Notes from the National No-Till Conference

“An opportunity to remind us why we no-till”

By Mark Becker
mlbecker@gondtc.com

My brother Tim and I have a no-till farming operation near McHenry, N.D., about 30 miles northeast of Carrington.  Tim is also an NDSU extension agent for Eddy County.  We recently attended the 15th Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Des Moines, Iowa.  It was four days filled with information, with bull sessions on no-till that stretched well into the night.

Much of the information was nearly exclusive to corn and soybean production, and a lot of it pertained to Corn Belt conditions.  Still, there were ideas that can be adapted to our Northern Plains crop diversity and cooler climate.  Some notes from the conference:

Tillage quote – Jerry Crews, a no tiller from Iowa, finished his presentation on improving returns with continuous no-till and strip till corn by stating that there are a few reasons to till – two of them being stupidity and addiction. Jerry didn’t pull any punches.

Cover crops – Terry Taylor, a no tiller from Illinois, gave his experiences on the importance of using cover crops to enhance a no-till farming operation. Some of the cover crops commonly used are annual ryegrass, lentils, hairy vetch, and field peas.  The annual ryegrass would have to be managed very closely if used in a wheat rotation, and may not be as beneficial as the vetches and field peas in our northern growing areas.  The main benefits of including a cover crop in a no-till system are to reduce erosion, build soil organic matter, and provide “biotillage,” that is, tillage by soil biology, and the microorganisms working in the soil. 

Terry stated that each 1% of soil organic matter has a nutritional value of $552/ac. Putting that in perspective, it is easily seen why cover crops are so valuable.  The key word to remember when using cover crops, he says, is “early.” Plant the main crop early, apply nitrogen early, order cover crop seed early, harvest early, and plant the cover crop early. Planting a cover crop is an extra operation that most are not used to doing.  If a producer is not prepared, the job may get put aside and not done.

Making combine adjustments – Marion Calmer, a no till farmer and inventor from Illinois, gave tips on adjusting the combine to harvest more efficiently. One key thought in handling green stemmed soybeans was to get the stems out of the combine as quickly as possible by adjusting the vanes on a rotor to be more aggressive.  He also discussed the benefits of stopping to assess harvest losses, and reminded us of the importance of using the combine properly to spread the straw in a no-till operation. Something as simple as working back and forth across the east end of a field when the wind is from the west can avoid headaches when planting the following year. 

Optimum soybean plant population – Marion Calmer was the first of a number of speakers to discuss that the maximum economic soybean planting population may be somewhat lower than conventional wisdom has told us in the past.  A number of field trials in the South have shown that maximum economic yield peaks in the 100K population range. Very little additional yield was achieved by planting 180K or more, and seed cost were reduced significantly. He reminded us that as we near the end of the planting window, that populations would have to be bumped up to compensate.

Early corn weed control – Clarence Swanton, of the University of Guelph, Ont., stressed the importance of early season weed control in corn.  Corn in a weedy environment grew 17% taller, making the plants spindly, with less reproductive growth, had 10-15% less root mass, and had 19% fewer leaves in “optimal” position to collect the sun’s energy.  He pointed out that competition from weeds early in corn changes the growth pattern and has a huge effect on yield.

Managing herbicide resistance – Chuck Forsman and Pat Steiner of Syngenta presented the stark reality that getting complacent with practices will allow herbicide resistance to take hold.  Right now, barnyard grass is resistant to 5 of 8 modes of action and foxtail is resistant to 3 modes of action.  Ways to combat resistance creeping into our systems are diversification of crops, diversification of herbicide modes of action, use of preemergence in glyphosate tolerant crops, use full rates, tank mix glyphosate with other modes of action, and scout fields diligently.  They stressed that it is cheaper to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to herbicide resistance.

Uniformity is key – Paul Jasa, an extension engineer with the U of N in Lincoln, Neb., discussed no-till as a “systems approach,” that it is more than simply planting without tillage. He emphasized to think how each step in production affects the next. His key word was “uniform.”  Spread residue uniformly. Get your planter in shape to get the crop out of the ground uniformly.   Uniform emergence of a crop is more important than uniform spacing. A corn plant that emerges later than the rest around it is a weed.

The importance of carbon – Duane Beck of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm at Pierre, S.D. presented the importance of carbon in a crop production system in his usual entertaining fashion. According to Dr. Beck, carbon is the largest element used by plants and managing carbon through crop rotations, both diversity and intensity, and no till have a huge impact on production and soil health.  To paraphrase Dr. Beck, “tillage in nature is a catastrophic event.” Tilling the soil damages the network of biology at work below the soil surface. 

Interaction of ideas – The conference provided an opportunity to remind us why we no till. Less requirements on machinery and fuel, less wind and water erosion, more available moisture for plants through less evaporation and more infiltration, better soil health through building soil organic matter and increased soil biology. 

Information shared by other no till producers is invaluable, and just putting into practice a handful of tips out of the wealth of information made available in a conference such as this, can really make a difference on one’s own operation. I highly recommend producers take advantage of attending one or more of the no-till conferences scheduled in the off-season.  You will meet some of the most creative and positive producers around.

More information about the National No-Till Conference can be found online at www.no-tillfarmer.com.  Mark Becker is an officer of the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association, which held its annual zero till workshop recently in Brandon, Man.  No-till information and proceedings from past Man-Dak zero till workshops can be found online at www.mandakzerotill.org.

Adjusting a No-Till Planter to Improve Performance
At the National No-Till Conference, Dave Moeller of Moeller Service in Iowa walked us step by step through a no till planter to make corrections to improve planter performance. Starting with operating the planter level. Parallel link bushing should be checked for wear, otherwise all planting units may not be operating at the same height. Disk openers should be checked for wear, they need to have 1”-1 ½” of contact.  The contact area can be checked using a business card.

Gauge wheel pivot should not be worn.  Each gauge wheel should lightly touch the disk.  Closing wheel A-frame pivots also need to be checked for wear and alignment with the seed trench. Repair kits are available. Gauge wheel rockers should be used to allow consistent seeding depth over uneven field conditions.  These rockers need to be checked for wear to ensure they are working properly. 

When using spaded closing wheels, replace when the diameter is less than 12 1/4”. The use of these closing wheels allows for earlier planting. They should be spaced from 2 -2 ½” and should run to the depth of the bottom of the seed furrow. Seed tube lower corners should be checked for wear.  Make sure seed tube guards are in place. Seed firmers should be used, but make sure they are tensioned properly. Use a fish scale to determine that they are adjusted to the proper amount of tension. Drag chains should be used to ensure adequate covering of the seed trench. The bracket holding the chain should be kept as low as possible. A deflector is available to keep the 26-28” of 5/8” round chain from catching the closing wheel.  Make sure tires are properly inflated. Buy seed in the mid-range size and have meters calibrated annually.