Minimizing erosion, better crop inputs management and higher corn yields is what Port Rowan, Ont., farmer Dan Petker was looking for when he adopted strip tillage five years ago. Farming with his family on the shores of Lake Erie, Petker turned to strip till — the process of minimizing tillage by cultivating eight-inch wide strips… Read More
Category: Tillage
Where should growers place fertilizer in strip-till strips to best protect the seed from injury while optimizing nutrient uptake? Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs corn lead Ben Rosser says Ontario does have “safe rate” recommendations for in-furrow and 2″x 2″ planter banding but no guidelines are currently available for strip-till fertilizer placement…. Read More
What impact do higher-yielding corn crops have on no-till soybeans? That’s a question many growers are asking as they prepare to plant no-till soybeans into high levels of corn residue that can keep soil cooler in spring, impact emergence and reduce stands. Growers also have to contend with soil compaction caused by difficult harvest conditions… Read More
Seeding and tillage equipment company Väderstad has announced it’s acquiring Danish company Thyregod’s inter-row tillage business. This acquisition adds a full product range of inter-row cultivators to the current Väderstad product portfolio, which includes Seed Hawk equipment manufactured in Saskatchewan. All intellectual property rights to Thyregod’s inter-row cultivator product area are included in the deal…. Read More
If soybeans need a cozy warm seedbed to get rolling, tillage is a must, right? Well, no and no. Emerging research suggests that cool soil isn’t nearly the detriment to soybean growth once thought, which also means working an entire field for spring “warm up” isn’t required either. To dig in to managing residue ahead… Read More
What’s the best way to manage corn residue to mitigate soybean yield loss in a no-till system? That’s a question University of Wisconsin Madison soybean specialist Shawn Conley hears more and more from growers as both corn yield and the biomass produced by more prolific hybrids continues to grow. On this episode of the RealAgriculture… Read More
Farmers looking to prepare for seeding using lower horsepower requirements can look no further than the Bednar Swifterdisc XO 8000F. Rene Van Geerenstein, with Pentagon Farm Centre, introduced Bednar’s 8000F at Agri-Trade 2022, explaining its main purposes is as a secondary tillage unit. He says it’s not used to break ground, but instead is intended… Read More
Effectively integrating a cereal rye cover crop into corn is not for the faint of heart. Cereal rye can deliver tremendous benefits for a corn production system but there are challenges. Many growers wrestle with how to get uniform establishment in the fall; determining the best nitrogen and tillage plans; and finding that sweet spot… Read More
It pays to manage corn stalks. That message was heard loud and clear when agronomists Pat Lynch and Jonathan Zettler asked farmers why they till soil following a corn crop. The pair publish The Cropwalker — a weekly agronomy newsletter, and heard from 372 respondents in a Twitter poll. The top reason for tillage, cited… Read More
Crop residue is a real conundrum: not enough, and soil is vulnerable to wind and water erosion; too much, and the next crop suffers. Corn residue in particular can cause some real headaches for the subsequent soybean crop. To talk about why that is, and how to manage it, we go to experts Horst Bohner… Read More