Reduce Runoff with Reservoir Tillage

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There’s a new conservation tillage practice in town. Move over no-till, reduced till and strip till, here comes reservoir tillage.

The RT850 reservoir tillage tool from Minnesota-based Willmar Fabrication is designed to run between crop rows and make depressions in the ground using 10-inch teeth to create better water infiltration and reduce runoff.

“You’re just trying to build a reservoir to collect rain water or irrigation water and keep it from moving,” explains Willmar Fabrication’s Steve Claussen. “Wherever the rainwater falls, we want to get it in the ground instead of letting it run over the ground.”

Willmar Fabrication debuted the RT850 at the recent Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. In this video, Claussen explains that in corn, the row units till between the rows beginning when the crop reaches four to five inches. The spikes shatter and loosen the soil, creating mini reservoirs allowing rainwater to collect and soak into the soil profile.


Willmar Fabrication
does not have dealerships in Canada. Claussen says farmers interested in the RT850 should contact the company directly.

Click here for more Farm Progress ’16 coverage.

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