Articles by Martha Ostendorf

Find That Happy Place With Spray Tips

Selecting the right spray nozzle for each application can help improve a no-tiller’s bottom-line profits by 8% or more

By Martha Ostendorf posted on May 1, 2010 | Posted in Equipment, Nutrient Management, Precision Agriculture

Picking the proper spray tip requires walking a fine line between good coverage and drift control.

Sidedress Anhydrous Without Compromising No-Till

New nutrient applicators allow for sidedressing anhydrous and other nitrogen solutions with minimal soil disturbance, maximum efficiency

By Martha Ostendorf posted on May 1, 2010 | Posted in Equipment, Nutrient Management

Destructive trails left by a shank and knife anhydrous applicator are fodder for no-tiller nightmares. But new low-disturbance applicators mean no-tillers can slip the cost-effective nitrogen source into the ground and leave barely a mark.

Keep Yields From Cooling Off

Cover crops can offset the major causes of yield drag in fields making the transition to no-till and improve the soil biology of fields lacking crop and residue diversity

By Martha Ostendorf posted on May 1, 2010 | Posted in Cover Crops, Nutrient Management, Soil Health

If you had to scavenge for food from Thanksgiving to Easter, chances are you wouldn’t be very productive and may not survive. The same is true of soil microbes.

Slugs Get A Leg Up On No-Tillers

Oozing under the research radar for years, these slimy seedling-gnawing pests are getting the full attention of no-tillers with increased no-till and cover crop acres producing lots of habitat

By Martha Ostendorf posted on April 1, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection

A Beer shortage would likely result if no-tillers resorted to the tried-and-true garden fix of drowning slugs in plates of beer.

Are We Shooting Ourselves In The Foot With A Silver Bullet?

Glyphosate has changed the face of crop production, but some researchers are concerned about potentially serious problems

By Martha Ostendorf posted on March 1, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection, Soil Health

No-tillers should not be too quick to blame weather and the other usual culprits for struggling, diseased crops.

Seed Treatments Taking Big Steps Forward

Once simple fungicides and insecticides, seed treatments are major multitaskers, tackling everything from insects to weather

By Martha Ostendorf posted on February 1, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection

No-tillers drop seeds into hostile territory like paratroopers parachuting into battle. Once in the soil, they have to fight through disease, insects, nematodes and often cold stress before emerging victorious as a strong, vigorous seedling.

Spring 2009, Take Two In 2010

Experts offer advice for no-tillers once again contending with a slew of issues this spring stemming from a late, wet harvest

By Martha Ostendorf posted on February 1, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection, Residue Management

Déjà vu. No-tillers probably felt it this fall as they battled rain and then raced to beat the snow getting crops harvested, just like 2008.

Two No-Till Heads Prove Better Than One

Sharing both the work and ideas keeps this no-till team moving in the right direction

By Martha Ostendorf posted on January 1, 2010 | Posted in Cover Crops, Equipment

“I can't get my wife to no-till the garden,” laments Bill Coppess while walking through the family tomato patch on the way to one of his residue-covered, Ansonia, Ohio, wheat fields.

Right-Sized Residue Helps No-Till Corn-On-Corn

With the aid of a rotary cutter, tough Bt corn stalks and dense wheat stubble no longer pose a problem for a South Dakota no-tiller

By Martha Ostendorf posted on January 1, 2010 | Posted in Crop Protection, Residue Management, Water Management

Planting corn into corn was a nightmare, recalls Don Hoeksema of his 2007 planting season.

Grid Sampling Saved Years Of No-Till From The Chisel Plow

Struggling fields returned to their yield-contest-winning potential once an Ohio no-tiller applied variable-rate lime and fertilizer.

By Martha Ostendorf posted on December 1, 2009 | Posted in Equipment, Crop Protection, Nutrient Management

From his farm office lined with county yield awards, Roger Dobbins stands firm that no-till can pay even on his flat, poorly drained Cedarville, Ohio, fields.

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