2000 Crop Residue Management Survey
News Release - South Central 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 51 million acres today.
The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana planted
almost 1.9 million acres using no-till, which plant seeds into the stem,
stalk and leaf residue of a previous crop without using tillage. Each
tillage trip may evaporate ½” of soil moisture and by reducing
tillage trips this moisture may be available for crop growth.
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 cotton, soybeans, and wheat,” 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 tractor 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, 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.”
Of the South Central states Oklahoma had the
largest increase in no-till acres from 1998, over a 60% increase.
Arkansas reported almost 10% of the rice acres were planted no-till.
This was the first time rice was reported as a separate crop. All states reported an increase in no-till cotton
acres, which equaled a 65% increase over 1998 acres.
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
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