Nutrient cycling in organic systems

Field, Lab, Earth, a podcast of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, is now offering CEU quizzes for all standard-length podcasts. Purchase the quizzes individually or as part of your subscription. For your convenience, we’ll be publishing some of the quizzes here in Crops & Soils magazine.

Below is a quiz from Episode 30 (Nutrient Cycling in Organic Systems with Dr. Erin Silva), which was part of a four-part series on transitioning to organic farming. Listen to the podcast by scanning the QR code shown here or by visiting https://bit.ly/315FepT. You can also listen on your Apple (https://apple.co/2SpCoGs) or Android (https://bit.ly/2Sqf7nM) devices. 

1. Managing soil fertility is one of the key challenges facing a farmer that is moving from a non-organic to organic crop production system due restricted use of synthetic fertilizers.
   1. True.
   2. False.
2. Incorporation of alfalfa into an organic crop rotation with corn and soybean can provide which of the following benefits?
   1. Alfalfa can provide a nitrogen credit for a subsequent corn crop.
   2. Alfalfa can diversify income by providing a marketable hay crop.
   3. Alfalfa can serve as a key weed management tool.
   4. All of the above.
3. An organic grain-farming operation that does not generate its own manure can often fertilize with non-organic manure from a nearby livestock or poultry operation provided that manure does not contain stabilizers or other additives.
   1. True.
   2. False.
4. Which of the following is a benefit of cereal cover crops in an organic row crop production system?
   1. Suppress weed growth prior to row crop production.
   2. Reduce soil erosion after row crop production.
   3. Reduce nutrient leaching and runoff after row crop production.
   4. Fix atmospheric nitrogen for a subsequent row crop.
   5. a, b, and c.
   6. All of the above.
5. Overapplication of phosphorus is not a concern for organic farming operations reliant on manure as a fertility input.
   1. True.
   2. False.