While no-tillers are already relying on crop residue to help make more efficient use of available water, the development of drought-tolerant corn will help stabilize yields when Mother Nature doesn’t deliver needed rains.
Corn yield has been much more variable during the past 5 years than was the case in the previous 5 years. Even so, the corn yield has averaged above the long-term national trend line over the past 4 years.
Most modern agronomists would laugh at the planting dates followed by our forefathers. Times were different. The economy was different. And the information we knew about the soil, most effective planting dates and what it ultimately means to the crop was definitely different.
Advancing farm technology hasn't freed no-tillers from the whims of Mother Nature. Rainfall remains an especially critical factor beyond the control of growers. What science has done, however, is look to the past and find weather patterns that can be useful in choosing management practices for the coming season.
When farmers switch to a no-till system, it often takes 5 years or more to see dramatic changes since the soil is recovering from decades of mismanagement.
A good no-tiller is apt to be a patient person. In Kansas, that virtue has been tested to the extreme as we work our way through one of the worst droughts of the past 75 years.
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.
Besides being good for the environment, strip till and/or no-till can help you make more efficient use of available water, especially under drought conditions.
While no-tilling with cover crops requires more management than straight no-till, the extra effort may be worth it, especially in dry years, maintains Mike Plumer.
Get full access NOW to the most comprehensive, powerful and easy-to-use online resource for no-tillage practices. Just one good idea will pay for your subscription hundreds of times over.
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.
Needham Ag understands the role of technology in making better use of limited resources within a specific environment by drawing on a wealth of global experience to overcome the challenges facing today's farmers, manufacturers and dealers.
The Andersons grows enduring relationships through extraordinary service, a deep knowledge of the market, and a knack for finding new ways to add value as we have done for nearly 70 years.