Group Finds Strip-Tilling Warms Soil Faster Than No-Till
The Center for Excellence‚ a consortium of growers and other cooperating entities in southern Michigan‚ has continued to transfer skills, practices, observations and field-sized plot data to the public that is making farming more profitable and conservation minded.
This year, the leadership group at the two main sites kept good records of the soil temperatures in both strip-till and no-till.
"Getting a row crop started off right is a serious challenge in the northern latitudes of United States where soils remain cold for so long," says Mike Petersen, Orthman Mfg. Co. precision-tillage agronomist.
"Since the late 1970s, conservation tillage is probably the wisest practice that a grower can adopt to decrease fuel, labor, time and worry, as well as losses of soil moisture and soil losses due to wind and water erosion. The dollar savings from these: reducing fuel, labor, time and other management costs can make all growers sit up and take notice."
Data from the spring of 2010 from farms near Adrian, Mich., confirm what many have observed and some have measured‚ soil temperature can be 1 to 5 degrees F warmer in the strip-tilled zone compared to no-tilled plots, Petersen says. Warming for germination and getting the stand started is extremely important where the growing season is greatly limited north of 42 degrees latitude (north).
Conclusions
Daily monitoring of the soil and air temperatures in these corn plots did reveal some differences. In the northern United States, it is important to get the soil warmed as quickly as possible to enable to corn to mature, Petersen says.
"We see an advantage with strip-till, because it creates a zone about 8 to 10 inches wide in a 30-inch-row system compared to no-till," he says. "Even with row cleaners on a no-till-type planter, the residue can be an issue for the crop to get started right."
From early April and continuing into the first days of May, the strip-tilled plots show a warming effect, which helps crops start to germinate and emerge.
"Seed that sits in cold, wet soils will lag in plant development," Petersen says. "That will delay pollination and, potentially, harvest. Strip-till can offer an edge for farmers."
These charts plot temperatures at 3 inches in depth at the Bakerlads' farm and Tim Stutzmans' farm:
Bakerlads' Farm
Bakerlads' farm soil temperatures for April 26 through June 4, 2010, in
2009 corn residue. Note that when the air temperature cooled significantly, from May 7 to 11, the response time was gradual due to rain and cooler weather.
Stutzman' farm soil temperatures for April 26 through June 4, 2010, in 2009 corn residue. The dotted vertical line represents when the last predicted freeze issue is past. As the air temperature increases and the wet soils dry, the soil temperature also responds.
