FARMERS PANEL

Panel Members: Canadian Garth Butcher, Birtle, MB

Robert McNabb, Minnedosa, MB

US Darrel 0ech, Beach, ND

Marc Wyum, Rutland, ND

Following are introductory statements by Wyum and Oech

FARMERS PANEL - Marc Wyum

The farming area where I live has a number of producers who rotate no-till practices with conventional methods in their operations. My intent is to get a feeling for the opinions formed by some of these gentlemen after nearly a decade of their using a combination of production methods. With this in mind, I posed a set of questions to five of my neighbors. Following are the questions and a summary of the answers:

1. Approximately what % of your crop acres do you no-till?

Dick: 25%

Andy: 50%

Bill: 50%

Mike: 50%

Jim: 0%

  1. Has that percent changed in the last 2 - 3 years?

    2. Dick: Used to be 40%. Shifted away from no-till winter wheat, mostly because of

    wheat streak mosaic. Planting conventional soybeans in its place.

    Andy: No.

    Bill: No.

    Mike: No

    Jim: Down from 15%

  2. What particular crops do you prefer to no- till?

    3. Dick: Wheat and barley. Have not had the equipment to try row crops.

    Andy: Winter wheat, spring wheat, and corn.

    Bill: Durum, spring wheat, and winter wheat.

    Mike: Winter and spring wheat.

    Jim: Corn. It has a broader selection of available herbicides.

    4. What are your general impressions of no-till versus your chisel plow-disc operations?

    Dick: Depends some on current soil moisture. No-till is definitely better in dry

    years. I like the soil erosion control. The cost of changing equipment to do more no tilling is presently prohibitive.

    Andy: I like no-till moisture conservation and the aspect of less soil erosion.

    Bill: I like the moisture and timesavings with no-till and I think the average yields with no-till are higher. I don't like the extra management required to work with chemical weed control in no-till. It's easier to have someone do a tillage operation than do a creditable spraying job.

    I worry more about seed drying out in conventional seeding. There is more residue bunching with the Concord in fields that have been worked. I don't like the slower seedling emergence in no-till seedings and also feel it is harder to get the seed well covered in wetter no-till conditions.

    Mike: No-till requires less field time, less fuel-costs, and fewer repairs because of fewer trips.

    I like to conventionally raise millet every 2 - 3 years so that I can utilize later season tillage to help control perennial grasses, thereby reducing chemical costs.

    Jim: No-till fits well in certain crops and certain soils. I don't have the availability of no-till equipment, and it would cost too much to make a change. I don't like the high chemical costs associated with no-till.

  3. Will a significantly and consistently lower price of Roundup or its equivalent affect the

percent of no-till do in the future?

Dick: Yes. Increase it.

Andy: To some extent, but not greatly.

Bill: Presently, Roundup RT price would be a positive factor for increasing no-till acreage.

Mike: No-till would look more attractive with lower priced burn down.

I would also like to see a no-till drill that could successfully place fertilizer and seed for both small grain and row crop plantings without a huge investment.

Jim: No. It may affect my use of the herbicide, but not my no-till acreage. Also, I'm disgusted with lower cost Roundup RT being available only in larger volumes, which discriminates against smaller users. I could fully understand a $5.00 per gal. volume discount, but not the present $ 25.00 - $ 30.00 differentials.

 

CONCLUSIONS

These five producers have successfully combined no-till production with traditional reduced tillage methods. It’s essential that there be enough profit in agriculture in the future to allow producers to acquire newer no-till equipment technology. $65.00/gal. Roundup will ensure continued strong sales of chisel plow and d

 

FARMERS PANEL - Darrel Oech

Brief statement covering years in Zero till.

Equipment being used now - plans for the future.

Explain major reasons for being a Zero-tiller.

Conservation and regeneration of the soil resource

Utilization of moisture received

Discuss soil test data (nutrients, organic matter, PH) from the past 8 years of zero-till.

Discuss water use by weeds, including volunteer grain.

Discuss various systems for harvesting moisture.

Discuss plant availability of moisture in the soil profile.