Even established no-till fields could be damaged by traffic following the heavy rains that suddenly hit much of the Midwest, but ruts must be dealt with.
In many areas in the middle of the country, the dry summer suddenly turned extremely wet with widespread flooding, and even no-till fields were saturated and vulnerable to runoff problems.
With severe dry weather hitting some areas of the Corn Belt this year, a number of no-tillers have voiced concerns about the effectiveness of post-emergence herbicide applications in both no-tilled corn and soybeans.
Cold, wet soils challenge no-tillers everywhere, but they’re old hat for Joe Breker. He’s now in his 28th year of no-tilling in Havana, N.D., where the warmth doesn’t last long — it’s a 95-day maturity zone with just 2,200 to 2,300 growing degree days — and excess moisture is a problem year after year.
Corn yield has been much more variable during the past 5 years than was the case in the previous 5 years. Even so, the corn yield has averaged above the long-term national trend line over the past 4 years.
If more efficient use of water isn’t made a priority, a shortage of available water could undercut the increasing production of ethanol, according to a report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
To avoid contamination of nearby waterways, no-tillers should not apply liquid manure to their fields when a tile line is flowing, according to a USDA researcher.
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.
LIKE MANY NO-TILLERS, especially in our area of Ohio, we were frustrated with our early experiences. Way back in 1977, after our local dealer demonstrated the 5100 White no-till planter to my dad, one-pass farming looked really appealing.
With the concentrated dairy industry in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, crops there are often grown on land fertilized with liquid manure that is hauled into the fields in tanker loads. While the manure is valuable for its nutrients and organic matter, the weight of the tankers concerns those who understand the dangers of soil compaction.
Fighting problems with surface soil compaction, this Ohio farmer was about to back away from no-tilling until he found a solution that has worked well for 15 years.
Just about every no-tiller I’ve ever met would agree that at some point you start to wonder if you were really smart to move away from the “safety” of conventional systems.
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On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Martin-Till, Brian and Darren Hefty, fourth-generation farmers and hosts of Ag PhD, share tips for treating tar spot in corn.
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