Ag Alert March 17, 2021

Tomatoes Continued from Page 11

ingasessential at a timewhenonlyahand- ful of researchers paid itmuch attention. “Park Organics inMeridian, Pinnacles FarminHollister,FullyBelly inYoloCounty and T&DWilley in Visalia are all working withnotill, covercropsystemsandgrowing small-seeded vegetables,” Mitchell said. “Through concerted efforts, these farmers have changed the biology and increased the carbon level of their soil.” PinnaclesFarmstartedwithsoil thathad barely over 1%organicmatter, he said, in- creasing tomore than2.25%organic in the top foot and nearly 2% in the second foot. Theother farmsmentionedbyMitchell have also used cover crops and compost to build the organic matter in their soil, whichhe saidhelpswithnutrient cycling, disease suppression, and water absorp- tion and retention. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

0, 15 or 30 tons of compost for three years on three Bowles Farming fields in the Los Banos area. “We saw a yield increase from the com- post, and also more carbon in the soil,” Stoddard said. As in a related Yolo County study, he said, theyield increasecame in the second year tomatoes were grown after compost. Thecompost applicationsdidnot, how- ever, pay for themselves in the short term through increased yields, he noted, and therewas also abuildupof salt in theplots that received the compost. UCCEfarmadvisorZhengWangstudied how application of compost affected the ratesoilnitrogenbecomesavailable,aswell as crop tissue nitrogen levels and yield. In his study, 5, 10 or 15 tons of compost was appliedbeforegrowingtomatoesonacom- mercial farmin the Pattersonarea. “The compost had no effect on min- eralization in December, January and February, but increased it beginning in March,”Wang said. “There was a yield in- crease inone of the two fieldswe studied.” Advisors said increased interest in com- post is coming, in part, because regulators seeitasawaytoreducepressureonlandfills. “Twenty-eight percent of the solid waste in the U.S. is yard trimmings and foodwaste,”UCDavis researcherXiaZhu-

UC farm advisors have been studying use of compost on ground used to grow tomatoes. Their trials consider impact on yield and availability of soil nitrogen.

and reducednitrogen fertilizer in the sec- ond year,” Zhu-Barker said. “If you apply 8 tons of compost, you should think about reducing nitrogen applications or you might lose yield.” Mitchell said much of the research on regenerative practices has been done by early organic farmers, who saw soil build-

Barker said. “InCalifornia,weare trying to divert this waste to agronomic purposes.” She applied compost at 0, 4 and 8 tons an acre in a Yolo County trial, to see the impact on the nitrogen fertilizer yields of a subsequent tomato crop. “You see a yield boost from compost

Americans’ vegetable consumption broadens Americans “are slowly expanding the variety of vegetables on their plates,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported, based on analysis of data collected from 2000 through 2019. During that period, dark green vege- cabbage and beets in the “other vegeta- bles” subgroup were partially offset by increased availability of onions and cu- cumbers, the report said. tables, red and orange vegetables other than tomatoes, and legumes increased their combined share of the vegetables available to eat in the United States from 16% to 22%.

Tomato availability remained steady during the period, ERS said, but other vegetables in the red and orange sub- group showed the largest increase, growing from 35 pounds per capita to 49 pounds. “In termsof growth inavailability, sweet potatoes, chile peppers and bell peppers were the leaders,” the report said. A 47% jump in romaine and leaf let- tuce propelled greater availability of dark green vegetables. ERS also reported rising availability of kale, spinach and broccoli. In all, use of dark green vege- tables increased from 21.7 pounds per capita in 2000 to 27.5 pounds in 2019, the report said. Supplies of legumes grew from 8.5 pounds per person to 11.1 pounds, the report said, noting that a 420% increase in dry peas and lentils over- came a 10% decline in availability of dry edible beans.

TheUSDAEconomic Research Service said it arrived at the estimates by adding domestic production, initial inventories and imports of a particular commodity, then subtracting exports and end-of-year inventories. To calculate per capita es- timates, the national supply totals were divided by the U.S. population. Using that formula, ERS said, the to- tal amount of available vegetables de- creased 4%, from 417 pounds per capita to 400 pounds. Food availability data for vegetables included fresh, frozen, canned and dried forms, the agency said. “Some vegetable subgroups have in- creased in popularity, while others have seen declines,” ERS said in a report about its findings. Vegetable subgroups posting declines included white potatoes and “other veg- etables,” a subgroup containing 16 dif- ferent crops. Declines in head lettuce,

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12 Ag Alert March 17, 2021