If you can avoid mistakes, it will make your journey to healthier soil that much easier, Donovan says. He notes that there is nothing better for farmers wanting to implement no-till and cover crops on their farms than learning from an experienced mentor to ensure their move to a soil health system is successful.
If you need recommendations for a good soil health mentor, stop by your local NRCS office. No-till success starts with right planter setup. Suggested Event. Jan 19, to Jan 21, Hide comments. More information about text formats. Text format Comments Plain text.
Check the double-disk seed-furrow openers on the planter, before the planting season, for wear and proper adjustment. The individual disks can be adjusted inward as they wear by removing spacer washers from behind them. This keeps the two blades of the seed-furrow opener working together as one cutting edge, making a coulter unnecessary.
If the two blades are mounted side-by-side, like on John Deere, Kinze, and White planters, they should have about two inches of blade contact on the leading edge. On staggered disk seed-furrow openers, like on Case-IH, Deutz Allis, and Landoll planters, the rear disk should be tucked in behind the leading disk, just touching. Adjust the disks or replace them to maintain the proper configuration. When properly adjusted, these seed-furrow openers can easily cut residue and penetrate the soil without coulters or row cleaners.
On well drained or highly erodible soils, the residue should be left over the row to absorb raindrop impact. This will reduce erosion and crusting in the row, and provide a mulch to reduce drying of the seed zone. On flat, poorly drained soils, "spider wheel" row cleaners could be used to move the residue off the row to aid in soil drying. Those with back-swept teeth work better for moving heavier residues, like irrigated corn residue. Unlike disk row cleaners, the spider wheels can be set to move only residue.
Floating residue movers with depth bands help keep the surface more uniform, reducing soil movement. However, wind may blow some residue back over the row, interfering with emergence or causing plants to leaf-out under the residue. When the residue is not moved, the seedlings will come up through the slot cut through the residue when the seeds were placed.
If soil is moved at planting, any previously applied herbicides could be moved out of the row or the crop may be planted deeper into cooler soil. Advertise Follow Us. Soil conditions in Pennsylvania can vary as much as the terrain, from sandy or clay loam to rocks and knobs of shale — presenting a potential nightmare for no-tillers trying to achieve consistent stands and protect yield potential.
The Lancaster County no-tillers work in the largest livestock-producing county in Pennsylvania that also happens to have the most impaired streams, making it a major contributor of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay. Farmers are under the gun for reducing nitrogen N inputs to limit nutrient runoff. Even that has challenges, as the county got 75 inches of rain in , when a normal year sees just 42 inches. Many of the no-tillers sharing their planter setups are seeding cover crops on their farm and even no-tilling into living covers to keep more soil in their fields and build soil health.
No-Till Farmer Get full access NOW to the most comprehensive, powerful and easy-to-use online resource for no-tillage practices. Subscribe Now. Don't waste seed — or time — speculating whether or not your no-till grain drill is seeding at the right rate.
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