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Turning to Covers for Better Soils and Livestock Health

Craig Watson says he’s getting more forage production per year, better animal health, and improved soil tilth and health thanks to adding cover crops to a portion of his Texas ranch.
There was a time when simple things like seeding grasses and taking soil samples was a chore for Craig Watson. When he plowed one of his fields to plant a new variety of fescue, the soil clods were so massive and hard that seedbed preparation was difficult.
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No-Till Roundtable

What is the best idea, information or advice you received from attending a previous National No-Tillage Conference, and how did it pay off on your farm?

A: “Among the best highlights of previous conferences for me is the revelation that no-till with cover crops is practiced all over and in varying conditions. Ray Archuleta explained what happens to the soil with tillage and all about the soil life, and this has kept me on course and even more determined to keep on keeping on.
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Getting a Better Gauge on No-Till Soil Livestock

Using soil health tests can help no-tillers determine how their soils are performing and set a solid baseline to track improvements for years to come.
Given the numerous beneficial roles soil biology plays in crop production — including nutrient cycling, water-holding capacity and disease suppression — more no-tillers want to learn how well their soil biology is and what they can do to improve it.
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No-Till Brings Radical Rethink to Drill Designs

Manufacturers have listened to no-tillers’ needs and are creating drills that can handle heavy residue, as well as plant cash crops and cover crops of various seed sizes.
Aside from the planter and combine, drills are one of the most common pieces of equipment seen rolling across no-till fields today — about 64% of readers who participated in the 2016 No-Till Operational Benchmark Study said they own and use a no-till drill. And with cover crops picking up acreage in no-till systems, no-tillers are no longer relying on the tool just for seeding cash crops.
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Cover Crops Offer Bright Future for Weed Control, Further Conservation

Illinois grower Randy Chapman hopes cover crops will help him move from strip-till to 100% no-till while cleaning up herbicide-resistant weeds.
When Randy Chapman started farming with his father, he knew they weren’t going to have the help they needed for labor. He also didn’t like the erosion he witnessed from tillage and realized they had to do something different.
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Crop Protection 2017

New Dicamba Formulations Will Require Strict Adherence

No-tillers have new weapons to fight resistant weeds, but they must closely follow product labels to prevent off-target injury.
Illegal use of dicamba this past summer — which resulted in thousands of soybean acres and many acres of other crops damaged in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee — shows just how desperate some growers were to control herbicide-resistant weeds.
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