The great thing about visiting with people in agriculture is learning about new practices.
In the space of just a few weeks, I’ve heard from several people trying “bio strip-till.” Basically, it’s a practice of planting forage radishes, peas and possibly other crops in the fall. The idea is to have the roots of the cover crops grow deep, die out and leave a void to plant into in the spring.
At the 2011 National No-Tillage Conference in Cincinnati last month, I chatted briefly with strip-tiller Blake Vince of Ontario, Canada, who’s tried bio strip-till. I’m looking forward to following up with Blake to learn more about what he’s done.
Kelly Cooper, the farm manager for the Conservation Cropping System Project, a no-till demonstration farm near Forman, N.D., told me recently that bio strip-till is a promising practice that’s been tried at the no-till demonstration farm near Forman. But Cooper says the challenge is that “bio strip-till” takes time to evaluate.