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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] No-Till Farming Can Increase Yields
  • Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 06:28:23 -0600


http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-18-09.asp

No-Till Farming Can Increase Yields

FORT COLLINS, Colorado, June 18, 2003 (ENS) - Farmers on the northern
Great Plains can increase their crop yields by switching to no-till
farming using three and four year rotations, concludes a 12 year study by
Colorado State University and the federal Agricultural Research Service
(ARS).

No-till farming can help farmers increase yields, diversify crops and
reduce soil erosion, according to the study, conducted by ARS Great Plains
Systems Research Unit, a research group of the United States Department of
Agriculture, and Colorado State University.

The traditional method of tilling soil on the Great Plains calls for two
year rotations of wheat the first year and then not growing crops the
second year.

Using no-till experiments on three farms in three diverse climate zones,
the researchers found the best rotation is one that grows wheat one year,
corn the following - or sorghum in warmer areas - and then leaves the
field fallow the third year.

The researchers also found that a four year rotation of planting wheat,
corn or sorghum, millet and then leaving the land fallow the fourth year
also works.

Grain production can go up by as much as 70 percent in the three and four
year systems, and it can increase profit by 25 to 40 percent over the
traditional wheat fallow model, the researchers said.

Similar results were found at ARS' Central Great Plains Research Station
in Akron, Colorado.

The scientists found that farmers can plant corn, sorghum, millet or
forage if soil moisture in the spring is good and the forecast for summer
rainfall is average or above.

Rainfall can be scarce in Colorado, but no-till helps capture
precipitation and retain the moisture in the soil better than traditional
farming, the scientists said. No-till farming, they said, also builds up
soil organic matter levels and cuts down soil erosion.





  • [Livingontheland] No-Till Farming Can Increase Yields, Tradingpost, 06/23/2003

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