Al6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 18,1980
Secondary tillage tools help stop spring erosion
KEWANEE, Illinois
Proper selection and use of
secondary tillage tools in the
spring can go a long way
toward controlling the soil
erosion caused by spring
rains.
“Farmers are becoming
accustomed to the idea of
reduced fall primary tillage
programs to stop winter
wind erosion,” says Howard
Hadler, division engineer for
Kewanee Machinery
Division. “Now they need to
consider how they select and
use secondary tillage tools in
the spring to cut down on
water erosion.”
Maximum rainfall is
almost always in the spring.
Spring is actually when most
water erosion occurs, Ihis
was proven in sections of
Pennsylvania this spring
when torrential rains
washed from 5 to 35 tons of
top soil from each acre.
Erosion that serious needn’t
This soybean field was planted in a con
ventionally prepared seedbed, and it washed
severely under 1980's torrential spring rains.
Used correctly, field cultivators and disks can
prepare seedbeds and still leave a protective cover
of crop residue on the surface to retard erosion.
Carter accepts farm
polwy debate offer
WASHINGTON - The
Carter for President cam
paign has accepted the
National Farmers Union’s
invitation to participate m a
U.S. farm policy debate,
George W. Stone, president
of the Denver-based family
farm organization, an
nounced at a news con
ference Monday.
Stone released copies of a
letter from Don Tyson,
chairman of the Farmers for
Carter Committee, ac
cepting the invitation and
naming U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Bob Bergland as
the campaign’s represen
tative for the proposed
debate.
“We are pleased that the
Carter campaign is willing
to debate farm policy issues.
We now look forward to
hearing from the Reagan
campaign,” Stone said.
The National Farmers
Union had first invited the
Presidential candidates to
have occurred, Hadler
believes.
“Ground that has been
chisel plowed or turned with
a plowing disk in the fall has
had valuable crop residue
left on the surface to retard
wind erosion,” notes Hadler.
“Too many passes with
tillage tools in the spring can
eliminate that residue and
allow soil to wash with each
rain.”
Used correctly, with a
minimum number of tnps
across the field, however,
either field cultivator or disk
will leave a significant
amount of crop residue on
the surface.
On sloping ground, far
mers should consider using a
field cultivator instead of a
finishing disk, since by
comparison, a field will
leave more residue on the
surface, Haider says.
On level ground, a disk will
debate farm policy but
changed the format when
Ronald Reagan turned down
the invitation. Then, the
family farm group offered to
sponsor a debate between
the farm spokesmen for the
two campaigns.
“Farmers and consumers
have a right to know what to
expect on food policy in the
next four years. The best
way is to air these issues in
the bright light of a debate,”
Stonesaid.
do an acceptable reduced
tillage job. Disks leave some
residue on the surface but
often chop it up finer.
“In working the soil,
farmers need to remember
that each trip over the field
with a cultivator or disk
reduces the amount of crop
residue on the surface and
increases the erosion risk,”
he says.
In selecting' secondary
tillage tools for a reduced
tillage program, Hadler
advises farmers to look for
heavier, more durable
implements.
“These implements need
to do more work in one pass
across the field. The
primary tillage operation
will have left the ground
rougher so the secondary
tillage tool will need to be
heavier and more
aggressive than in the past,”
he states.
Moldboard plowing has
almost become a practice of
the past in many areas,
notes Hadler, with chisel
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plowing, disk chiseling, or wisely spring use of their really stopping erosion and
plow disking taking its place, secondary tillage tools if conserving soil, Hadler
But, fanners need to plan they want to be sure they’re concludes.
jan crop is spt ig t js maximum yantage of crop residue
from the previous year to prevent erosion from spring rains. Reduced fall tillage
hinders winter wind erosion, but proper use of secondary tillage tools in the
spring is necessary to cut water erosion.
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INCLUDING
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