DlG—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 3,1982
Is there a place for
NEWARK, Del - More no-till
com was planted in Delaware this
spring than ever before, and full
season no-till soybean production
also appears to be on an increase,
reports University of Delaware
Extension crops specialist Frank
Webb. Based on current acreage
and grower interest, he expects no
tillage systems to enjoy even wider
use on the Delmarva peninsula as
time goes on.
Besides com and soybeans,
Webb says it looks as though small
grains may be another good
candidate for no-till. He’s in the
process right now of evaluating
results of the third year of small
grain no-tillage trials on several
demonstration plots around the
state.
As the problems are worked out
of these systems, does this mean
there’ll be a place on some
Delaware farms for an all no-tiU,
three crop rotation program? It’s
an idea the specialist plans to
explore, but at the same time,
there are still plenty of questions to
be answered about the effects of
long-term on-tillage fanning.
“At present,” he says, “we know
very little about the problems
such as insect and disease buildups
that may be encountered with
continuous no-till."
For example, given certain
weather conditions, some crop
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pests such as slugs may be more of
a problem. Wet, humid weather
this season favored slug outbreaks
which have seriously damaged
some New Castle County no-till
com plantings.
“We don’t know where this is
going to leave no-tillage com,”
says Webb, “since the pest is
mainly a problem under this
practice and right now there are no
chemical controls for slugs which
are commercially acceptable.”
As no-till acreage increases,
some problems are bound to occur,
just because of the variety of
growing conditions around the
state and the number of acres
involved.
Though no-till com has been
grown commercially in Delaware
for nearly a decade, it’s only within
the last three or four years that
most growers have begun to adopt
the practice. The system isn’t for
everyone, nor for every field
condition.
“We’re still experimenting with
it under different conditions, even
though we’ve already studied it for
nearly 15 years at the University,”
he says.
Conventional com production
practices still have plenty of ad
vocates and are an important part
of many operations. But no-till can
play a part in the com acreage on
many farms, giving crrowprs time
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all no-till, three-crop rotation?
for other jobs, making better use of
available labor and even helping
hold down production costs, in
some cases.
Webb says he would like to see
more full-season soybeans go into
no-till. He says this cropping
system makes it possible to plant
soybeans early in the season
generally from May 20 through
mid June when small grains start
to come off.
After working with full-season,
no-till soybeans for nearly five
years, he reports there’s enough
information available now to
provide at least a partial “recipe”
for the process, in terms of
production guidelines. The
availability of such a recipe for no
till com has speeded up the
adoption of that cultural practice
on farms.
“It appears that no-till may be as
viable a production system for full
season soybeans on Delmarva as it
is for corn,” says Webb. “We don’t
have all the answers yet, but at
least the basics have been worked
out as far as the general herbicide
combination needed for getting
vegetative bumdown, and the
combinations of residual
chemicals. It looks as though
narrow rows are almost a
necessity for successful full-season
no-till soybeans.”
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production package is a cover crop
of some type, both to control weeds
and conserve moisture.
Looking ahead, he predicts that
full-season, no-till soybean
production will find wide ac
ceptance among growers.
“Changes come relatively slowly
in agriculture especially when it
comes to technological changes
involving chemical use and better
machinery design,” he says.
The most recent adaptation of
no-tillage on Delmarva is in the
'area of small grain production.
Webb has been comparing notill
versus conventional practices on
wheat and barley for die past three
years and expects to publish
results from the third year’s trials
later this summer. This in
formation should make it possible
to determine whether or not no
tillage has a place in small grain
production locally. Yields from a
number of commercial plantings
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“This hasn’t been worked out
yet,” he says. “But it's something
we need to find out, in order to take
full advantage of no-till. As no
tillage is more widely accepted, we
in the areas of agricultural
demonstration and research will
have to follow up on some of these
possible crop rotations.”
-o'
♦
4 •>
PHONE
717-274-3488
S
SWINE SYSTEMS
around the state will be included in
this latest data.
So far, the specialist says, not
much information is available on
the effects of rotating various no
till crops, including corn, small
grains and soybeans.
“Any number of rotation com
binations might be involved,” he
says. “Certain types of cover
might also be added between
crops.
Some form of land preparation
or tillage ought be called for at
some stages of the rotation in order
to accommodate the following
crop.
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