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SW MN and Gold Canyon AZ | Jim,
I never said strip till won't work, everyone has to make that decision on there own wether it will or won't.
I just disagree with your misleading fuel figures on how much is saved by strip tilling. It might have been 5 gals when everyone was moldboard plowing but not in my backyard anymore.
I also disagree with your N rates because that varies so much from year to year and noone knows what his ratio will be until after harvest. Example , I use approx 150 lbs of N in any given year on my non manure acres. This year I am getting less than 150 bu corn, last year I had 190 bu corn and the year before 225 bu corn all on the same N rates. When you have a 75 bu swing in yields how do you plan for how much to use??How do you know that 170 lbs of N might have gotten me 240 bu corn?? But I didn't know what my bu would be or the price. We know at this moment in time I can get 4$ for my corn next year. I also know my N costs will be less than 500$ a ton. At this moment I will be applying more than 150 total units because I beleive that even a few extra bu will pay for the added N costs. If corn was 2 bucks I would error to the lighter side.
What I am trying to say is that the ratio changes every year because of economics and so should your recs as instead of just saying .6 or .7 all the time.
There are many other discussions of strip till vs minimum till that we have discussed before like narrow row yields vs 30 inch strip till yields. Also wether or not P and K can be cut back becasue of placement and its effect on long term soil P and K values. At this time I still know from experience that there is a 3 bu yield increase on NARROW ROWS VS 30 INCH ROWS "here". Also at this time I know of no long term studies that show you can reduce P and K on strip till and maintain fertility levels vs minimum till broadcast. Unless you know of any studies I am not aware of.
As far as working with NH3, I wish 28% was comparable on price, but its not. If you put on 120 units with 28% it costs you 60$ an acre. I can put on 150 units NH3 for 42$ on acre. This is not the same cost in fact i am saving 18$ an acre on N and I have a better chance of having higher yields becasue of a higher rate. Getting your strip till units to apply NH3 would be a plus as I don't see 28% rates going down vs NH3 anytime soon.
When you get a manure applicator strip till unit for fall application going then we need to talk!!
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ethanol - misleading information in October National Geographic
