Efficient farm management has always been of prime

Efficient farm management has always been of prime importance to farmers. It has become even more important to the economic survival of farmers in recent years because of large increases in capital and operating costs. Thus, farmers are being forced to search for ways to maximize net return in order to operate within economic constraints and growing environmental concerns. Greater profits can be achieved through either increased returns or decreased costs. This goal can be met by growing higher valued crops, producing more per acre, expanding acreage, or reducing input costs. Producing higher valued crop depends on factors over which producers have little or no control such as climatic constraints or market demand. Improved varieties, fertilization, irrigation, and better management have substantially increased production and will continue to do so in the future, but such changes usually occur on a much slower time scale.

Conventional Tillage § Definition: § Conventional tillage is a tillage system using cultivation as the major means of seedbed preparation and weed control.

Conventional Tillage § Typically includes a sequence of soil tillage, such as plowing and harrowing, to produce a fine seedbed, and also the removal of most of the plant residue from the previous crop.

Conventional Tillage Equipment

Seeding Equipment: Box Drill

Seeding Equipment Air Seeder

Advantages § Uniform and clean seedbed produces good stands § Flexible system over range of soil and weather conditions § Weed control -- buries many weed seeds § Gives a college kid a summer job § Job security

Disadvantages § Wind and water erosion § Cost: § § § § Fuel Labor Time More equipment Water loss Less water holding capacity Destruction of soil pores § Macro § Micro § Loss of SOM

Erosion: Water § Sheet § Cannot see it but is very distrustful § Takes layers (sheets) of soil off the top § Rill § Can see it § Small washouts § farmers farm over them to cover them up § Gully § § § Big Cannot farm over them Very distructful

No-till § Definition: § also known as conservation tillage or zero tillage is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. Once called chemical farming, the reference was subdued in order to promote the idea of no-till being more natural. It is becoming more common as researchers study its effects and farmers uncover its economic benefits.

No-till Effects on Soil § In no-till farming the soil is left intact and crop residues are left in the fields. Variations of the conservation tillage method involve some working of the soil with attention paid to keeping soil compaction and carbon loss at a minimum. These variations include reduced tillage, aka strip-tillage, in which small strips may be plowed to allow space for planting seeds.

Benefits: § The benefit currently receiving much scientific attention is the potential for carbon sequestration in the soil of crop fields. When soil is tilled with machinery, carbon is released from the soil into the atmosphere. This, in addition to the emissions from the farm equipment itself, increases the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration, in soil or elsewhere, is a proposed method of reducing these greenhouse gases. Cropland soil is an ideal carbon sink, since in most areas it has been depleted of its necessary carbon content. Traditional farming practices that rely on tillage have removed carbon from the soil ecosystem. Removal of crop residues also deprives a field of a good source of carbon. By reducing tillage, leaving crop residues to decompose where they lie, and growing winter cover crops such as grains or alfalfa, a farmer can slow carbon loss from a field while doing a small part to transfer carbon from the atmosphere to the soil.

Advantages: § Increased soil quality § SOM § § § Less soil erosion Evaporation of water Less structural breakdown Water infiltration Cost effective § § § Reduced labor Fuel Passes over the field

Disadvantages: § § § Yield Cattle grazing? Equipment § Need specialized equipment to do properly § Chemicals § Long term erosion

Equipment