The thought that farmers from some of the most productive parts of California's San Joaquin Valley might learn much from their counterparts back in western Nebraska and central South Dakota might seem a bit odd and unlikely, but that's just what happened last month when eleven San Joaquin Valley members of California's Conservation Tillage Workgroup participated in a grueling 4-day, 1400 mile tour through four Great Plains states to meet and learn from farmers and researchers in this region who have developed a wide variety of successful irrigated no-till and strip-till production systems. While these so-called "conservation tillage" techniques are currently not widely used in California, a number of factors including rising fuel costs, limited labor and water availability and public expectations for farmers to improve air and water quality, are now coming together in California to make these approaches increasingly attractive to Valley producers and a growing number of them are quite keen to learn as much as they can about them.
The primary aim of conservation tillage is to reduce tillage operations typically associated with intercrop soil or seedbed preparation. In strip-till, which is also called "zone tillage," or "vertical tillage," a narrow band of soil is tilled and seeding is done directly into the loosened soil in this strip. In no-till, no intercrop tillage is used and seeding is done directly into the surface residues of previously harvested crops. Strip-tillage is now widely used in eastern Colorado and northwestern Nebraska, and no-till is used on over 90% of central South Dakota's farmland. Benefits of both of these systems in these regions include lower production costs, increased water conservation and greater profitability.
One of the people the California tour group visited was Dwayne Beck, Manager of the South Dakota State University's Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, SD. Beck, who was recently inducted into South Dakota's Hall of Fame for the impacts he has had on helping the state's farmers remain economically viable and competitive, told the California group that back in the early 1990's South Dakota producers were on the brink of economic collapse, but by committing to the development of pioneering diverse, surface residue-conserving no-till practices that trapped and conserved more water than traditional tillage systems, they were able to intensify their crop rotations while greatly reducing overall costs. "We realized we had to become no-till farmers," said Beck, "so we had to learn to do it right." Today, the vast majority of producers in Beck's region have adopted the no-till strategies he pioneered.
Paul Jasa, Extension Engineer with the University of Nebraska, and Mark Watson, no-till farmer in Alliance, NE, showed the California group how no-till systems in conjunction with low-pressure overhead center pivot irrigation systems can provide annual water savings of five to twelve inches and these savings can be critical in this region where irrigation water allocations to producers are becoming increasingly restricted and therefore, precious.
Strategies for and benefits of strip-tillage were showcased at visits with two major strip-till implement providers. Ron Schlagel's company, Schlagel Manufacturing, in Torrington, WY, produces the Schlagel "Till and Plant" strip-tiller implement which was hooked up with a planter and demonstrated as a one pass strip-till / plant operation with no prior or additional tillage. Mike Petersen, Precision Tillage Agronomist with Orthman Manufacturing of Lexington, NE, and Byron Weathers of Greeley, CO, who has used Orthman's "1-tRIPr" strip-tiller in his corn fields during the past several years, attributed productivity benefits of strip-tillage to increased water conservation due to surface residues, the ability under strip-till to precisely apply fertilizer in the seed and root zone at different depths, and enhanced root growth throughout the season.
At the end of the tour, participants unanimously agreed that it had been a very eye-opening and enriching experience due to the very generous and instructive hosts who went well out of their way to share their knowledge and learning. Based on the success of this first out-of-state tour for California producers, the CT Workgroup is now planning a second tour for June of 2008. To receive advance announcements and registration materials for this upcoming tour, contact Workgroup Chair, Jeff Mitchell, at mitchell@uckac.edu.
2007 Farm Tour Photo Album