DIS-Lancaster Farming Saturday, May 17,1986
Delaware Ag Engineers
Study Tillage Systems
Since 1972 Delaware Cooperative
Extension and the University of
Delaware Agricultural Ex
periment Station have had a
comprehensive program to
develop, test and teach no-till crop
production techniques. No-till
demonstrations in the state began
in 1969. With over 41 percent of its
acreage in no-till, Delaware has
led the nation in percentage of
cropland no-tilled for the past four
years.
Farmers have many tillage
alternatives for producing com
and soybeans, Delaware’s two
major crops. But which systems
are most cost-effective?
To find out, extension
agricultural engineer Tom
Williams and research associate
Jim Kemble have begun a com
parative study of crop response to
13 variations of no-till, in-row strip
till, ridge-till and minimum-till
production systems for com and
soybeans. The four-year project is
partially funded by a grant from
the Delmarva Poultry Industry,
Inc.
Delaware farmers favor no-till
for a number of reasons, Williams
says. It reduces both wind and
water erosion, conserves soil
moisture and saves time and
machine energy. However, this
cultural practice does have
drawbacks. Growers who use no
till are increasingly concerned
about delayed plantings in cold wet
soils, uneven plant emergence and
soil compaction. Heavy harvesting
and transporting equipment
contributes to soil compaction, as
do heavy manure spreaders and
fertilizer trucks used when the soil
is wet.
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Williams believes controlling
field traffic by keeping all wheels
off rows and reducing axle loads
may alleviate compaction
problems. Another solution is to
use some form of limited tillage
such as ridge-till or in-row sub
soiling-to break up compaction.
But does it pay to use these
methods on Delaware soils? That’s
a question Williams and Kemble
hope to answer.
Ridge-tillage is becoming more
popular in parts of the Midwest on
fine-textured, poorly drained soils
that are slow to warm up in spring.
According to Williams, previous
Delaware studies showed no
benefit from ridge planting, but
planting com over old soybean
rows did increase yields by 15.5
bushels per acre, and the ridges
helped maintain cow integrity.
In-row subsoiling is used in the
Southeast where hardpans impede
root development, but this is an
energy-intensive practice.
Delaware soils have a compacted
zone just below the plow layer
which does not always restrict root
growth. In previous Delaware
studies, in-row subsoiling has
given varied responses, ranging
from reduced yields to 19 more
bushels of com per acre.
Ridge-tillage and in-row sub
soiling have been tested on both
coarse- and fine-textured North
Carolina coastal plain soils. On
coarse soils, ridging with in-row
subsoiling produced more com
than in-row subsoiling alone. Fine
textured soils, however, showed no
response to either practice. The
current University of Delaware
project should make it possible to
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define the soil conditions
necessary for crop response to
subsoiling in this state.
Williams and Kemble are con
ducting field studies at the
University Agricultural Ex
periment Station farm in Newark,
which has fine-textured, silt loam
soil, and at the Research and
Education Center in Georgetown,
which has coarse-textured loamy
sand soil.
The engineers will also look at
how 10-ton axle loads affect soil
compaction, and check machine
energy requirements for the
various tillage systems involved in
the study.
“By examining the benefits of
each system in relation to its cost,”
Williams says, “we can help
Delaware farmers make sounder
production decisions. This project
is part of an ongoing extension and
experiment station effort to show
area farmers how to reduce costs
and improve production ef
ficiency.”
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to Combine Attachments
WEST BEND, Wise. - Gehl
Company has announced the
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Keith Industries of Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. The products
acquired include Straw Storm and
Chaff Storm. Both are combine
attachments that distribute crop
residue as it leaves the combine.
“Bigger combines can leave
bigger problems with con
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corn cobs,” states Gehl
President/CEO Bernard L.
Nielsen. “The problem is
especially acute where crops are
double-windrowed before com
bining. A combine without Straw
Storm can leave behind heavy
strips of residue that will hinder
next year’s crop development.
Heavy doses of decomposing trash
use up too much nitrogen. In fact,
heavy concentrations of some
chaff, such as flax, can tem
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Heavy strips of crop residue can
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residue in one strip can interfere
with fertilizer, chemical and even
seed incorporation. According to
Nielsen, “Straw Storm helps en
sure uniform seed penetration by
no-till drills and other planting
equipment. And it also protects
valuable top soil from wind and
water erosion.”
Straw Storm models are made to
fit large combines including Case-
IH, John Deere, Deutz-Alhs,
Massey Ferguson and Ford-New
Holland models. The unit fits
underneath the normal discharge
area and is powered by the com
bine’s drive pulley.
According to Nielsen, both the
Straw Storm and Chaff Storm will
be manufactured at the Gehl
Company plant in Madison, South
Dakota. “We plan to take what is
basically a very well-designed and
well-accepted product, improve
upon it, and market it throughout
the western United States and
Canada,” he said.
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