Introduction ............................................................................................................................2 Organic Farming & the Tillage Dilemma .........................................................................3 Mulch Tillage .........................................................................................................................5 Ridge Ti...

Introduction Direct energy expenses (diesel, gasoline, propane, electricity) total more than $1 billion annually for Iowa’s farmers. Day-to-day farm management techniques such as adjusting tractor gear and throttle settings, reducing tillage depths, and monitoring tractor tire inflation pressures can reduce diesel fuel consumption for row crop production. This study is being conducted over mult...

Methods In 2013, ISU FARM conducted two trials in Pottawattamie County that investigated the effect of various tillage systems on soybean grain yield. In Trial 1, a fall vertical tillage system and a fall disking were compared with a no-till system. In Trial 2, a fall vertical tillage system was compared with no-till. Vertical tillage systems are marketed as systems that lightly till the soil w...

Introduction ............................................................................................................................2 Organic Farming & the Tillage Dilemma .........................................................................3 Mulch Tillage .........................................................................................................................5 Ridge Ti...

No-tillage cultivation offers significant advantages over con­ ventional tillage in terms of water, energy, and particularly soil conservation (Francis et al., 1987). However, continuous no-tillage farming on sandy Ultisols may lead to high bulk density that has a pronounced effect on soil strength due to traffic compaction and lack of plowing (NeSmith et al., 1987). This increase in soil stren...

Microbial diversity can be used to assess the impact of agricultural practices on the long-term sustainability of cropping systems. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in soil bacterial diversity as a result of the impact of different soil tillage and crop rotation systems in an oxisol of southern Brazil. Bacterial diversity was examined in the 010 cm layer in two field experiments...

An experiment with five different tillage systems and their influence on fuel consumption, labour requirement and yield of tested crops was carried out on Albic Luvisol in northwest Slavonia in the period of 1996.-2000. The compared tillage systems were: 1. conventional tillage system (CT), 2. reduced tillage system (RT), 3. conservation tillage system I (CP), 4. conservation tillage system II ...

This study addresses the tillage effect on the distribution of bacterial biomass and their community structure in a subtropical purple rice soil ecosystem. Similar distribution patterns of soil bacterial biomass within water-stable aggregates (WSA) were observed under different tillage managements. Although the distribution pattern of soil microbial biomass was not changed by tillage practice, ...

seed germination, is a new alternative to no-till in areas where poorly drained soils are dominant. Where soil moisture conditions are suitable, strip-tillage creates narrow-width tilled strips, traditionally in the fall, to increase early spring soil evaporation and soil temperature in the top 2 inches. This is particularly effective in poorly drained wet soils, where slightly raised soil stri...