A24-Lsnc»ter Firming, Saturday, April 19,1986
Herb Myer plows new ground in tillage field
(Continued from Page Al)
ground for the past decade.
Although the idea hasn’t been
embraced by the fanning com
munity as yet, Myer insists that he
wouldn’t have stayed with it for so
long if it hadn’t produced what he
feels are dramatic results.
Just what has slit tillage done fbr
Myer? In addition to being a time
saver, the system has practically
eliminated erosion while im
proving his soil’s texture. And
Myer claims that he’s saved
money while accomplishing all
this.
To get the job done, Myer uses a.
modified Brillion chisel plow. I
About a dozen years ago, when he I
bought the unit, he removed half
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the teeth and replaced the curved
chisel shovels on the remaining
five shanks with narrow, two-inch
teeth. He then fitted a heavy-duty
disk coulter in front of the unit that
serves to guide the teeth and cut up
surface residue. The modified unit
cuts five slits in the soil 30 inches
apart and about 12 to 15 inches
deep. Between each pair of slits a
low ridge is formed by the soil that
is thrown to the side by the chisel
teeth.
After harvesting his com, Myer
pulls the chisel through the field so
v that each tooth cuts a slit between
com rows. The soil is not disturbed
until planting time, when a light
disk or harrow is used to round off
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the ridges created by the chisel.
The result is a field of low, un
dulating ridges between the slits
that have become partially filled
with soil and crop residue.
Myer then plants his com with a
no-till planter. Although he tries to
keep his com rows basically on top
of the ridges, no harm is done if
some of the seed winds up in the
slits.
Myer points out that it’s easy to
see why slit tillage is more ef
fective in stopping erosion and
runoff than either conventional
plowing and disking or no-till
planting. Using traditional tillage
methods, loose soil is tilled on top
of packed soil. This loose surface
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soil is particularly vulnerable to
sheet erosion during heavy rains.
And while no-till planting does
reduce soil loss, the packed sur
face does little to keep water from
heading downhill.
On the other hand, slit tillage
incorporates the best of both
worlds-a few inches of loose soil on
either side of the slit, and packed
soil in between. And once rain
water hits the low ridge crests
between the slits, it can travel no
more than 15 inches in either
direction before coming to a slit.
Once it flows into a slit, the water
is exposed to a large amount of
surface area along the walls on
either side. The result is that water
never has the opportunity to build
up enough speed to wash soil, and
all water is absorbed in the vicinity
of where it originally fell.
Myer claims that the slits are so
effective at halting the movement.
of water across the surface that he
can hauknanure all winter without
fear of it washing away. He does
acknowledge that the slits’ ef
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fectiveness may be reduced
somewhat with time’s passage.
The openings gradually become
filled with soil and organic matter,
and the light disking at planting
time also helps to fill them in. “But
I wouldn’t be afraid to get 10 inches
of rain right after I put them in,”
he says.
“The main reason I did it was to
prevent erosion,” says the Lam
peter-area farmer, who maintains
that not a single erosion gully has
appeared on his four to eight
degree slopes since he started
using slit tillage. He’s also pleased
to report that slit tillage results in
fuel savings and less wear and tear
on equipment, since his modified
chisel has only half of its original
shanks cleaving the ground.
As the years passed, though,
Myer began to notice yet another
apparent benefit: the texture of his
soil was improving. He reasons
that since the narrow chisel teeth
bring very little soil to the surface,
subsoil is not mixed with topsoil.
As a young farmer, Myer ex
plains, he was taught to bring up a
small amount of subsoil, or clay,
when plowing. The problem with
(Turn to Page A3B)
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