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The “Crop Rotation Practice Standard” for the National Organic Program under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, section §205.205, states that Farmers are required to implement a crop rotation that maintains or builds soil organic matter, works to control pests, manages and conserves nutrients, and protects against erosion.
The Norfolk four-course system is a method of agriculture that involves crop rotation. Unlike earlier methods such as the three-field system, the Norfolk system is marked by an absence of a fallow year. Instead, four different crops are grown in each year of a four-year cycle: wheat, turnips, barley, and clover or ryegrass. [1]
The Dutch four-field rotation system was popularised by the British agriculturist Charles Townshend in the 18th century. The system (wheat, turnips, barley and clover) opened up a fodder crop and grazing crop allowing livestock to be bred year-round. The use of clover was especially important as the legume roots replenished soil nitrates. [169]
The legume crop needed summer rain to succeed, and so the three-field system was less successful around the Mediterranean. Oats for horse food could also be planted in the spring, which, combined with the adoption of horse collars and horseshoes , led to the replacement of oxen by horses for many farming tasks, with an associated increase in ...
Many modern farms are made up of a number of fields, which can be cultivated separately and thus can be used in a crop rotation sequence. Crop rotation has been employed for thousands of years and has been widely found to increase yield and prevent harmful changes to the soil environment that limit productivity in the long term. [3]
Agricultural reforms and inventions, such as the seed drill and horse-drawn hoe Jethro Tull (baptised 30 March 1674 – 21 February 1741, New Style ) was an English agriculturist from Berkshire who helped to bring about the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century.
In agriculture, monocropping is the practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land. Maize, soybeans, and wheat are three common crops often monocropped. Monocropping is also referred to as continuous cropping, as in "continuous corn." Monocropping allows for farmers to have consistent crops throughout their entire farm.
500 BC – The moldboard iron plough is invented in China; 500 BC – Row cultivation of crops using intensive hoeing to weed and conserve moisture practised in China; 300 BC – Efficient trace harness for plowing invented in China; 200 BC – Efficient collar harness for plowing invented in China; 100 BC – Rotary winnowing fan invented in China