Although more than 40 percent of soybean acreage in the United States is now no-tilled, debate still centers on whether no-tilling or conventional tillage produce the best soybean yields. Extensive data crunching is swaying the debate toward no-till.
With funding from a variety of sponsors, they can investigate the practices that work well in their immediate area and prepare for the future with confidence.
Over the years, I have felt fortunate that I could promote no-tilling through educational work with conservation agencies and farmer organizations. I’ve been a member of my county Soil Conservation District for more than 16 years.
“HELP!” Horticulturist Ron Morse remembers the day nearly 30 years ago when that message, scrawled by a county extension agent on the bottom of a snapshot, arrived at his Virginia Tech University office. The photo showed a mud slide blocking a rural Appalachian farm road. What was left of a cabbage patch planted on a steep sloping field was mired in the mud.
As plantings of genetically modified (GM) crops continue to climb by millions of acres per year, one crop stands out for its absence from the list. Wheat growers, including no-tillers, are still waiting for the benefits of biotechnology, and the wait is likely to be a long one.
There are at least 10 ways adjuvants can make your post-emergence herbicide work harder — and literally hundreds of adjuvant products to choose from. Here’s a look at what’s causing this proliferation and how you can be sure you’re treating your crops right.
Researchers results from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory describe great potential for biomass, specifically that from no-till farms, to fuel transportation in the United States.
When you think about being directly involved with saving a natural resource as significant as the Chesapeake Bay, it’s hard not to get excited. That noble thought might be enough reason all by itself to really hard sell continuous no-till systems, including cover crops and rotations. And when you can see clearly that no-till makes farming more profitable — in addition to the big-picture environmental equation — you can start to sense that we’re onto something, as they say, that’s really big.
Karl Kupers ticks off the three ingredients he says are musts to make a Pacific Northwest farm sustainable: continual learning, discovery and persistence. They've been his rules to live by for the past dozen years.
Fertilizer placement draws a lot of opinions about everything from when to apply to the depth of application. The many, sometimes conflicting opinions can be confusing about which to follow.
No-till is now at the point where it not only can improve soil structure and stop erosion, but could also have far-reaching effects on consumer preferences and human health.
One of the first things I like to do when I talk to no-till farmers is to explain why my long title – rhizosphere ecologist – fits right in with what they’re trying to achieve with direct seeding or no-tilling. (The terms are generally interchangeable).
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.