While no-tilling with cover crops requires more management than straight no-till, the extra effort may be worth it, especially in dry years, maintains Mike Plumer.
Q: How many earthworms do you need in no-tilled fields?
A: To gain the benefits of a good earthworm population with no-till, you need 8 to 10 worms per square foot of soil 6 to 8 inches deep.
Will a cover crop residue roller – considered essential in South American no-till fields – add value in the northern Great Plains? Dr. Dwayne Beck is studying that question under environmental conditions that are the equivalent of being several hundred miles north of tropical Paraguay and Brazil.
A strict no-till corn-and-soybean rotation leads you down a path to trouble. The more practical kind of diversity that you can work into your no-till system, the better.
A South American researcher maintains combining cover crops with effective crop rotations is a must with no-till to avoid concerns with disease, insects and weed carryover.
Progressive No-Tillers in Latin America have discovered that green manure cover crops are the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture and are always included in any sound no-till crop rotation, says Rolf Derpsch.
When the hunters track across Jerry Lamp's fields in November, they wonder why the no-till soybeans haven't been combined. If they look closer, they'll find there aren't any beans or pods-only stems.
The impact of cover crops, as well as longer crop rotations, will continue to be new territory for no-tillers to cover in the future, maintains Matt Hagny, a no-till equipment designer and crop consultant from Salina, Kan.
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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.
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