Mason City Globe Gazette, IA
05-24-06
No-till farming gains ground in North Iowa
By JAN HORGEN, Of The Globe Gazette
NORA SPRINGS — Glancing over his shoulder, Tom Wolters guides the John
Deere 750 no-till planting drill across the stubble of last season’s corn crop.
His 300-acre farming operation is a study in land stewardship.
“I’m thinking long term,” Wolters said. “There’s only so much topsoil. The land is
worthless for farming without topsoil.”
During many years of living and working in the United Kingdom, Wolters was
impressed with the wide use of no-till crop production.
When he returned in 2000 to work the family farm for his mother, he decided
conservation practices were in order.
With planter boxes filled with Roundup Ready soybeans, Wolters was making
only the second trip across the field since harvesting.
“Yes, I save on fuel, but this is about more than that,” he said, rubbing a hand
across the side of his face as if to brush away the dust and heat of the day.
“This land was homesteaded in 1852, more than 150 years ago,” he said. “We
need to thing about conservation, preserving topsoil, so it can be farmed for
centuries.”
A Natural Resources Conservation Services survey found Iowa was second only
to Illinois in no-till crop production acres.
No-till was used on 5.17 million acres in 2004, up by about 14,000 acres from the
2002 survey.
Weed control technology, such as Roundup that moves through the plant killing
the root, was an important factor in promoting reduced tillage, Iowa State
University Extension crop specialist George Cummins said.
Results of long term tillage experiments at ISU research farms show that no-till
yields, on a corn/soybean rotation, are comparable to deep tillage yields,
Cummins said.
“There is no question that more residue will save soil and preserve organic
matter,” he said. “And certainly, less trips across the field has advantages, in
profitability and less soil compaction.”
A disadvantage, especially in cool, damp weather, is that the cover holds
moisture.
“A 200 bushel corn crop leaves tremendous residue, as much as 2 inches,”
Cummins said. “That old crop residue sits like a blanket on the ground, making it
difficult to get soil warmed and ready for planting and to get good seed-to-soil
contact for germination.”
The cold spring is also contributing to slow emergence.
Most corn planted before mid-April is up and growing, Cummins said. “But much
of the later plantings are still in the ground.”
North Iowa is running about 50 to 75 heat units below normal for May, according
to crop specialists.
Corn growth and development is determined by heat units or temperatures
between 50 and 86 degrees. Corn requires about 2,500 heat units to mature.
Across the state, one-third of Iowa’s soybean acreage has been planted,
according to officials in Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge’s office. Corn
emergence is about 71 percent.
The mild winter allowed survival of larvae, bean leaf beetles are already being
reported feeding in alfalfa and legume pastures.
“There was evidence of feeding at the Nashua research farm on early planted
soybeans,” Cummins said.
Reach Jan Horgen at 421-0534 or jan.horgen@globegazette.com.