Agricultural and Farm Machinery
Conservation Tillage
Conservation tillage is part of a system of crop production designed to minimize soil disturbance, maintain previous crop residue on or near the soil surface and minimize the number of field operations. Weeds primarily are controlled with herbicides and fertilizers are applied in ways that minimize soil disturbance. Conservation tillage seeding equipment often is designed as a "one-pass" system, combining minimum tillage with the planting operation or completely eliminating the need for tillage.
Residue Management
The previous crop residue is a resource to conserve and use. In addition to controlling soil erosion, crop residue limits moisture evaporation from the soil surface, maintains desirable humidity levels in undisturbed soils, and provides a food source for beneficial fungi, bacteria, insects and weed seed predators.
Soybean Tillage Comparison
This project, funded by the ND Soybean Commission, compares soil conditions, and soybean plant growth, development and yield in previous year’s wheat and corn stubble fields under strip till, conventional till, and no-till. The site is located near Jamestown in central North Dakota.
Air Seeders
Air seeders are commonly used to plant most solid-seeded field crops in the Northern Plains of the United States. Air seeders components include a commodity cart, an air blowing seed delivery system, soil openers, and packers.
Openers, Seed and Fertilizer Placement
The two basic opener designs used on conservation tillage seeders are disc and hoe openers. "Hybrids" of these two opener designs incorporate some of the same features of both disc and hoe type openers. Disc openers can be single or double disk, with gauge wheels mounted beside and in contact with the disc opener or with a trailing packer wheel functioning as a gauge wheel.
Strip Till
The trend among northern Plains farmers is toward using less tillage to produce field crops with more residue left on the soil surface. Strip till is a field tillage system that combines no till and full tillage to produce row crops. Narrow strips, 6 to 12 inches wide, are tilled in crop stubble, with the area between the rows left undisturbed. Often, fertilizer is injected into the tilled area during the strip-tilling operation. The tilled strips correspond to planter row widths of the next crop and seeds are planted directly into the tilled strips. Strip tilling normally is done in the fall after harvest, but it also can be done in the spring before planting.
Returning CRP to Production
Aerator rollers can be effective in preparing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields for crop production or grazing because they cut plant material into short enough to lengths, allowing no-till planters to function effectively. The aerator roller sufficiently smoothes the soil surface to allow effective tractor and machinery operation.
