The winning entry from an Oregon college student in the Phoenix Rotary Equipment Ltd. conservation tillage essay contest explains how no-till can lead to healthier soils around the world.
As I sit here at my desk, I find myself not in the countryside of eastern Oregon where my family raises dryland wheat and barley, but rather in the vast city of Quito, Ecuador.
My first “no-tilling” experiences were in 1989 when I planted soybeans directly into old corn rows. I saw immediate labor and fuel savings and harvested yields that were consistent with conventional tilling.
While most Corn Belt no-tillers grow only corn and soybeans, Charlie Hammer prefers a three-way rotation. The operator of Hammer & Kavazanjian Farms with his wife Nancy Kavazanjian at Beaver Dam, Wis., prefers a no-till rotation evenly split between corn, soybeans and wheat in the farm’s 2,300-acre operation.
While U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have been bragging about funding nearly $290 million in renewable energy efforts since the start of the Bush administration, most of the investment has gone to bioenergy and biomass ventures. In fact, much of their comprehensive energy strategy to help farmers reduce high energy costs is simply being promoted without offering any new economic incentives.
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.
California has long been one of the most productive agricultural areas of the world. Partly for that reason, growers there are often understandably reluctant to try new farming methods, especially when rising fuel and labor costs and market competition are shrinking profit margins.
Almost all no-tillers in South America have given up tilling completely. They use cover crops while U.S. no-tillers revert to tillage as a problem-solver
Most U.S no-tillers miss out on the full benefits of no-tilling because they incorrectly believe they must occasionally till for a variety of reasons, says Rolph Derpsch, an internationally respected no-till researcher and advocate from Paraguay.
Back in 1996, we made a commitment to farm more land without hiring any full-time labor. Thanks to a shift to continuous no-till, precision farming and more efficient equipment, we’ve surpassed our goals.
Researchers are discussing, and even experimenting with, possibilities that could make their way into your field management strategies and no-till profits.
No-tillers know the threat that compaction poses to their crops. And although no-tilling minimizes the risk of compaction, no-tillers might not understand how a hardpan might still sneak into their fields.
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On this edition of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by CultivAce, No-Till Farmer’s Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, Ray McCormick, showcases how he’s taking conservation ag to the next level in Vincennes, Ind., with ponds, solar panels, duck hunting and more.
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.