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NE SD | Well Pokey........join the ranks of us who are confused even more........LOL. No-till is just that............no tillage...........but there are some exceptions. Strip-till, which is generally tilling a strip 6-8" deep to plant crops into is also considered no-till. Zone building, which is the same as strip till, but running 14-20" deep to eliminate a hardpan/compaction is also considered no-till. Basically, as long as you disturb less than 1/3 of the surface, it is considered a type of no-till. Vertical tillage is some form of the above tillage. Field cultivators and chisel plows are generally considered to be horizontal tillage tools.
What it boils down to is location. We've noticed larger yields in the fields which are black at the beginning of the season......especially in corn, but we only recieve on average 20-25" of precip per year compared to some areas which are 35"+. No-till(pure) is a good system and works very well for soybeans. I think it will work better in a strip till rotation in which the soil is opened up every second, or third year(depending on rotation) and had assistance putting oxygen put back in it. I also plan on trying some more corn on corn once we get through a season of 30" rows. I feel that for corn on corn to work well, there almost HAS to be black ground.
We will do testing no doubt. I think Bruce said it well when he said what it boils down to is what it says at the bottom of that spread sheet at the end of the year. | |
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Wanting to learn the no-till language.
