Posted on 11/05/2004 8:53:49 AM PST by dennisw
HASTINGS, Neb. Nov 5, 2004 — Bob Johnson began using the no-till farming method on his central Nebraska farm 10 years ago as an experiment. Today, he says it's a necessity.
A drought that has lasted more than five years and increasing water demand from growing metropolitan areas are forcing farmers in the West and Midwest into trying new farming methods that use less water, such as no-till.
Besides using less water, Johnson, 77, says no-till farming leads to better yields, less time in his fields and lower fuel costs. Most importantly, Johnson says, switching to no-till is better than allowing the drought to force farmers off their land.
"For me, there is just no other way of doing it," he said. "It's the right thing to do."
Tom Buis, a vice president for the National Farmers Union, said he is seeing farmers switching to low-water crops or even selling land and selling livestock to survive.
"It's tremendously devastating," Buis said of the drought. "It has forced them to change their operations."
Farmers who use no-till don't plow fields before planting but instead plant crop seeds directly into the soil. Heavy planting equipment is used to push the seeds right through the remnants of harvested crops. The residue from the old crops serves as an insulate to the soil, locking in moisture, nutrients and minerals.
Instead of tilling out weed infestations, herbicide is needed to kill off invasive species, although supporters of the practice say weeds will kill themselves over time with the right crop rotation and management.
In 1998, which was the beginning of the drought in most places, 16 percent of the nation's farmland was no-till, according to the Conservation Technology Information Center based in Lafayette, Ind. By this year, preliminary data shows that number has increased to 22.5 percent.
In the drought-stricken states of South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, there has been a 67 percent increase in no-till adoption since 1998, according to the CTIC.
"In drought areas, it is growing by leaps and bounds," says Brian Lindley, a no-till advocate in Wamego, Kan.
No-till experts have long been selling the idea on the benefits it has to the soil, but scientists and farmers are finding it is also a way to operate with little rainfall on dryland farms and reduced irrigation on irrigated crops.
"I think people are taking a really hard look at how they run their operations," says Tim Anderson, a spokesman for the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. "No-till five years ago would have been a really tough sell."
This year on his 360-acre farm, Johnson used 7 inches of irrigated water on his corn and 5 inches on his soybeans. He estimates that if he were tilling his soil, he would need three times as much water.
The amount of water Johnson used this summer is about what irrigators in Central's irrigation district will get from Lake McConaughy next year and about half of what they are usually allotted.
"(No-till) seems to be an answer to water problems that to me, just isn't being looked at," Johnson said.
ping
It's been around in one form or another for a long time.
The Israel model is to run tractors with five foot wide axles (and wheels) down the vegetable beds. So soil is only impacted by the tires down the permanent run lanes..
I can't say how they do grains
Plus, it provides more habitat for upland game birds. Another positive spinoff.
No-till has been standard practice in the Corn Belt for many years. Next thing you know they'll discover men and women are different and that a lot of people go to church.
My thoughts exactly! This is not news.
I've been no-tilling my farms for 25 years here in Eastern Iowa. We're beginning to develop hardpan, which we've never had before. My son, the Agronomist, says I need to purchase a DMI Ripper and loosen things up before it's too late.
I would say rip it up for two years and go back to no till. Hard pan means soil calcium (magnesium) is leaching down and making an impenetrable layer? Hard pan should take centuries to form.
My REAL WORLD bet is you don't have hard pan. Get a second opinion.
Thank you for that insite. There's about 650 A we're concerned about.
I can't remember the last time we purchased plow down. We are a livestock family and started surface applying confinement manure in 1968. Ten years ago we switched to injection.
Last year was the first year we didn't supplement with NH3. MMP prevents it now.
Red....color of flyover country.
BTT!!!!!!!
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