Recognizing the enormous value of getting stalks, straw and chaff across the full width of the combine header, we asked readers in theNo-Till Farmer email discussion group — how are you getting the job done with today’s extra-wide 40 to 60-foot headers? Check out the responses here.
Merseyside, UK grower Olly Harrison talks about his second, summer, barley crop, minimal inputs, residue management and more in a 20-acre sandy field. The No-Till Passport series is brought to you by Martin Industries.
New technologies are coming online to help no-tillers spread residue evenly across ever-growing header widths, and set the stage for successful no-till planting the following season.
Had someone told Kelly Kravig 20 years ago that 500-horsepower combines would be rumbling through fields at harvest, the Case IH combine marketing manager and western Kansas grain farmer would have been skeptical at the very least.
Residue management, proper seeding rates, timely nitrogen applications and scouting for diseases are some of the keys to pushing no-till wheat yields to worthwhile levels
From the Pacific Northwest to the Great Plains to the Eastern Corn Belt, no-tillers John Aeschliman, Dan Forgey, Allen Dean and Romey Bardwell grow different varieties of dryland wheat in different soils in areas receiving vastly different amounts of rain.
With fertilizer prices doubling and even tripling, there has never been a more opportune time to invest in soil testing. With total phosphorus and potassium crop removal maintenance in the range of $75 to $125 per acre, it makes good sense to have accurate soil test information.
Under the no-till conditions outlined above and with this style of seeding unit, my thought is not to try to chop or cut the residue. In my opinion, standing residue leads to more effective cutting with disc seeders that are used under low-moisture conditions.
Jim Koepke would be the first to tell you that he doesn’t consider himself a no-tiller. “There’s plenty of tillage activity going on in our soils, it’s just that the tillage is being done by earthworms instead of iron,” he says. “And those earthworms do a tremendous job.”
Just because you concentrate on no-tilling corn, soybeans or another crop doesn’t mean you can’t pick up plenty of yield-building residue management tricks from other growers. To do a better job of managing residues, check out how these eight Pacific Northwest and western Canadian growers go about managing residues for top profit.
While we think of straw and chaff strictly as valuable no-till residue, environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest are attempting to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to label straw and other crop residue materials as solid waste. The result of these legal maneuverings could eventually have a serious impact on the residue management strategies used by no-tillers all around the country.
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On this edition of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by CultivAce, longtime no-tiller Jim Leverich explains why 20-inch corn rows are paying off big time on his Sparta, Wis., farm.
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.