how to help yourself become a continuous no-tiller · soil mining in the midwest • in the...

18th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceDes Moines, Iowa * Jan. 13-16, 201019th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceCincinnati, Ohio * Jan. 12-15, 201118th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceDes Moines, Iowa * Jan. 13-16, 201021st Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceIndianapolis, Indiana * Jan. 9-12, 2013

How to Help Yourself Become a Continuous No-Tiller

Sjoerd W. DuikerPenn State University

January 9, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 13


The Need“Before World War II, we stood arraigned as the most wasteful people in all history. Nowhere else, except in the fabled Garden of Eden, had a people taken such a rich, virgin territory and in a short three centuries ruined large parts of it for all time and semi-destroyed other parts, while busily trying to do away with the rest. We were not husbandmen in the best sense of the word. We were miners.” Homestead and Fite, 1955. ‘The Agricultural Regions of the United States.’ p. 24



The Problemq Tillage – hoe, disk, moldboard

q One-crop agriculture

Ø 1600 - Tobacco in the Chesapeake Region

Ø 1793 - Cotton in the South

Ø 1837 – Corn in the Midwest

Ø 1870 - Wheat in the Plains and Palouse



The Results• In the Chesapeake, after 2-3

years of tobacco and a few years of corn and wheat farmers moved on to the new fields

• It was estimated that the Potomac carried annually 1.7 billion lbs of dissolved nutrients and 470 million lbs of sediment to the Chesapeake Bay, while the James carried 3-4 million cubic yards from north of Richmond and the Roanoke 3-4 million tons from the Piedmont.

http://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog?f[location_facet][]=North+Carolina&page=140From “ Craven, 1925. Soil exhaustion as a factor in the agricultural history of Virginia and Maryland, 1606-1860”.p.28



• In the South soil degradation in continuous cotton took its toll – as a result 1000s of miles of gullies ran through the South.

• In the Southern Piedmont average soil erosion was estimated at 7 inches.

• Unproductive soil reverted back to brush, grassland, or pine plantations as cotton moved west.

Severely eroded Alabama farm. Courtesy USDA-NRCS, 1937.

Devastation in the South



Soil Mining in The Midwest

• In the Midwest, erosion took its toll and soil organic matter content was mined – the Morrow Plots, IL show that in 50 years up to 46,000 lbs/A of soil carbon was lost from organic matter, releasing 3300 lbs of N, 400 lbs of P, and 400 lbs of S. Soils eroded but effects noticeable only after many decades or centuries.

NRCS Image Gallery picture NRCSIA99124



http://www.drought.unl.edu/kids/impacts/1934.htm

Devastation in the Plains

• 60% of farmers in northern Plains went bankrupt between 1925-31

• 2.5 million people moved out of Plain States after Dust Bowl years (1930-36).

• In the Palouse 10% of land lost all topsoil, and 60% of the land lost ¼-¾ of the topsoil.



How to To Become Husbandmen

• Our mindset is our first need!• Soil degradation remains a threat

of national proportions• The buffer of virgin land is gone• The demands from the land will

increase• Shallow or deep tillage combined

with ‘one crop agriculture’ were at the base of the problem

Dust storm, TX Panhandle, Dec 19, 2012 Courtesy Ray Archuleta

Mudrain, Arkansas, Dec 2012Courtesy Greg Roth



ü Eliminate the tillage conundrum: ü Limit soil movement to eliminate tillage erosionü Mulch cover to control water/wind erosionü Mulch to increase infiltration/reduce evaporation




ü Eliminate the tillage conundrum: ü Limit soil movement to eliminate tillage erosionü Mulch cover to control water/wind erosionü Mulch to increase infiltration/reduce evaporation

ü Eliminate ‘one-crop agriculture’:ü Organic mulch and continuous living root systems to favor

soil biological activity and profile modificationü Diverse crop rotations to help improve soil, manage

nutrients, weeds, pests and diseases.




Mulch Cover for Erosion Control

0

25

50

75

100

0 25 50 75 100

Soi

l los

s (%

)

Soil cover (%)MidWest Plan Service, 200. Conservation Tillage Systems and Management.


18th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceDes Moines, Iowa * Jan. 13-16, 201019th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceCincinnati, Ohio * Jan. 12-15, 201118th Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceDes Moines, Iowa * Jan. 13-16, 201021st Annual National No-Tillage ConferenceIndianapolis, Indiana * Jan. 9-12, 2013Chisel/Disk

Moldboard

No-‐Till

Zone-‐Till

Our Challenge : How to Maintain Enough Residue!



Tillage in Rotation Decreases Residue Levels



High Mulch Cover for Increased Infiltration

More than 70% cover results in greatly increased infiltration

Roth et al., 1988. Effect of mulch rates and tillage systems on infiltrability and other physical properties of an Oxisol in Parana, Brazil. Soil Tillage Res 11:81-91



High mulch and “0” soil disturbance Effect on avg Annual Runoff (”) from WatershedsPermanent high-mulch no-till vs bare w. moldboard plow

No-Till Conventional Till1979 0.1 5.51980 0.2 12.51981 0.0 5.61982 0.4 4.4Average 0.2 7.0

% of precip 0% 16%Coshocton, OH, no till was on 9% slope, conventional till

on 6% slope. Average rainfall 42 inches

Shipitalo and Edwards, 1998. Runoff and erosion control with conservation tillage and reduced-input practices on cropped watersheds. Soil Tillage Res 46:1-12



High Mulch Cover for Evaporation Reduction

0

0.75

1.50

2.25

3.00

MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP

Mon

thly

eva

pora

tion

(inch

es)

Conventional till

No-till

Phillips,1984. Soil moisture. P.66-86 in ‘No-Tillage Agriculture’. Van Nostrand and Reinhold, New York.



Permanent No-Till forImproved Surface Aggregation

30

48

65

83

100

0-‐2" 2-‐6" 6-‐10"

Aggreg

ate stab

ility (%

)

Sampling depth

Long-‐term NTShort-‐term NTChisel/diskMoldboard

Data from long-term tillage study, Penn State University



Permanent No-Till for Improved Trafficability

0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Traf

ficab

le d

ays

(#/m

onth

)

Well-structured pasture without plow-panArable land with plowpan

Permanent no-till will look like this



Long-term no-till soil resists compaction



Long-term no-till




Long-term no-till

2 yrs old no-till




Long-term no-till

2 yrs old no-till

1 yr old no-till




Long-term no-till

2 yrs old no-till

1 yr old no-till

Subsoiled




Long-Term No-Till and Diversity to Improve Earthworm Populations

No-Till Plow

Cont.Corn 75,000 40,000Cont. Soybean 500,000 230,000Clover/Ryegrass 2,000,000 Pasture+manure 5,000,000

Data from IndianaCrop and management systems continuous for at least 10 years

Kladivko. Earthworms and crop management. AY 279, Purdue University.



Permanent No-Till to Build Humus and Stimulate Microbial Life

0.100

0.200

0.300

0.400

0.500

0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0

Conv Till

6-yr No-Till

Native (never-tilled)

Microbial BiomassCarbon µ kg-1

Soil organic carbon (g kg-1)

Data from Long-Term Ecological Research, MI

1994-1995 data from Long-Term Ecological Research in Row Crop Agriculture http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/


http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/

http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/


Permanent No-Till to Stimulate Microbial Activity

Andrade, D.S., Colizzi-Filho, A., and Giller, K.E. (2003) The soil microbial community and soil tillage. In: El Titi, A. (Ed.) Soil tillage in agroecosystems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 51-81.



Profile Modification with Continuous No-Till



50.0000

77.5000

105.0000

132.5000

160.0000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Yiel

d (b

u/A

)

Year

No-TillZT to 04ST to 04CD

NS

NS NSNSNS

Are Corn Yields Reduced in Long-Term, Continuous No-Tillage?Tillage effects on corn yields Landisville, southeast PA



Corn Yields in Continuous No-Till Improve on Poorly Drained Soil

-30.00

-12.50

5.00

22.50

40.00

63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87

No-

till v

s pl

owed

cor

n yi

eld

diffe

renc

es (b

u/ac

)

Wooster B Hoytville

Well Drained Soil

Poorly Drained Soil



No-Till Conv.Till

Continuous Corn 112 125Corn-Soybean 129 129Corn/Soy/Meadow 127 133

20-yr average corn yields (Bu/A) on a poorly drained Hoytville sicl, Ohio

Crop rotation to Improve No-Till Performance in Poorly Drained Soils



Crop Rotations to help You Become a Continuous No-Tiller

– To reduce risk of weather and price fluctuations

– To reduce fallow periods– To reduce need for fertilizer – To reduce the build-up of pests –

weeds, diseases– To reduce reliance on agricultural

chemicals– To spread the workload– To improve yields

Corn after sod Corn after corn



Crop rotations to improve soil structure

Grover, 2008. Long-term cropping systems effects on soil aggregate stability, corn grain yields, and yield stability. PhD thesis., The Pennsylvania State University



Crop Rotation Improves Disease ControlDisease Major Crops Attacked1 Best Control Methods

Common root rot wheat, barley, grasses Rotation, seed trt.

Ergot rye, wheat, grasses Rotation, tillage

Bacterial blights wheat, barley, grasses, rye Rotation

Scab wheat, barley, corn, rye Rotation

Tan spot wheat, durum Rotation, fungicide

Net blotch barley Rotation, fungicide

Septoria (different species) wheat, barley Rotation, fungicide

Pasmo flax Rotation, variety

Wilt (flax) flax Rotation, variety

Rust (flax) flax Resistant Variety, rotation

Seedling blight wheat, barley, corn, oats, rye Seed treatment

Smut (corn) corn Rotation

Bacterial wilt alfalfa Variety resistance

Crown rot alfalfa Variety resistance

Verticillium wilt potato, sunflower, safflower Rotation, variety

Rust (sunflower) sunflower Variety, rotation

Sclerotinia (white mold) sunflower, dry beans safflower, Rotation 4 to 5 yearsSclerotinia (white mold)

soybean, potato, canola

Rotation 4 to 5 years

Phoma sunflower Rotationwww.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/crops/eb48-1.htm



Crop Rotation for Weed Control

Varying patterns of: • Resource competition• Allelopathic interference• Herbicide application timings• Herbicide modes of action• Cultural practices (e.g. mowing)

Adapted from Liebman and Dyck, 1993



Crop Rotation Improves Yield

C=Corn S=Soybean A=Alfalfa O=Oats W=Wheat R=Red clover/grass

140.0000

150.0000

160.0000

170.0000

180.0000

CC CS CCCCAAAA CCCCAAAA CCCCAAAA CCCCAAAA COWRR

Rotation Effect on Corn Yields - Penn State Hunter Plots 1990-2006

Cor

n yi

eld

(bu/

A)

7

15

10 8 7

16



Cover Crops to Help You Become a Continuous No-Tiller• Maintain and improve soil structure• Absorb and retain (recycle) nutrients • Fix atmospheric N• Maintain and improve organic matter

content• Provide weed control• Provide forage



Cover Crops to Improve Soil Structure

Grover, 2008. Long-term cropping systems effects on soil aggregate stability, corn grain yields, and yield stability. PhD thesis., The Pennsylvania State University



P K

Ca Mg

N

S

Cover Crops for Nutrient Fixation, Liberation and Recycling



Clover Cover Crop Benefits

SE Pennsylvania, 2007

Clover frost seeded into wheat the previous year with no clover harvest, corn no-till in clover residue

0

55.0

110.0

165.0

220.0

0 50 100 150 200

Corn Yield (b

u/A)

N Fertilizer (lb/A)

No Red CloverPoly.(No Red Clover)Red CloverPoly.(Red Clover)

Note: ~30 bu/A higher yield with Red Clover regardless of N applied

Johnson, PSU


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100�

200�

300�

400�

0.00� 2.00� 4.00� 6.00�

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20�

40�

60�

0.00� 2.00� 4.00� 6.00�


Nutrient recycling with cover cropsRye cover crop N content (lbs/A) in spring

Cover crop dry matter (T/A)Courtesy Doug Beegle, On-farm research 2007-2009

P content (lbs/A)



Cover Crops forBiological P “Banding”

(White and Weil, 2011)



How to Help Yourself to Become a Continuous No-Tiller

1. Realize its importance2. Realize its benefits3. Move away from ‘One-Crop Agriculture’ by

increasing rotation diversity4. Implement the principle of continuous living cover

by plugging the fallow holes5. Move to greater profitability and sustainability



Let us be Husbandmen!


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