2000 Crop Residue Management Survey
News Release - West 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.
Western U.S. states planted over 850,000 acres using no-till,
which plant seeds into the stem, stalk and leaf residue of a previous
crop without using tillage.
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 corn,” 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,
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.”
Winter
wheat, spring wheat and barley are the most popular crops to no-till in
Western states. In
addition, over 4 million acres were planted using a mulch-till system.
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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