Crop residue serves an important role in physically protecting soil by preventing soil erosion during rain events or high winds.

Strip tillage is one of the conservation tillage options available for managing corn residue prior to planting soybeans. Interest in strip tillage is increasing because it offers the following benefits

Cover crops are planted in the fall and stay on fields over the winter, covering the ground with foliage and holding soil in place with their roots.

Based on the results from the trials, strip-till looks promising for soybean production in 30-inch rows in Michigan, but the practice should be restricted to fields having slopes less than 5% to reduce water-erosion potential in the rows.

Levels of soil erosion have decreased in the U.S. and in Iowa, but soil erosion remains a serious problem, especially for some soils.

In recent years, some no-tillers have criticized strip-till, pointing to instances of severe soil erosion in fields that were strip-tilled up and down hills. But more than 25 years ago, a study by three agricultural engineers at the University of Illinois showed that strip-tilling on the contour effectively minimized soil erosion and limited losses of herbicides and insecticides.

After 15 years of ridge-tilling, Ulysses, Kan., farmer Larry Smith switched to strip-tilling 4 years ago and finds the practice helps him compensate for environmental factors he can't control - chiefly, sandy soils and unstoppable wind.

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.

Using strip-till and no-till drastically reduced sediment loss compared to disc-till, chisel-till and conventional till in onfarm research simulations in the fragile soils of Iowa's Loess Hills, according to Iowa State University Extension scientists.

Sometimes compliments come in surprising places.