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NAME: Jodi DeJong-Hughes

POSITION: Regional Extension Educator, University of Minnesota

LOCATION: Marshall, Minn. (works with Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota farmers and landowners)

YEARS IN PROFESSION: 11

EXPERTISE: Soil fertility and quality, and compaction management

We've learned a lot about strip-tillage in the western Corn Belt and Great Plains, and the more we learn, the better it looks. While significant growth in strip-tilled acres is relatively new in Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas, this “middle ground” that combines the benefits of no-till and chisel plow systems is paying big benefits to farmers who make the change.

Many of the advantages of strip-tilling are captured by growers moving away from chisel plowing into a conservation-tillage system. Yet, some growers who have struggled making no-till work find strip-till is a better alternative than going back to moving substantial amounts of soil through conventional tillage.

On-farm experiences, plus university and industry trial results, point to numerous advantages of using strip-till on soils that are often very cool and wet in the spring, such as our glacial, heavy clays. These include:

• Seedbed soil dries out, warms up faster.
• Water infiltration improves.
• Soil sediment and phosphorus runoff losses slow or stop.
• Tile ditches stay clean.
• Saved residue boosts organic matter levels.
• Soil structure improves.
• Yields equal or beat other tillage systems.
• Fuel and fertilizer costs drop.
• Strip-till qualifies for Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) payments and carbon credits.

So, with all of these positives, why aren’t more growers strip-tilling? Well, all…