|
|
No-Till Production Comes To Newberry County
| Name | Alfred B. Crouch, Jr. | | Situation | Current economic conditions on commodity farms in the Southeast have forced producers to take a close look at all aspects of their production systems. One area of interest, which receives ample attention in the popular agricultural press, is conversion to no-till production systems. One Newberry County producer (and since then one more) has decided to make the switch to no-till farming. | | Response | I was contacted by a local row-crop producer early last spring. I spent an afternoon with him, at which time we analyzed his current cropping practices and the economics associated with those practices. It was decided at that meeting that somehow, to preserve the profitability of his operation that some changes had to be made. I mentioned the possibility of switching his cropping enterprise from conventional till to no-till. After deciding that no-till was the direction we needed to go, the producer and I consulted Dr. John Bradley, Monsanto Conservation Tillage Specialist. Via telephone consultation, it was decided that the current planters could be re-fitted, and that a no-till drill and paratill should be purchased. After the recommended equipment was purchased, every acre of soybeans at the farm (~ 800 acres) was no-till drilled, and a portion of the cotton was no-till planted (~ 200 acres of 800). I worked closely with the producer on setting planting depth, coulter depth, and achieving desired seeding rates. The producer also planted his entire wheat crop with the no-till drill (~600 acres) and as of April 2004 the stand appeared to be in excellent condition.
| | Impact | The first no-till soybean crop yielded approximately 35 bushels per acre, across 800 acres. The producer and I have estimated that the no-till system saved around $40.00 per acre in inputs, i.e. labor, fuel, and equipment. With ever increasing fuel prices alone, the no-till system should free up substantially more capital for other uses, with possible acreage expansion being
currently explored.
|
Last update8/15/2007
This website is maintained by Bryan Smith.
|
