by Michael Faught

Since 1978 I have been farming 1200 acres northwest of Fargo, North Dakota on the west edge of the Red River Valley. No till has been practiced on a limited basis since 1981 using a variety of seeders. I have been using a Great Plains drill attached to a 'lye coulter cart since 1992. I raise wheat, barley, corn, sunflowers, soybeans, alfalfa and enough cows and calves to keep me out of trouble.

Conservation has played an important role on our family farm for many years. Tree belts, grassed waterways and conservation tillage are practices I have grown up with. Overall soil productivity has been the main focus and anything we can do to maintain soil tilth seems to play a vital role in reaching that goal. Soil tilth is defined as the state of aggregation of the soil. Surface residue improves soil tilth because of the change in organic matter and associated biological microclimate. Unless one has an outside source such as manure, only the residue from previous crops is available for soil improvement.

Several farmers east of me are experiencing more and more crusting problems and packerwheel buildup. They have been using sugarbeets and soybeans in a very tight rotation. It appears that even the high organic matter lake bed soils are suffering from this loss of surface residue.

The soil types on our farm vary significantly and require attention to both wind and water erosion problems. As an example a field can be found to have heavy Fargo clay in one corner and a sandy ridge across the middle. Extensive use of a chiselplow with 2" spikes during the 1970's showed a general improvement of soil tilth in these fields. One particular improvement was a better seedling emergence after a heavy rain.

Using various no till drills during the 1980's reinforced the concept of "The more trash the better." The benefits of soil tilth were realized as long as the seed was properly placed. Sane of the benefits were better soil flow through the openers less smearing, less crusting, better water retention, etc.

My plans of two years ago were to have aver one half of the farm converted to permanent no till by now. However, Mother Nature decided that perhaps rice was a more practical crop for the semi-arid upper Great Plains. The coultercart drill was used though, until the fields simply couldn't hold the weight of the machinery. The last soybean field planted in 1995 could barely support conventional machinery. Still the no till concept has prevailed. I've found that even two years of no till helped with soil flowability; however, to support the equipment five or more years of residue buildup are required. My highest soybean yield this year was no tilled into wheat stubble doubleheaded with a versatile tractor much of the time. It is interesting to note that you can increase trafficability after several years of no till yet percolation seems to improve as well. So much for the myth associating no till with soil compaction.

It is frustrating to be more of a student of the no till concept than a practitioner. The compaction and ruts caused by such wet weather has set back my plans. I have however been able to observe and benefit from the changes that take place when organic matter levels are raised. The answer to maintaining tilth is really quite simple. Leave as much residue as your operation will tolerate. Studies indicate that even a small increase in organic matter can have a positive influence on field productivity. This past spring a barley field was conventionally seeded after 5 years of no till. The soil was like a sponge underneath but the seedbed and crop development reminded me of crops following soilbank many years ago. A good crop was raised at the expense of much of the organic matter but it was nice to have that to fall back on.

We did have a drought this past fall. Subsoil moisture carried our rowcrops to a successful conclusion. We must not get complacent and assume the water will be there to soften a crust or cover some seed or replenish a dry seedbed. Residue cover is what our crops are looking for to help them carry out their life cycles.