Grower says the reduction in fertilizer use may be linked to the ability to target the root zone with no hot spots
LONDON, Ont. — An Iowa strip-tiller told farmers at the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario conference Feb. 24 that the practice is saving him fuel and fertilizer.
Jeff Reints has been using a Dawn Pluribus unit since 2008 and recently moved up to a 24-foot unit that he pulls with a 400 horsepower Steiger tractor. It’s a spring operation that combines tillage with the even distribution of fertilizer in the eight inch wide and five inch deep strip.
“My favourite time to go is 24 hours before the planter. You can even go a half day before the planter.”
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The temperature in the tilled strip can be 5 to 6 C warmer in the strips, especially if the sun has been shining, he said.
There are drawbacks. The operation adds to the spring workload and if the machine breaks down, planting must stop. As well, it can be a challenge to line up fertilizer deliveries.
However, Reints sees more in the plus column.
He said there’s even less time to complete the strip-tillage in the fall, while spring timing also allows the family to be more flexible in terms of crop choice.
Over-wintering provides more time for corn stalks to break down, and the chances of erosion within the strip are less.
He uses less horsepower and fuel with a ground speed of slightly more than eight m.p.h. The ground tends to be mellow because of the winter’s freeze-and-thaw cycles, and he pulls fewer stones from the ground.
“We got rock in northeastern Iowa. We tend to destroy a lot of equipment our way,” Reints said.
The fertilizer is well mixed in the root zone so there are no hot spots. As well, his family has been able to reduce their fertilizer and fuel use compared to a conventional broadcast system.
“This works better than chopping stalks, running through with a deep ripper and two passes of conventional tillage,” Reints said.
“We are getting better efficiency out of the fertilizer. We’re using about 75 percent compared to a conventional system.”
He said his ability to reduce fertilizer may be linked to placement because it’s just where the roots want it.
Jim Patton, who farms rolling ground northwest of Alliston, Ont., said he’s been able to reduce fertilizer by a similar amount with his John Deere 2510S Residue Master strip-tillage system.
Reints said corn emergence from his strips is even, and he may be benefitting from biological activity between the strips where the soil is not disturbed. His farm’s soil quality is below the county average, but it been able to exceed county average yields for the past six years.
