The on-farm paper mulch trials are being conducted on seven watermelon farms in the Suwannee Valley and research trials are being conducted at the North Florida Research and Education Center- Suwannee Valley (NFREC-SV) during the spring of 2024. The goal of this trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new paper mulch developed by WestRock (a paper manufacturer) in comparison to commonly used standard plastic mulch. The evaluation of the paper versus plastic mulch includes the ability to resist degradation over a single season of a watermelon crop, resist the penetration of nutsedge through the paper, as well as the effect on soil temperatures and watermelon early and total season yield. At the end of the season, the paper mulch can easily be tilled into the soil saving on labor to pull up nondegradable plastic mulches.

Controlled release fertilizer (CRF) is a specialized fertilizer that is engineered to release its components gradually over a controlled period, as opposed to conventional fertilizers that release nutrients rapidly upon application. This controlled release technology is achieved through multiple layers of polymer coating, allowing nutrients to be released in response to factors such as temperature, soil moisture, and microbial activity. CRF offers several advantages over conventional fertilizers, including improved nutrient uptake efficiency and reduced leaching of nutrients into groundwater, while still resulting in similar yields to conventional fertilizers. Additionally, CRF can offer logistical benefits such as reduced labor and application frequency, making it an attractive option for growers aiming to maximize productivity while minimizing resource inputs and their environmental footprint. CRF technology has been implemented in many NFREC-Suwannee Valley research trials on crops including corn, watermelon, snapbeans, carrots, and hay. In addition to being used for multiple years in “on farm trials” in the Suwannee Valley on watermelons, corn and hay!

4R Corn Trial – Madison & Levy County  

Multiple farms are working in collaboration with the University of Florida Extension team to investigate the effect of on-farm application of Best Management Practices in corn. The idea works on the 4R’s principle of nutrient management which includes nitrogen application at the Right time, Right rate, Right source, and Right placement of nutrients along with the use of cover crops at the end of season to use the left-over nitrogen in soil. This is a 5-year project sponsored by FDACS and the UF/IFAS Extension Team that involves 3 farms every year in the North-Central Florida region. This project focuses on establishing on-farm trials at several grower locations in North-Central Florida to demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of side-dress application of nitrogen in corn and inter-seeding cover crops before harvesting corn using high corn growth when the roots are not grown enough to capture nitrogen applied in the middle of a 30-inch or 36-inch row space. The conventional practice that the farmer follows is to fertigate through pivot which leads to the loss of nitrogen in the middle of the rows during the early growth cycle of corn in March and April every year when North-Central Florida receives one or two leaching rain events each year.  

Madison County – contact Dan Fenneman (dfenneman@ufl.edu) 

Levy County – contact Mark Warren (mwwarren@ufl.edu)  

Project PI – contact Shivendra Kumar (shivendrkumar@ufl.edu)