Even the earthworms favor no-till farming
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
LANCASTER In Knox County,
Ohio, even the earthworms are in
favor of no-till fanning.
Now, this may be stretching the
no-till endorsements expressed
Tuesday at Lancaster County’s
Conservation Tillage Conference a
bit, but a significant relationship
was drawn between no-till and
earthworms by the visiting
featured speaker from Knox
County, Ohio.
Raymond J. Adamski, district
conservationist in Knox County, in
a 10-year intensive experience with
no-till in his county, has fine-tuned
his studies to the point that he has
found that no-till ground contains
about nine times more earthworms
in it than the conventionally-tilled
soil.
And the worth of this earthworm
information goes well beyond
being another bit of agricultural
trivia. For the higher earthworm
ige Conference in Lancaster includes, from the left,
C. Martin Greenleaf Jr., R 1 Oxford, at podium; Amos Funk, moderator; Robert
Berkheimer, R 2 Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County: Hugh Lesley, R 2 Oxford: and
David E. Buckwalter, Lititz.
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population in the no-till ground
may be directly related to a better
pH balance throughout the soil
profile, which also translates into
better crop rooting and moisture
utilization for improved stands of
anything from alfalfa to com.
“I think the increased ear
thworms and their holes has im
proved the pH right down through
the soil profile," Adamski said.
“The lime gets into the wor
mholes and gets deeper to improve
the pH. This means better crop
rooting and better utilization of
water at greater depths.”
On' his own farm, Adamski
started out with a pH of 4.9. In his
no-till ground, the pH has been
built up to about 7 at or near the
surface and is still about 6.5 at a
depth well below what would be the
plowing layer in conventionally
tilled ground. In fact in a com
parison of soil profiles, the pH level
in nearby conventionally-tilled
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ground below plowing depth has
shown levels of about 5.5.
“The plowing layer appears to
shear off the wormholes and
prevents the lime from going
deeper and improving the pH,” he
said.
Adamski listed some other
general findings and recom
mendations concerning no-till in
Knox County, where some 62
percent of corn, 25 percent of
soybeans and 80 percent of
pastures are planted in this system
designed to reduce erosion:
-To combat Fall panicum make
certain the pH is 6 or above so that
the tnazmes can work.
-Split applications of nitrogen
have worked best and have helped
to increase yields of com by 20 or
30 bushels per acre.
Under no circumstances, use
urea to apply nitrogen.
-High phosphorus applications
work well in the row.
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With Conservation Tillage Conference featured speaker
Ray Adamski, right, of Knox County, Ohio, are Bob Gregory,
left, district administrator; and Amos Funk, of the Lancaster
County Conservation District.
-High populations are favored -
around 28,000 plants per acre.
-Earlier planting appears best
about the last week in April or the
first week in May as long as con
ditions are not too cold or too wet.
-Crop rotation is still important
and if the land is rotated out of corn
just one year yields can be boosted
15 or 20 bushels.
Adamski traced his experience
with introducing and promoting
no-till in Knox County. He started
with just six farmers some 10
years ago and worked very closely
with them, paying attention to the
smallest of details and making any
corrections that were necessary as
they went along.
“Today, the conventional-tillage
farmers in Knox County are in the
minority,” he said.
“And, all of the top farmers are
no-till farmers.”
He credits the holding of a no-till
yield contest in the county as the
means to really get the practice
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going and the way to encourage
farmers to put their better ground
into no-till.
Adamski stressed that trying no
till can’t be on a one-time, one-field
basis, but must include thorough
follow-through to be successful.
“Always be prepared to go back
and see what is right and what is
wrong and make the necessary
changes and adjustments,” he
said.
“And get out their early to make
your evaluations just when the
corn is starting to come up.”
The day-long Conservation
Tillage Conference, sponsored by
the Lancaster County Con
servation District and Extension
Service, also featured a four
farmer panel of long-tune no
tillers. The panel included;
David E. Buckwalter, of Lititz -
He follows a no-till manure
management program in which
relatively high rates of steer
manure are applied after wheat is
harvested from fields into which
clover has been sown as a cover.
Clover is harvested in September
and then burned back with
Paraquat the next spring for no-till
corn planting.
He plows down clover sometimes
that many would like to bale but
the cover provides the basis for the
manure management.
C. Martin Greenleaf Jr., R 1
Oxford - His no-tilling of corn,
soybeans, barley, wheat, alfalfa
and mixed hay has prompted some
significant savings in recent years.
With no-till, his equipment has
been cut back from seven tractors,
three above 100 H.P., to just three,
all below 100 H.P. By reducing his
“recreational plowing” he has
saved $3,000 in fuel and some
$19,000 in labor costs by replacing
two full-time hired men with
parttime seasonal help. His
chemical use has risen 10 to 20
percent and fertilizer utilization is
up slightly.
Hugh Lesley, R 2 Oxford - He
utilizes a crop rotation of no-till
corn, barley and soybeans. Even in
the drought last year some of his
corn yielded 125 bushels an acre.
Robert Berkheimer, R 2
Mechamcsburg, Cumberland
County - “The more cover you
have, the better it is. We didn’t
have much rain last year, but
where there was cover we had
corn.”
Manure from some 350 Holsteins
- milkers, replacements and beef
bulls - goes on no-till corn. Strawy
manure goes on fields with less
crop residue and liquid manure
goes on heavy crop residues. He
avoids soil compaction and no corn
is planted before May 15.
FFA