Corn growing after being planted into 30 per cent soybean residue (Source: OMAFRA)
A shift in the landscape is occurring as farmers are increasing tillage in the wake of high commodity prices. With the view that reduced tillage practices carry a yield drag, some producers are reverting to more aggressive methods to capture as many bushels per acre as possible.
The move, which increases the risk of soil erosion, is raising concerns and renewing calls to strike a balance between finding an adequate level of tillage to benefit the crops and leaving enough residues to protect the soil.
While tillage practices aren’t extensively tracked across the province, Greg Stewart, corn specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, says most people in the agriculture business would agree that there has been a significant shift to more tillage, especially when planting soybeans after corn.
“We have quite a range of tillage options,” notes Stewart. “In some areas, the mouldboard plough is back into those corn stalks in a big way and, in some cases, what used to be known as no-till, is vertical till or some other type of till.”
In addition to the shift to more tillage, instances of soil erosion, caused by rain or high winds, are becoming more noticeable, too. With dry conditions and high winds in the spring of 2012, Peter Johnson, OMAFRA cereals specialist, says wind storms were causing “brownouts” that were as dangerous as whiteouts in winter snowstorms.
“There were more stretches of highway where people nearly had to pull off the road than we’ve seen since the 1980s, and that is not a good-news scenario for agriculture,” says Johnson.
In an effort to strike the balance between the shift to increased tillage and the need for soil conservation, Stewart and his OMAFRA colleagues are recommending a compromise: Leaving a ground cover of at least 30% residue. “Whether those plants are dead or alive, you can do something significant in terms of reducing erosion potential,” says Stewart.
The full version of this story is available in the October 2012 edition of Top Crop Manager (East).
