Taking an environmentally sensitive approach to pest management
It seems everywhere you turn, these two keep popping up. The August edition of American Vegetable Grower discussed cover crops in the 'Sustainable Solutions' column (page 16) and closed out with their last page editorial "Save the Pollinators". Where might growers turn for quick and quality information on either of these topics? Try the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers!
The 2016 edition added examples of how to sequence cover crops with vegetable crops, in the Soils and Fertility section (pages 20 & 21). Five examples are provided, of vegetable crops in a field for a 4-year period. So this provides about 20 examples to look at for rotation ideas. Just following these rotations on page 22 the guide provides a table on green manure crops for vegetable farms, where seeding rates are provided and the preferred seeding dates.
The sections of the guide addressing bees, pollination and pesticides (pages 29-31) are fairly general, but do provide some good tips. Table 10 does provide specifics on the toxicity of the different insecticides.
Also gaining in interest is 'soil health', all the factors that one might want to consider regarding it, and specifically considering physical and biological factors beyond what a typical soil test uses. Please note the article that delves into this subject.
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REVISED: January 5, 2017