Ohio State ag engineer promotes no-till for stronger soils
By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/18/2010 11:23 AM
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MORTON, Minn. -- An Ohio State University Extension agricultural engineer says crop producers need to consider how tillage methods, soil compaction and fuel use are interrelated.
Randall Reeder described his ideal farm system Jan. 28 at the Conservation Tillage Conference in Morton. His model farm would use crop rotation, cover crops, controlled field equipment traffic and continuous no-till.
"I encourage farmers to get as close to no-till as feasible," he wrote in a handout distributed at the conference.
Since crop residue takes longer to decay in Minnesota than in Ohio due to the colder climate, local producers could substitute no-till for strip-till or ridge-till. He lumped no-till, strip-till and ridge-till together to mean tillage that leaves at least 30 percent of a field covered by crop residue. Conventional tillage, he said, leaves less than 15 percent covered.
He believes continuous no-till will be shown in the future to increase crop yield and farm profit. These benefits will be added to the list of good things already associated with it, such as improving the environment and soil quality.
He advised farmers with ruts in their fields after 2009's wet harvest to do shallow tillage, just enough to smooth out the area for planters. If crop yields take a big hit in those spots this year, consider sub-soiling after harvest if the ground is dry. He defined sub-soiling as tilling 14 inches or deeper.
Producers who have tried no-till or strip-till for three or four years and didn't get desired results should figure out the problem rather than switching back to a method that highly disturbs the soil, he said. For example, if the challenge lies in planting, perhaps row cleaners attached to the planter could help.
Any type of tillage reduces organic matter in the soil, but no-till can turn that around, Reeder said. Ohio research showed plowing can decrease carbon in the soil's surface, but no-till increased it.
"Anything you can do to add organic matter in soil is good—period," he said.
Less fuel costs required in a no-till system will help a farm's bottom line.
"The biggest (fuel) savings for a conventional farmer will come from a switch to no-till or strip-till. Plus, in that example, for every dollar saved in diesel fuel, there is probably at least $5 to $10 additional savings in labor, machinery investment and related cost," he wrote in the handout.
Another piece to Reeder's ideal farm, controlled traffic, helps manage soil compaction. Controlled traffic is a system that confines equipment tires to permanent lanes on a field, so 60 percent to 80 percent of the soil is not affected by machinery loads. Some farmers haven't adopted it because their equipment can't fit in the same lanes. Reeder suggested they shop for future equipment with controlled traffic in mind. Real Time Kinematics auto-steering is a helpful tool for everybody to avoid compaction, he said.
Reducing compaction is important because it can have lasting effects on crop yields. One Ohio study showed yields were still reduced nine years after the soil was compressed.
Tires and tracks cause about the same level of damage, but increasing the number of tires or using larger tires can reduce pressure. Check for proper tire inflation because when inflation goes down, compaction goes down. More axles on equipment can also help spread a load.
Ohio research has provided different results about whether or not sub-soiling can solve compaction. Sub-soiling improved yields if no additional compaction took place for many years. Continuous no-till improved yields more than annual sub-soiling when additional compression occurred.
He encouraged producers to ask policy-makers if they've considered creating incentives for no-till similar to those of the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP land and no-till land have similar benefits, but CRP acres can't produce food.
No-till gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s on well-drained, sloped land. It requires tile drainage to be successful on flat land, he said.