No-Till Methods May Take Several Years to Prove Themselves

Many producers who farm arid soils understand that moisture lost thorough unnecessary tillage is lost yield. Each tillage operation used in preparing the soil to establish a crop will result in the lost of about ½ inch of stored soil water, and each inch of water lost means a reduction in yield of between five and seven bushels of wheat per acre, according to Roger Ashley, area cropping systems extension specialist, Dickinson Research Extension Center.

Ashley notes that a four-year study (1995 – 1998) at Dickinson found that hard red spring wheat yields were enhanced by as much as 7.2 bushels per acre under no-till management, compared with conventional tillage and reduced tillage programs when relatively dry conditions occurred.  This yield advantage was not apparent when overwinter and growing season precipitation exceeded the 30-year average.

Krista Pearson, Montana State University research associate, says that no-till farming is a system that integrates factors such as crop diversity, cropping intensity, rotational planning, residue, competition and natural defenses, and soil disturbance.  No-till farming methods take several years to prove themselves, and anyone entering a no-till or reduced tillage system should give it at least five years, keeping in mind that adjusting factors within the system will be necessary from time to time.

Web sites for more information about no-till systems:

Manitoba - North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association
www.mandakzerotill.org

Successful No-Till on the Central and Northern Plains www.abs.sdstate.edu/aes/dakotalakes/Publications/asa10_98.pdf

No-Till Internet Information
www.no-till.com

Dakota Lakes Research Farm/SDSU online publications
www.dakotalakes.com/publications.htm