Whether
you're a seasoned no-tiller or a beginner, you've probably come
to no-till for improved profit potential, more efficient use of
labor and capital, dramatic reductions in soil erosion, and preserving
the environment. If you're new to the concept, no-till (a.k.a. zero-till) is best
defined as a continuous & permanent system of crop production
whereby each new crop is seeded directly into the previous crop's
stubble (also known as stover) without any soil tillage or inversion.
It's a bit more than just growing crops in the absence of tillage,
since crop rotation and cultural practices must now suppress or
avoid some of the weeds and pests, and because equipment and techniques
will change. To learn more about the science and practice
of no-till farming, visit these websites (see links) or browse
our online library below.
Articles
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 The Biology of Soil Compaction
It will change the way you think about soil compaction. Consider it required reading for anyone in farming. Or gardening!"
Emergence Uniformity Studies
Emergence uniformity and spacing uniformity studies conducted by Paul Jasa, Extension Engineer with U.Neb.-Lincoln, at Rogers Memorial Farm near Lincoln, NE.
Site #1 was upland on a silty clay loam, while #2 was bottomland silt loam. All trials were no-till into soybean stubble, with ~ 20 years of continuous, low-disturbance no-till history. Each year, Site #1 was planted by hand, while Site #2 was planted with a planter and the extra seeds slipped in by hand (and/or plants removed by hand). Three replications were used in ‘07 for each treatment, and 4 replications for 2008 - 2010. A population of 27,000 was used in ‘07 on upland (Site #1), but was increased to 30,000 thereafter.
Proper
Seedbed Preparation
by Lyle Carter USDA-ARS Ag Engineer
"The soil to seed contact should be controlled
with a seed firming device such as a seed firming wheel rather
than by firming the covering soil…If the planter does not
disturb the soil below the seed, if the seed is pressed into that
soil and if the covering soil has less moisture and lower density
or greater pore space, a soil textural discontinuity exists at
seed midline or slightly above. This discontinuity retards water
loss from below while the loose soil above dries quickly, allowing
higher temperatures and increased air permeability."
—Lyle Carter, ag engineer USDA-ARS,
published in 1990
Dwayne
Beck on fertilizer placement
"There is little or no evidence that strip till
improves yields (as compared to proper no-till with fertilizer
placement) sufficiently to overcome the additional costs and risks....In
this series of [no-till] experiments, treatments that included
both the pop-up and side-band starter blend placement were always
in the high yield group. Using just one of the placements (side-band
or pop-up) by itself was not as consistent."
Proper
Methods for Evaluating Plant Spacing
by Dwayne Beck
"Several years ago Bob Nielson from Purdue University proposed the idea of using the standard deviation of plant spacing measurements to evaluate planter performance. In a personal discussion, I intimated that it might be OK to use that measurement as long as the users understood the limitations. The point is it should only be used to make comparisons where NEITHER row-spacing or population change. When these factors change the Standard Deviation number could be misleading. Since we are doing some evaluation work on our electric drive and closing system studies it might be the right time to revisit this issue."
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