Having no-tilled for 8 years, Tim Goodenough has moved away from using anhydrous ammonia, 28 percent nitrogen and urea as nitrogen sources. Since 2005, he’s successfully used the ESN (Environmentally Smart Nitrogen) product. This polymer-coated nitrogen is a slow release product that is activated by moisture and heat, says the West Salem, Wis., grower who no-tills 1,300 acres.
Main has been the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t permit the planting of Bt corn, but that might be about to change. The state’s Board of Pesticide Control licensed the genetically engineered corn this past summer and recently held a public hearing on proposed rules regulating its use in the state. Bt corn could be used for the first time in Maine as soon as 2008.
Having been 100 percent no-till for 7 years on 3,500 acres, Glenn and Bryan Dobbins are among only a few area farmers who don’t rely to some extent on summer fallow to conserve limited moisture.
No-tillers are keenly aware of the benefits that cover crops can provide to their soil, yet a recent survey funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture indicates that cover crop usage lags.
After more than a decade of testing and four full seasons of commercial sales, Intellicoat Early Plant hybrids show increasing acceptance among no-tillers coping with cold, wet spring soils, reports Landec Ag, developer of the polymer seed-coating product.
Only recently have large numbers of no-tillers discovered the value of cover crops to aid their soil and cash crops. Many no-tillers are still learning how and when to burn down the cover crops to prevent competition with their corn, soybeans, etc.
No-tillers seem to be taking evolving technologies in stride as seed companies unveil seed corn that provide new single, double and triple transgenic traits, with seed treatment options for early-season insect and disease protection.
No-tillers already minimize fuel expenses by not pulling tillage equipment over their fields. But, given the exploding cost of fuel, it can’t hurt to note that we can save even more by ensuring that we’re operating our equipment as efficiently as possible throughout the growing season. Here’s a checklist to help ensure thoroughness in further reducing your costs.
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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.
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