Soil - Articles

Harrowing Experiences!

Here’s what the experts say about fluffing, turning, mixing, scratching, leveling, shattering, warming and aerating no-till residues.

By Lynn Grooms posted on September 1, 2003 | Posted in Nutrient Management

Besides more effectively managing residue, aerators and rotary harrows are allowing some no-tillers to stretch the spring planting window to boost yields.

Franks Comments

Back By Popular Demand

By Frank Lessiter posted on September 1, 2003

One of the most popular speakers to ever appear on a National No-Tillage Conference program, Dwayne Beck, will be in Des Moines to share his highly innovative no-tilling ideas with you at next winter’s 12th annual National No-Tillage Conference. For more effective no-tilling when it’s too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry, Beck will have many of the no-till answers that you need!

Use Deep Zone-Tillage To Farm Vertically

Higher yields can result from getting crop roots to grow deeper in your no-tilled fields.

By Lynn Grooms posted on August 1, 2003 | Posted in Seeding & Planting

"If you want to double the size of your farm, farm vertically,” says Ray Rawson. The developer of several pieces of zone tillage equipment and a no-till corn and soybean producer from Farwell, Mich., for many years has taken the time to look beneath the soil surface. The result has been higher yields on his own and and many other farms.

No-Till Online

What Can No-Tillers Do When Clouds Open Up More Than The Fields?

For starters, they turn to one another and the Farmers' Forum for thoughts on coping with the weather

By Ron Perszewski posted on August 1, 2003 | Posted in Water Management

Water, water everywhere. Or at least a lot of rain to hamper no-tillers across the country. A few of them brought their shared frustrations to Farmers’ Forum, the online bulletin board at www.no-tillfarmer.com, where they found both sympathy and answers. Alas, rain wasn’t the only thing running downhill. So was a planter — sideways — in Pennsylvania. But again, Farmers’ Forum visitors chipped in ideas to resolve the problem. Now we bring all of these ideas to you, just in case it should ever rain a little too much in your fields, too.

Looking Down On Soil Life

What goes on in the top 2 inches of your no-tilled soil is especially important after the growing season.

By Dave Ernst posted on August 1, 2003 | Posted in Soil Health

When you walk across a no-till field, Jill Clapperton says you’re walking on the rooftop of a bustling community. No-tilled soils teem with life, and with the right management techniques, you can use these busy organisms to your benefit, says the the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada soil biologist stationed at the Lethbridge Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta.

What I've Learned from No-Tilling

Without No-Till, Farming Wouldn't Be As Enjoyable

With a 4,800-acre farming operation, this family’s entire way of life is tied to no-till.

By Ron Ross and Rodney Rulon posted on August 1, 2003

No one thing got us into no-till, but every year we find more reasons to stay with it. In the 1970s and early 1980s, our farm management included my father, Doyle, my Uncle Jerry and a cousin, Roy. They had given up the moldboard plow in the 1970s and had switched to a chisel plow system, but were still doing a lot of tillage.

Maximize Your No-Till Nitrogen

When it comes to harvesting more bushels of no-tilled corn from your nitrogen, the use of stabilizers are a good investment.

By Lynn Grooms posted on August 1, 2003 | Posted in Nutrient Management

The potential for nitrogen loss in no-till presents you with both a problem and an opportunity, maintains Sam Ferguson, a customer agronomist with Dow AgroSciences in Omaha, Neb.

Get Set To Cash In On Carbon

No-tillers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to harvesting the economic benefits of carbon sequestration.

By Lynn Grooms posted on June 1, 2003 | Posted in Nutrient Management

When it comes to finding the solution to global warming, no-tillers will definitely play a key role. You may also be eligible to receive some supplemental income for sequestering carbon from your permanently no-tilled fields in the future.