection in corn. While our laboratory is located in northern New England, we receive samples from across the country for testing. New England farmers will rarely need to worry about field infection with Aspergillus in corn, but our customers in the southern states should consider testing their corn for aflatoxin, especially during particularly warm years.

Grain should also be tested for aflatoxin if fields were flooded during the growing season, particularly if flooding occurred after grains have flowered. Mold issues are not the only potential issues with crops that have been flooded, and such grains should also be tested for other toxins, heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, and for presence of pesticides and other chemicals.

Aspergillus infection can also develop after harvest if grains are improperly stored. Grain with a harvest moisture over 14% should always be dried down for storage. Grain that is over 14% moisture content can develop multiple mold issues including aflatoxins. Grain that has been in storage for some time or was not tested for moisture content before storage should be tested for aflatoxins before use.

If you ever have any questions about if any of our lab tests are necessary for your grains, please call us at 802-656-5392 or email us at uvmgrain@uvm.edu and we’d be happy to discuss which tests are appropriate for your grain.

Throughout February and March 2022, the UVM Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program will host the Dairy Webinar Series! The first of these webinars is on Friday, February 11, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Manure Matters: Sustainable Dung Ecology with Bryony Sands of UVM.

Bryony Sands is a postdoctoral research fellow studying the interactions between cattle pest and parasite management, beneficial insect biodiversity and pasture ecosystem function in livestock systems. She was at the University of Bristol in the UK for 11 years before coming to Vermont to work with the Gund Institute in October 2021.

For the webinar, Bryony will talk about her research in the UK, which has focused on the role of insect decomposer communities in suppressing livestock parasites on pastures, and the impacts of veterinary parasiticides on these processes. She will discuss Integrated Parasite Management (IPM) for cattle as a potential tool which can simultaneously reduce the risk of pest resistance to veterinary treatments and reduce off-target environmental impacts on beneficial pasture insects. Recent research in the Northern Great Plains supports the application of these principles in the US context, and Bryony is keen to discuss these ideas with farmers in the Northeast to develop effective and environmentally sustainable pest and parasite management strategies.

Bryony will talk about why maintaining a healthy dung ecosystem is important for soil health, productivity, and suppressing pests and parasites on grazed pastures. She will discuss how some pest and parasite treatments for cattle can result in reduced biodiversity of beneficial pasture insects such as dung beetles and predatory flies, and explore Integrated Parasite Management (IPM) as an alternative strategy to reduce environmental impacts and slow the spread of resistance.

The Zoom link to attend can be found on our Conferences webpage at http://go.uvm.edu/conferences, which includes additional webinars from eOrganic and UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Direct Zoom link here: https://uvm-edu.zoom.us/j/86153067845

Oilseeds are crops that may provide avenues for diversification on Vermont farms. They include sunflower, canola, soybean, flax, and hemp. Oil extracted from these crops can be used for on-farm fuel production or culinary uses, while the leftover meal can be used as a high protein livestock feed or soil amendment to boost fertility.

An oil press is a machine that extrudes the oil from the crop by separating it from the meal. There are several types of small-scale oil presses that vary in size, and some offer more flexibility than others. Check out this factsheet on Oilseed Oil Presses or this YouTube video on small-scale oil presses to learn more.

Pressing seed for oil is an activity that begins as the farm season slows down and the weather cools at Borderview Research Farm. The video below shows our oil press in action, with farm owner Roger Rainville and two UVM Extension NWCS employees processing soybeans:

The UVM Extension NWCS team’s oilseed program aims to develop best practices for oilseed production under Vermont’s growing conditions. Check out our 2021 Research Reports for the most up-to-date results, including the Conventional Soybean Variety Trial, the Conventional Soybean Performance Trials Summary, the Organic Soybean Variety Trial, and the Organic Soybean Performance Trials Summary. 

For more information and resources, read our Oilseed Production in the Northeast guide and visit our oilseed crops webpage. 

The University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program conducted an organic silage corn variety trial in 2021 to provide unbiased performance comparisons of commercially available varieties. To determine varieties that are best suited to this production system and our region’s climate, we evaluated 14 commercially available organic corn silage varieties from 2 companies. 

Varieties ranged significantly in terms of yield, quality, and digestibility.  These differences can have notable impacts on herd health, milk production/yield, and your bottom line as a farmer, which is why selecting the variety you plant is crucial to achieve optimal results.  With a changing and increasing volatile climate, farmers need to know which varieties may perform better in dry drought conditions and which may perform better in wet conditions to make management decisions for their local weather patterns on their fields. 

Read the full 2021 Organic Silage Corn Performance Trial report linked here.

All research reports are posted to the Research Results tab of our website. Check back there as we post more reports from the 2021 field season this winter!

Written by Laura Sullivan, Founder of Pipedream Hempworks, Research Technician at the University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program.

This past growing season we at UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils (NWCS) planted 13 fiber and dual-purpose varieties of Hemp at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont as part of our Hemp fiber variety trial. The seeds were sown in early June 2021 and two harvest dates were set for late August and early September to obtain data at a variety of stages in the lifecycle. After each harvest, fiber was retted one of two ways: Field retting is a process in which the hemp is cut and left on the ground to grow bacteria that break down the pectin layer binding the bast fiber (outermost layer of the stalk) to the hurd (woody core of the stalk). Water retting is a process where plant bundles are submerged in water to achieve the same. Subsamples of each variety underwent both retting practices for quality comparison.

After the small feats of retting were completed came the more daunting task of getting the retted samples processed into workable fiber. In 2021 America, we have become accustomed to a certain ease around manufacturing products that simply doesn’t exist for hemp. In a nation where growing industrial fiber hemp was once mandated to keep up with development and war, currently there is not a single long staple fiber mill to speak of. “Long staple” refers to the length of fibers belonging to bast fiber plants like hemp and flax. After NAFTA and CAFTA were implemented in the 1990s, the majority of textile manufacturing and other non-perishable industries were moved overseas where they could be done at a lower price point, and U.S. mills and dye houses subsequently closed.

Lucky for us, living in a small state with a rich textile history has its perks. Antique milling equipment belonging to the historic Old Stone House Museum in Brownington, Vermont was generously lent to us for our research. A good bit of the fiber was processed manually this way, yielding beautiful horsehair-like sliver for spinning, while the rest awaits processing with the aid of electricity at a mini mill in Nova Scotia (our closest option) this winter. Stay subscribed to our blog to follow along with this fibershed project as it unfurls in the coming seasons, and as more fiber hemp research is published by the NWCS team. Ambitions have been laid for fun events and educational opportunities surrounding growing and processing fiber domestically.

Through our research we aim to carve a trail into the modern era that bypasses the perils of the current fast fashion model where clothes are treated as disposable, while consisting of the least “disposable” materials on the planet. If there is anything that you, reader, take away from this post let it be this: clothing is agriculture. It is revolutionary to grow and support local fiber because it is to believe in an alternative future where humans work symbiotically with nature instead of in spite of it. When our clothing comes from the soil, it can return to the soil, thus, building soil. When we build soil, we sink carbon.  If we can achieve this goal of a closed-loop-clothing system on our research farm, then we will be able to better help farmers in our region to do the same. In an era of climate breakdown, fiber farming could offer Vermonters a lot to be hopeful about.