#striptill

What no-till and strip-till? No-till is primarily for beans. We used to no-till corn and then went to strip-till. Strip-till is tilling a band every 30 inches where the seed will be placed. We may go back to no-till because we do checks every year comparing no-till and strip-till. The strip-till does not seem to be proving itself to be a lot better than no-till. It usually comes out about the same yield-wise. If we can get the same yields with less input, that would be efficient. In corn stalks that are going to be going into soybeans, we plant cereal rye—it’s drilled in or it’s blow on with fertilizer in the fall. For soybean stubble going into corn we plant annual rye grass and Clemson clover and radish.

What impacts have you seen with doing multiple practices in the same field? The main thing I can see is the soil structure is starting to change where we are using cover crops versus just no-till. The no-till fields have very platy, blocky soils—even the ones that have been no-tilled for 25 years. The soils where I have had cover crops—we have been growing cover crops since fall of 2011. Soil structure in those fields is becoming more granular, and hopefully it will work its way down so it looks more like black cottage cheese.

Why do you think all of this is worth your time? The science to me makes sense. I believe in the science, and according to that it is worth the time. Actually seeing results may take a while. A lot of the economics is still to be proven as far as yields. There are people who are taking credits for inputs like fertilizer due to nutrient recycling, and that is still to be determined. The economics is still the main part that is yet to be really proven. We can see some physical changes, but it all costs money to do that. Especially if the benefits are four or five years down the road, it is really hard.