Strip-till benefits in no-till

all strip-till can provide an effective alternative for corn growers who are frustrated with no-till due to late planting during recent wet and cool spring seasons, according Wayne Pedersen, a plant pathologist with the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Growers who use fall strip-till often can be among the first in their area to get their corn crop planted, rather than among the last with straight no-till," Pedersen says. "Even if strip-till cannot be done in the fall, spring strip-till shows advantages over straight no-till."

Pedersen has been collaborating with UIUC researchers Steve Hart, John Siemens and Robert Dunker on a project comparing fall and spring strip-till with no-till and conventional mulch tillage.

The team has worked trials on both fall and spring strip-till with a modified anhydrous-ammonia applicator equipped with disk-closures. The resulting ridges are about three to four inches high and six to seven inches wide and can be run over with a regular corn planter.

"The effect on soil temperature from this system is dramatic," Pedersen says. "We've created a planting zone that is 5 to 9 degrees warmer than regular no-till, making it comparable to conventional mulch-till."

Strip-till also showed increased and more uniform plant stands and higher yields than no-till. Spring strip-till was superior to no-till but not as effective as fall strip-till.