VIEW CARTNEW PACKAGE DEAL
SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of the page to see the special 40th Anniversary offer on our best-selling items!
NNTC Presentations!
You can download audiofiles of the 2011 NNTC speaker presentations for just $19.95 each.
If you attended the 2010 or 2011 NNTC, contact us today at (800) 645-8455 for a special discount to get each file for just $4.95 each!
SUBSCRIBEGeneral No-Till
First year no-till
Post At
04/29/2011 - 11:21 am
reply from
andrei andreii
Hi everyone, I'm from Romania and I've been studying a lot on this subject lately. I see a lot of potential in this and some people already done that here, but I'm still a bit unsure about it, and I don't know some details -- but I have time to learn and I want to. 
Most of people here believe that no-till is nonsense and send me for a walk when i tell them about it, and minimum tillage is the most soil-conservative system they know. Even with minimum tillage, deep plowing is highly recommended in the previous year and no residue is wanted. That's what they teach in schools, that's how people do it (but as I said before, there ARE some exceptions).
As for my case, I have 10 rented hectares and they are full of weeds, saw a lot of perrenial dicots when passing by (planning to have a closer look soon). They haven't been used for years, and this is an advantage for me but honestly I am in real doubt of how I am going to get rid of the weeds without tilling.
I plan to sow them with wheat this autumn but I'm also considering corn as a second alternative. Which is best? Is the difference big between them? I heard that corn is better but I'd strongly prefer wheat for now.
On paper no-till seems more advantageous but it depends of how much weed control I'm going to apply. 
I was thinking about RoundUp in a 4l/ha dose 1 week before seeding, is that sufficient? Because for me it doesn't seem to be. Also, there would be lots of residue, but if using a suitable drill I think it should be fine. Do I need to cut them down and let them on the ground? (extra cost)They may provide shade for newly emerged plants, is that ok?
I'm very intrigued about this system and the potential benefits of it and I would be very happy to find some answers and get this thing going, please help. Thanks! 
P.S. I will post pics with the field as soon as I have them (working on it)
P.S.S Here, we have reddish-brown soil and in some years drought is very problematic.
As for my case, I have 10 rented hectares and they are full of weeds, saw a lot of perrenial dicots when passing by (planning to have a closer look soon). They haven't been used for years, and this is an advantage for me but honestly I am in real doubt of how I am going to get rid of the weeds without tilling.
I plan to sow them with wheat this autumn but I'm also considering corn as a second alternative. Which is best? Is the difference big between them? I heard that corn is better but I'd strongly prefer wheat for now.
On paper no-till seems more advantageous but it depends of how much weed control I'm going to apply. 
I was thinking about RoundUp in a 4l/ha dose 1 week before seeding, is that sufficient? Because for me it doesn't seem to be. Also, there would be lots of residue, but if using a suitable drill I think it should be fine. Do I need to cut them down and let them on the ground? (extra cost)They may provide shade for newly emerged plants, is that ok?
I'm very intrigued about this system and the potential benefits of it and I would be very happy to find some answers and get this thing going, please help. Thanks! 
P.S. I will post pics with the field as soon as I have them (working on it)
P.S.S Here, we have reddish-brown soil and in some years drought is very problematic.
Reply at
04/30/2011 - 6:55 am
reply from
Ronald J Esdaile
Sir,
I have never been to Romania, so my comments may not suit.
However if one has a field that has not been cropped for many years, and has quite a few woody dicot weeds, and you are a new no tiller my thoughts would be along these lines.
1. Do a shallow tillage with as minimum disturbance as you can - either with sweeps, or shallow ploughing - and cut off the weeds, trying as much as possible to retain the residue on the soil surface.
2. If the soil is rough and cloddy, do some sort of levelling to try and flatten it out - even a large flat piece of timber or a piece of railway line.
3. You then have a flat soil which is weed free. From this time forward, spray out the weeds as required with the appropriate labelled herbicide, and in due time plant the new crop with a no till or minimum till planter.
4. Control the in-crop weeds as required.
5. Harvest the new crop, leaving the crop residue as evenly spread as possible in the harvesting operation.
6. Continue the no till operation, controlling weeds with herbicide, and planting with a no till planter.
The going may be tough for the first few years, and the neighbours will think you are crazy. However hang in there and be resolute in keeping the plough or the cultivator out the field.
It may take some years for the benefits to become obvious. My guess is you will be be streets ahead in a dry year. Be vigilant in controlling the weeds. The system works and there are now 100 million hectares of no till around the world.
I have never been to Romania, so my comments may not suit.
However if one has a field that has not been cropped for many years, and has quite a few woody dicot weeds, and you are a new no tiller my thoughts would be along these lines.
1. Do a shallow tillage with as minimum disturbance as you can - either with sweeps, or shallow ploughing - and cut off the weeds, trying as much as possible to retain the residue on the soil surface.
2. If the soil is rough and cloddy, do some sort of levelling to try and flatten it out - even a large flat piece of timber or a piece of railway line.
3. You then have a flat soil which is weed free. From this time forward, spray out the weeds as required with the appropriate labelled herbicide, and in due time plant the new crop with a no till or minimum till planter.
4. Control the in-crop weeds as required.
5. Harvest the new crop, leaving the crop residue as evenly spread as possible in the harvesting operation.
6. Continue the no till operation, controlling weeds with herbicide, and planting with a no till planter.
The going may be tough for the first few years, and the neighbours will think you are crazy. However hang in there and be resolute in keeping the plough or the cultivator out the field.
It may take some years for the benefits to become obvious. My guess is you will be be streets ahead in a dry year. Be vigilant in controlling the weeds. The system works and there are now 100 million hectares of no till around the world.
Reply at
05/ 6/2011 - 9:27 am
reply from
Victor Leforestier
Hi Andrei. I'm from France and i had the chance to exchange about no-till with some farmers in Romania.
With the amount of weed you are facing, I don't think a shallow tillage is a good idea. This will only clear the weeds for the sight, but with the tillage you will create a perfect seedbed for weeds.
If tillage is an option, then mow the weeds, and plow them down. Plowing will be the best option to clear the field because you will put all the seeds down and they won't come up with your wheat. Of course you will only do that one time and then begin no-till. If the ground has not been worked for some years then the soil life is possibly good, and you won't kill it all in one year.
If you don't want to till at all, then you might spray Rup in two passes : a first shot 1-2month before planting, and one the day after planting. This way you will kill the existing weeds, they will start to decay, and some others will come up and you will kill these at the planting date and have a clean field. Plus, if you start killing them early, they will stop pumping water.
I'm not sure about doing this a week before...you won't certainly kill them all in one pass if the grass is thick.
Wheat is the best choice to me, weeds will be cheaper and easier to kill than in the corn.
With the amount of weed you are facing, I don't think a shallow tillage is a good idea. This will only clear the weeds for the sight, but with the tillage you will create a perfect seedbed for weeds.
If tillage is an option, then mow the weeds, and plow them down. Plowing will be the best option to clear the field because you will put all the seeds down and they won't come up with your wheat. Of course you will only do that one time and then begin no-till. If the ground has not been worked for some years then the soil life is possibly good, and you won't kill it all in one year.
If you don't want to till at all, then you might spray Rup in two passes : a first shot 1-2month before planting, and one the day after planting. This way you will kill the existing weeds, they will start to decay, and some others will come up and you will kill these at the planting date and have a clean field. Plus, if you start killing them early, they will stop pumping water.
I'm not sure about doing this a week before...you won't certainly kill them all in one pass if the grass is thick.
Wheat is the best choice to me, weeds will be cheaper and easier to kill than in the corn.
Reply at
05/24/2011 - 8:11 am
reply from
Victor Leforestier
So what did you decided Andreď? What do you think about our propositions ?
 |