3 ms·
It’s hard to generalize but seed costs in the ballpark of 20% of revenue. That’s not counting tillage in preparation for planting, the cost of planting, or wee
by colechristensen 4y ago
It’s hard to generalize but seed costs in the ballpark of 20% of revenue. That’s not counting tillage in preparation for planting, the cost of planting, or weed management which will be more difficult without established crops.
In other words you can take a significant hit to yields and still come out ahead.
- cmrdporcupine 4y agoWithout yearly tillage (or herbicide spray in case of no-till), weed mgmt is going to be tricky for perennial cash crops. It's certainly tricky for e.g. vineyards and orchards. I suppose with rice (or kernza wheat) you could use a selective broadleaf herbicide. Doesn't help with invasive grasses.
- colechristensen 4y agoHerbicides are all generally sprayed when the crop is alive and growing anyway, there’s really no new challenge there
- cmrdporcupine 4y agoRegimen often includes cover crop then burn down herbicide (and/or tillage) before planting. I am 100% in favour of perennial crop agriculture, but this is going to present entirely new weed mgmt problems for the kind of industrial scale cash crop agriculture this is apparently for. Annual planting gives the farmer a chance to manage weeds (and soil structure etc) every planting season.