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No-Till Fields Home For Migrating Birds

May 30, 2010 | Posted in No-Till Farming 101

Source: Chicago Tribune.

Plovers seem to be coexisting well with intensive row-crop farming methods. No-till farming methods seem to benefit the birds most because they leave organic matter on the surface. And no-till benefits farmers, as well, by reducing erosion and protecting the soil.

Strip-Till Corn Profitability Tops Mulch-Till, No-Till

May 27, 2010 | Posted in No-Till Farming 101

Strip-till lost the bragging rights about yields to mulch-till in a 4-year, onfarm study conducted in Illinois. But profits from strip-till topped thos of mulch-till and no-till in the study.

Check Stage Of Corn With Post Herbicides

May 21, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection

Herbicide application restrictions exist for several reasons, but of particular importance is the increased likelihood of crop injury if applications are made beyond a specified growth stage.

Keep Yields From Cooling Off

Cover crops can offset the major causes of yield drag in fields making the transition to no-till and improve the soil biology of fields lacking crop and residue diversity

By Martha Ostendorf posted on May 1, 2010 | Posted in Cover Crops, Nutrient Management, Soil Health

If you had to scavenge for food from Thanksgiving to Easter, chances are you wouldn’t be very productive and may not survive. The same is true of soil microbes.

Frank Comments

We're Not There Yet, But 300-Bushel Corn Yields May Be Typical Just 20 Years From Now

By Frank Lessiter posted on February 1, 2010 | Posted in Seeding & Planting

David Hula captured top no-till yield honors in last fall’s National Corn Growers Association contest with a yield of 319.3 bushels per acre. While this Charles City, Va., no-tiller’s result was about double the current national average, 300 bushels is a yield some industry leaders are anticipating as being typical just 20 years from now.

What I've Learned from No-Tilling

No-Till Proving Not To Be a 'Drain' For Illinois Grower

Long-time no-tiller Doug Harford was among the earliest pioneering conservation farmers to break ground on drainage, yield mapping, grid soil sampling and strip-till

By Doug Harford and Ron Ross posted on February 1, 2010 | Posted in No-Till Farming 101, Water Management

Back in 1973, I never thought I would be a lifetime farmer. But when Dad decided to retire, corn was $4 a bushel and nitrogen was just 3 cents per pound. The future looked bright for agriculture. Most times, it still does.

Cover Crops Make Long-Term No-Till Perform Even Better

Iowa no-tiller drills cereal rye as soon as possible after harvesting corn and soybeans for maximum growth and better soil structure

By Dan Zinkland posted on February 1, 2010 | Posted in Cover Crops, Equipment, Soil Health

Long before cover crops became a hot topic among farmers, Wellman, Iowa, no-tiller Dennis Berger drilled cereal rye in the fall of 1978. Then in the spring of 1979, he used paraquat to kill the rye before no-tilling corn

Frank Comments

We’re Not There Yet, But 300-Bushel Corn Yields May Be Typical Just 20 Years From Now

By Frank Lessiter posted on February 1, 2010

Continuous No-Till, Cover Crops Show Value

January 27, 2010 | Posted in Cover Crops

Since 1969, select farm plots at the University of Illinois have been in continuous no-till. In that time, the measure of organic matter has been boosted three-fold – from about 1 percent to 3.2 percent, without use of cover crops. In the same period, rotating between corn and soybean crops, the stored carbon in that soil has risen from 25,200 lbs per acre to 99,300 lbs.

Get Your No-Till Soils To Feed Your Crops Nitrogen

University of Illinois fertility specialist Richard Mulvaney says the soil can be much more important to supplying nitrogen to no-tilled crops than fertilizer nitrogen

By Dan Zinkland posted on January 1, 2010 | Posted in Nutrient Management, Soil Health

Feeding plants nitrogen fertilizer makes sense, Richard Mulvaney says. But fertilizer, like the food we eat, needs to be used in moderation. Too much is not good, the University of Illinois soil fertility specialist says.

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Last-Minute Planter Prep for No-Tillers & Strip-Tillers

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Martin-Till, precision specialist Chad Baker, co-owner of Baker Precision Planter Works in Orangeville, Ill., helps a first-generation no-tiller with planter setup, and later encounters a couple problems with a strip-tiller’s new 24-row planter. Plus, veteran agronomist Brad Forkner checks in with a couple tips for farmers to keep in mind before they take the field.

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