Successful Farming – August 2019

of the soil with residue.

• Equalizes field conditions if
  some areas have more mois-
  ture than the rest.


• Reduces competition from
  old roots in corn-on-corn
  fields.


• Warms the tilled residue-free
  strips quickly.
  While strip-till is well suited
  for poorly drained soils, it still
  means some soil disturbance will
  occur and hurt the soil’s health,
  says Jasa.

No-till:

• Conserves soil moisture.


• Controls wind and water ero-
  sion.


• Minimizes fuel and labor
  costs.


• Builds soil structure and
  health.

No-till is particularly effective

on well-drained soils. However,

it may be difficult to implement

on soils already riddled with

compaction problems and on

fields of continuous corn.

Tips to get you started

Determine if your fields have

compaction first. Jasa recom-

mends digging a hole in your

fields with a spade about 15

inches deep. If you find a layer

of compaction, odds are it was

created by tillage.

Strip-till could be a great tool

to help farmers transition from

a full-width tillage system to

no-till over time, Jasa says.

“I like strip-till as a transitional

tool if I have problems to get

rid of first,” he says. “No-till

works much easier once the

soil is working with you rather

than against you.”

Talk to neighbors who

have already implemented

a minimal-tillage system, he

says. They may have similar

soil conditions, crops, and

problems that may more easily

predict problems you might

encounter. Ask about the

challenges and solutions, then

adapt your system.

Soil health is built over time,

so don’t get discouraged or

expect soil health to recover in

just a year or two.

“If you talk to anybody who’s

been no-tilling for five years,

they’ll say something hap-

pened about that third year.

That something is they finally

overcame the negative his-

tory of tillage,” Jasa says. “Once

you’ve invested, keep going.”

Not another bandage

Hover your phone’s camera

over this smart code to hear

from Paul Jasa, Extension

engineer with the University

of Nebraska-Lincoln, on how

the systems approach to farm

management and soil health

will get you better results than

simply treating the symptoms

of core issues on your farm.

Strip-till can be a

happy medium for

farmers who have

soils slow to dry

out under no-till,

but who still want

to retain a good

amount of cover on

top of their fi elds.

August 2019 | Successful Farming at Agriculture.com 51