2000 Crop Residue Management Survey
News Release - Northern Plains Version
NEWS RELEASE __________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dan
Towery
November
3
, 2000
(765) 494-6952
No-till
on the upswing
Results of tillage system usage survey released
WEST
LAFAYETTE, Ind. More farmers are just saying “no” to
tillage. A survey of tillage system usage in the U.S. released today
reports that since 1990, the number of U.S. cropland acres planted
without tillage has increased more than 200 percent to almost 51 million
acres today. Northern Plain
states planted almost 15% of all cropland with no-till, in which seeds
are planted in the stem, stalk and leaf residue of a previous crop
without using tillage. In addition, 19% of cropland used a mulch-till
system (full-width tillage that leaves almost 1/3 of the soils surface
covered with residue), and 2% of the acres were planted with ridge-till.
Over 31% of the sunflowers, 29% of soybeans, and 25% of sorghum
acres were planted no-till.
The
2000 Crop Residue Management Survey, released today by the Conservation
Technology Information Center (CTIC), collects information from each
county in the U.S. to assess tillage system usage by crop. “These
survey results verify that more farmers are discovering the benefits of
no-till, especially in soybeans and sorghum,” says Bruno Alesii, chair
of CTIC, a public/private partnership in West Lafayette, Ind. In
addition, these conservation tillage farmers are increasing their soil
organic matter and sequestering carbon which is part of the Core 4
Conservation strategy of a systems approach for “better soils, cleaner
water, greater profits and a brighter future.”
By
leaving last year’s crop residue on a field, farmers using no-till
systems make fewer field trips, use less fuel, reduce soil loss, improve
soil quality and water quality of nearby streams and lakes. This
year’s survey shows that no-till and other conservation tillage
systems make sound economic and environmental sense to
farmers, according to Dave Schertz, national agronomist with U.S.
Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
“Conservation
tillage is a cornerstone of a producers farming operation,” Schertz
says. “By eliminating or significantly reducing tillage trips,
planting cover crops and leaving residue on the soil surface, farmers
are using a more environmentally friendly production system that reduces
input costs and improves profitability.
They are also reducing soil erosion, improving soil structure,
and increasing the organic matter content or carbon content of their
soils.
Kansas
planted 500,000 more acres with no-till this year compared to 1998.
Of this 31% of the spring wheat and 21% of the corn acres were
planted no-till. Cotton is
a new crop to Kansas but 29% of the cotton acres were planted no-till.
Nebraska and North Dakota increased no-till acres by 300,000
acres each and South Dakota increased no-till acres by 200,000 acres.
No-till corn increased by 300,000 acres in Nebraska or 24% of all
corn acres planted. No-till
soybeans in South Dakota increased by over 300,000 acres to 29% of all
soybeans.
Alesii
attributes the upward trend in no-till to the efforts of partnership
groups working to increase adoption of conservation tillage practices in
the Northern Plains. “
The increase in no-till acres in these states is very gratifying,” he
says. “The public/private partnership working together with farmers
can transfer site-specific solutions diversifying crop rotation with
no-till to enhance soil moisture. I expect to see a substantial increase
in no-till acres in future years.”
No-till
usage nationwide has increased nearly 7 percent in the last two years to
the current level of 17.6 percent of 290 million acres of annually
planted cropland. Other conservation tillage system usage numbers: 18
percent of acres use mulch-till (full-width tillage that leaves more
than 30 percent residue) and 1.2 percent use ridge-till (planting on
ridges formed during cultivation the previous year). Conservation
tillage usage was 36.8 percent nationally this year, a slight decrease
since 1998. This decrease was a result in significantly less mulch-till
acres and was primarily due to an improved residue measuring procedure
utilized by USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service personnel and
other conservation partners, according to the survey report.
For
more information about the 2000 Crop Residue Management Survey or Core 4
Conservation, please contact Dan Towery, natural resources specialist
with Conservation Technology Information Center, at 765-494-6952 or e-mail
towery@ctic.purdue.edu
. Website :
www.core4.org
###
|
