Karl Czymmek, Cornell Senior Extension Associate
Karl Czymmeck is a Cornell Senior Extension Associate, who specializes in the areas of environmental management, nutrient management, soil fertility and CAFO farms. His focus is dairy extension in the area of nutrient management and environmental impact. This work allows him to observe evolving critical questions to address the issues and extend information back to producers, field staff and farm advisors.
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 the WNY Soil Health Alliance held their annual meeting and soil health workshop.
In the morning session, Karl Czymmek from Cornell PRO-DAIRY shared some of his thoughts about soil health including the importance of saving soil as a way to help maintain soil health and that regardless of the crops grown, there is something every farm can do to work on soil health.
In the afternoon breakout sessions, Karl discussed soil fertility, crop yield and soil health changes over 15 years in a corn silage/hay/corn grain rotation with chisel disk tillage where plots were treated with fertilizer only, 2 rates of separated solids from dairy manure and two rates of liquid dairy manure. The plots treated with dairy solids and high manure showed increased yields and improvements in soil health tests such as aggregate stability. The plots are currently in alfalfa-grass hay and when rotated back to corn, will have strip till and cover crops implemented.