If I had to pick out one consistent thing about no-tilling that I have observed over and over, it is that most no-till benefits come with continuous no-till — season to season and crop to crop. That’s the message I delivered last winter to attendees at the 2005 National No-Tillage Conference just a few days after I retired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. And it’s the message I would like to expand upon as a private consultant: It’s time for the no-till community to aim higher.
You can't talk about nitrogen management without talking about tillage management. And separating nitrogen management from management of no-till and other tillage systems can be dangerous, according to Alan Sundermeier, an Ohio State University extension educator.
PETE GOTTFRIED ROLLS his office chair over to the horizontal file. He instantly pulls out a snapshot of a field that resembles a parking lot. Heavy rains can cause the sticky, tight soils, high in magnesium, to crust and compact, explains the Nevada, Ohio, no-tiller.
Just because you concentrate on no-tilling corn, soybeans or another crop doesn’t mean you can’t pick up plenty of yield-building residue management tricks from other growers. To do a better job of managing residues, check out how these eight Pacific Northwest and western Canadian growers go about managing residues for top profit.
While some growers and educators figured the U.S. no-till acreage might have decreased during the past 2 years, it instead turned in an astounding increase of 7.1 million acres. Much of the increase occurred in the Great Plains states where no-till is helping growers make more productive use of limited water.
New no-tillers can count on making fewer trips across the field and spending less for less labor and fuel, but you’ll be devoting more time to management.
In the Mid-1980s, we switched from moldboard plowing to a conservation farming system of chisel plowing, discing and planting. It was the recommended soil saving system of the time, but we seemed to be stuck in place.
Compared to conventional tillage, U.S. Department of Agricultural economists say, corn growers who follow a crop residue management (CRM) program not only minimize soil and chemical runoff but can sharply reduce costs.
“There's money to be made in production agriculture, and no-tillers can make more money than anybody else,” says Moe Russell, a management and financial consultant to farmers in 17 states.
With a one-pass operation that places seed and fertilizer into an otherwise undisturbed seedbed and packs the furrow, no-till systems shine when it comes to both better yields and disease control, says Andy Lenssen, a Montana State University entomologist.
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On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Martin-Till, Westville, Ind., no-tiller Jeff Herrold provides an update on how planting is going so far, and why a potential problem with slugs is causing some early-season anxiety. Herrold also explains why he prefers to plant soybeans before corn.
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