Just 3 years after graduating from Cornell University, 24-year-old farmer Joe Brightly of Hamlin, N.Y., loves the benefits of switching to strip-till and complementing it with cover crops.
Strip-tillers throughout the U.S. and Canada continue to try different combinations of cover crops, creating a "bio strip-till" system where the roots of annual ryegrass, clover, radish and other crops complement mechanical tillage.
The deep roots of radishes, and the voids that winterkilled and decayed radishes create, have led some farmers to "bio strip-till" with the popular cover crop, says a report by several university experts.
I read an article in Strip-Till Strategies in February in which Iowa strip-tiller and no-tiller Gordon Wassenaar said he planned to start using cover crops to provide more protection for his soil.
Using cereal rye and wheat as cover crops increased the yields of strip-tilled cotton vs. using the same cover crops with conventional tillage, according to recent research by the University of Georgia.
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On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Martin-Till, find out how several no-tillers are handling a wet month across parts of the Corn Belt. Central Illinois no-tiller Dave Brown is patiently waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate before he can finish up planting several hundred acres, while Wisconsin no-tiller Tyler Troiola deals with a tractor glitch and a 2-inch rain event in one day.
Montag products have proven results with patented precision metering application for significant savings of nutrients and cover crop seed, and for achieving best conservation practices.
Environmental Tillage Systems is a leading manufacturer of strip-till and nutrient-management equipment which enhances soil productivity and farm profitability.
Kuhn Krause's focus, above all, is to continue to produce quality products to serve producers better; to strive to respond to their needs with new tools and new technology to meet their growing challenges. Agronomic practices are constantly changing, and at a faster pace now than ever.