September 9, NoTill In Ohio

No-Till acres in Ohio

What percentage of Ohio cropland is no-till? Would you believe 40%?

According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, on Ohio’s 10,700,000 total acres of cropland, 20,700 farmers were using no-till on 4,300,000 acres which is 39.8%.

Among the major states in the Corn Belt, Nebraska had 43% no-till, Indiana 39%, Illinois 25% and Iowa 26%. The total for all 50 states was 25% no-till.

Based on your observations, do you think 40% of Ohio cropland was no-till planted this spring?

The Census also asked about cover crops. In Ohio, 6500 farmers reported using cover crops on 360,000 acres. This acreage has surely increased since 2012. By comparison, Indiana had almost 600,000 acres.

(This data was tabulated by No-Till Farmer, and will be published in an upcoming Conservation Tillage Guide.)

Sept. 9 No-till field day program

The field day is presented by the Ohio No-Till Council and is co-sponsored by the All-Ohio Chapter of the Soil & Water Conservation Society (SWCS).

The morning program kicks off at 9:00 a.m. and features three nationally known speakers. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

1. Secrets of success for no-till corn and soybeans; Barry Fisher, Indiana NRCS State Agronomist

2. Putting the entire soil profile to work for you; Hans Kok, Coordinator, Indiana Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative

3. The importance of continuous no-till and ideas to make it even more successful; Ed Winkle, HyMark Consulting, Martinsville, Ohio

During lunch, Clark Hutson, president of the All-Ohio Chapter SWCS will briefly discuss activities and goals of the chapter.

The afternoon program includes a new (concurrent) item that will be especially appealing to Master Gardeners and anyone with a backyard garden: Gardening with Cover Crops. Ann Brandt, Walnut Creek Seeds, will discuss the value of cover crop blends for building garden soil. Then participants can walk through two plots with cover crops specifically blended for gardens.

At 1:15 p.m. most participants will go to the field for 4 stops, 30 minutes each.

4. Precision poultry manure application; Brad Mattix, M&W Farm Supply
5. Cover crops (above ground benefits); David Brandt, no-till farmer
6. Cover crops / soil pit; Hans Kok
7. Soil pit (probably in corn); George Derringer, USDA-NRCS

Cover crops at Farm Science Review

At Farm Science Review, Sept. 16-18, there will be multiple locations to see cover crops. As visitors walk from the parking lot to the Exhibit area, they may go past 3 or 4 strips planted to cover crops. These will be scattered among the antique tractors and test strips of corn and soybeans. (One demonstration plot, south of Friday Ave., will be no-till soybeans drilled into a cereal rye cover crop, with gypsum applied at 2000#/acre. This is funded by Ohio Soybean Council.)

Along Rt 38 just north of I-70, cover crops will be planted after wheat harvest. The seed for all these plots is funded by the Ohio Soybean Council.

 

Ed Winkle