How big should I start?
I think, there is no direct answer. There are examples of successful transitions starting with either some of the farm's fields or all of the farm's fields.
One of the most popular recommendations is to start with 10% of the area and as you gain more experience gradually expand until the whole farm is completely under no-till.
Yet, there are examples when some farmers just stopped tilling the soil once and for all time on 100% of their arable land. And they were successful: those who started small (dozens of acres) and those who started big (thousands of acres).
Gradual conversion to no-till is psychologically easier. Especially, if you still have doubts about whether or not it is going to work for you.
Gradual transition can also be more cost effective. This is especially true, if you run a big farm and you can't afford purchasing all the necessary pieces of equipment at once. No problem! You can transition step by step through gradual expansion of the area without any tillage.
Soil testing is a useful tool for any farming system to determine various soil properties and availability of soil nutrients
Each farm determines its own testing frequency depending on problems that they are trying to address. Some farmers have their soils tested once every few years to determine the content of major nutrients (NPK), soil acidity or organic matter.
Some farmers, especially those who practice precision farming, have their soils tested once a year.
What they do is a complete agrochemical analysis of the soil, including testing for primary and secondary agrochemical measures (e.g. acidity, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, microelements, and sulfur content; electric conductivity, salinity, soil mechanic composition) to ensure more accurate crop nutrition management.
Whichever frequency you analyzed soils previously (or, perhaps, you didn't bother about soil testing), suggest that you perform the most comprehensive soil testing that is available to you before transitioning to no-till.
“Gradual conversion to no-till is psychologically easier…”
You need to see the initial soil condition, which will be the foundation for future soil building. This will allow you to see the soil development trend even within several years.
In fact, this will be your initial control point, which you will use as a reference to measure your no-till success.
To deep rip soil or not to?
The following is one of the most frequent questions during the transition to no-till: do I have to break soil compaction by using any tillage implements?
Indeed, several years of plowing lead to creation of a plow pan located at the depth of soil tillage. The easiest way would be to eliminate this compaction by means of deep rippers.
But there is another way out.
Once, I met Dwayne Beck on my neighbor's farm who just started his no-till journey.
Who is Dwayne Beck?
It is generally acknowledged that he's one of the most prominent scientists promoting no-till.
He's a professor at South Dakota State Univ. and has been a research manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm.
On this farm, Dr. Beck established applied scientific research studying no-till on irrigated and dryland plots.
When we visited irrigated soybeans, I noticed that the soil (in my opinion) was rather compacted, and our farmers think that in this case (especially on irrigated land) they need to break up the soil compaction.
Beck didn't agree with this:
I think it's OK, he said. And the longer you are in no till, the less compacted it will be. You can easily break this compaction with a ripper, but once started you'll have to do it every year.
We converted to irrigated no-till in order to avoid soil tillage and thus, improve soil structure and avoid water run-off. And let's allow the earthworms to do the soil ripping job for us.
I agree with Dr. Beck. It is really weird to fix compaction problem using the tools, which are responsible for creating compaction. Any tillage operation destroys the soil structure and eventually leads to worsening of the compaction problem.
If you want to speed up the break-up of compaction, use both tap root crops and cover crop cocktails in your crop rotation: they are known for their ability to build the soil structure.
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