Better Farming February 2017

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Better Farming February 2017 Dig Deeper: 53
CROPS: THELYNCHFILE
My wife Sandra and I do a lot
of driving. We have driven
across Ontario, gone
through the northern United States
and into the Maritimes. During these
road trips we talk. One day she asked,
“What’s wrong with no-till? Why
don’t all farmers plant no-till?”
I said “Good question.” And as I
thought about it I came up with a
number of reasons and explanations.
I told her, “The first (reason) is
that no-till has been oversold. The
no-till advocates talk about all of the
benefits of no-till without explaining
some of the pitfalls.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Well, first, tillage kills weeds.
And there is a transition of weed
types. There are more perennial
weeds. Perennial weeds that can be
somewhat controlled with tillage.
Typically weed control costs are
higher in no-till operations,” I
explained.
“Then there are the soil fertility
issues. When we started no-tilling in
the ‘70s we told farmers that the soil
must have good drainage. pH issues
had to be addressed and soil fertility
levels had to be good.
“With our current yield levels we
cannot get enough fertilizer on with
starter fertilizer. We must broadcast
some. And this broadcasted fertilizer
must be worked in or it can increase
phosphorous (P) runoff. And the
same problem occurs with lime. We
must work in lime.
“Leaving residue on top of the
ground helps spread diseases. Ten or
fifteen years ago the pathologists like
Albert Tenuta with OMAFRA were
telling us that leaving all the corn
stalks on the ground increased the
amount of Fusarium inoculum.
Some hard core no-till proponents
disagreed with these realities.
“Then there is the definition of
what no-till is. Real no-till means no
tillage at all – slot planting. Some of
the first research and on-farm trials
in Ontario were with slot planting.
But now we do tillage as we plant.
Whether it is a cart in front of the
planter/drill or very aggressive
coulters, many people who say they
are no-tilling really are not no-
tilling. If you use aggressive tillage
like using a coulter cart or aggressive
The problemwith no-till?
While some producers are firm believers in no-till farming, this production practice can also raise
challenges – some of which are outlined below.
by PATRICK LYNCH
Tillage kills weeds. Typically weed control costs are higher in no-till operations.
Real no-till means no tillage
at all – slot planting.