Strategies to Reduce Tillage Intensity on Your Farm
By Joe Winchell, Field Program Lead
As agriculture continues to evolve, farmers are increasingly recognizing the importance of sustainable practices. One critical aspect of regenerative farming is the management of tillage, a traditional practice that, when overused, can lead to soil degradation and environmental issues. In this blog post, we will delve into the strategies for reducing tillage intensity on your farm, promoting long-term soil health and productivity.
Understanding the Impact of Tillage
Tillage, while essential for weed control and soil preparation, can have adverse effects on soil structure and water retention. Minimizing soil disturbance and leaving crop residue on the field preserves soil structure, encourages microbial activity, and enhances water infiltration and nutrient cycling. It also reduces the risk of erosion, helping to retain topsoil and prevent sediment and nutrient runoff into water bodies.
Reduced Tillage Techniques:
A no-till field enrolled with SWOF in Van Buren County, Iowa
1. No-Till Farming:
No-till farming involves planting crops without prior soil disturbance. Crops seeds are placed in a narrow strip opened with a coulter or disk seed-furrow opener. Most planters can be used in no-till systems with little to no modification. This technique helps preserve the soil structure and organic matter, improves water retention, and achieves excellent erosion control by disturbing only a narrow slot in the residue-covered soil. It also minimizes fuel consumption and labor costs associated with traditional tillage.
If you are looking into converting to no-till there are some key things you should keep in mind to minimize the transition risk:
First, ask yourself if your planter is capable of planting into higher residue. When planting into higher residue, it’s important that your planter is equipped with proper row cleaners and capable down force to give you a consistent planting depth and seed to soil contact with each seed.
Next, you may want to consider re-evaluating your hybrid and variety selection. Especially with corn, some hybrids handle different soil conditions better than others. I would recommend consulting whomever you buy seed from about planting no-till. Hybrids with better early season vigor could help bring a more consistent stand.
2. Strip Tillage:
A strip-till field enrolled with SWOF in Mercer County, Illinois.
Strip tillage involves tilling only a narrow strip where the crop will be planted, leaving the rest of the field undisturbed. It provides a compromise between traditional tillage and no-till farming, maintaining soil health while still preparing a suitable seedbed.
There are two main things you should keep in mind when considering a transition to strip-till:
First, decide on what kind of strip-till tool you will want to buy. There are a variety of different brands, and each brand comes with different options. Examples of options to consider are: number of rows on the machine, row width, coulter or shank style, and product application options.
You should also check if the guidance provided by your tractor is compatible with strip-till. Be sure it’s capable of providing you with an accurate and reliable guidance line to plant consistently in the strip. Often, the planting strip is more of a triangle, rather than a box, where the surface of the strip is wider than the bottom. Therefore, the depth of the planted seed could vary depending on where the planter places the seed in the strip. This could lead to variances in emergence and will negatively affect yield.
Add a Crop Rotation
Practicing diverse crop rotations can help producers optimize nutrient use, break pest and disease cycles, and improve soil fertility. Different crops have varying root structures and nutrient requirements and contributions, which can help reduce the need for extensive tillage. Introducing another crop, such as wheat, into your corn and soy rotation, or utilizing cereal grains or brassicas as cover crops can help prevent the depletion of specific nutrients.
In conclusion, adopting sustainable tillage practices are crucial for the long-term health of your soil and profitability of your farm. By understanding the impact of tillage, implementing reduced tillage techniques, and incorporating a diverse crop rotation, you can strike a balance between soil conservation and efficient crop production. Tilling the right way is not just an investment in the future of your farm, it’s also a commitment to better environmental stewardship.
If you want to add or scale conservation practices on your operation, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is here to help. Our program offers financial incentives and agronomic support. Farmer enrollment is open for 2024. Send an email to contactus@theoutcomesfund.com and we’ll get you in touch with your local field program representative.
Joe Winchell
Field Program Lead
As Field Program Lead, Joe manages the enrollment and technical assistance portion of the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund. He has a background in developing solutions to agronomic needs for businesses in agriculture from his time in retail and wholesale agronomy sales. He earned bachelor’s degrees in both agricultural business and economics from Iowa State University. Joe is from and still resides near Van Meter, Iowa.
Sources:
MU Extension in cooperation with the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. "Missouri No-Till Planting Systems." MU Extension. Accessed June 12, 2024. https://cra.missouri.edu/topics/no-till-and-reduced-soil-disturbance/.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln. "Understanding Tillage." CropWatch. Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Accessed June 12, 2024. https://cropwatch.unl.edu/tillage.
Woodyard, Jennifer, and Eileen Kladivko. "Four Strategies to Improve Your Field’s Soil Health." Purdue Extension. Accessed June 12, 2024. http://www.extension.purdue.edu/.