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Importance of tillage in crop production
Positive effects of Tillage
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As you may or may not know there are many types of farming. For those farming types, there are many tillage methods used. Depending where the farm is located is how the farmer knows what method to use. The methods used are No Till, One pass, Conventional, Conservation, and chisel plow plus. Let’s start out with No Till.
No till is the act of not working the ground. It seems simple, but it’s also very confusing for farmers or other people who have not used the No till method. Many farmers around the United States are slowly, doubtfully changing over to No till or increased crop residue tillage. The farmers that have good yield and luck with older tilling methods usually tend to stay with that certain tillage method.
The reason farmers have concerned about high residue or No till is because the water holding capacity and soil moisture. In the cold spring season if soil moisture is high, it can delay the growth of the crop. Corn gets delayed the most since corn is planted very early in the year. With
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The main tillage tool is the moldboard plow. The moldboard plow was made to turn soil over and cover all crop residue and add air to the soil. Once the plowing is done in the fall then in the spring secondary tools are used. Secondary tools include disks, harrows, and cultivators to even out the soil. A disk has round disks that breaks up the dirt clods and then the farmer would use a harrow or cultivator to make a nice smooth seedbed (economics of conservation tillage).
There are many pro’s and con’s to conventional till. The pro’s are, the plow breaks up compaction in till layers, adds the most amount of air to the soil, cuts down a lot of weed growth. Also breaks up insect cycles such as corn rootworm, cutworm, and several other plant harming insects. That will cause the farmers yield and money in their pocket(Economics of conservation
The drought, being the single most devastating effect on planting crops in the Great Plains, proved to be a force of devastation for many years. Moreover, since there was little rain it was virtually impossible to plant anything that could survive the harvesting season during the dustbowl. If you have no rain and no moisture
“Farming techniques such as strip cropping, terracing, crop rotation, contour plowing, and cover crops were advocated.” ("About the Dust Bowl")These new techniques were advocated in order to try and prevent more dust from getting picked up by wind and starting the dust storm again. “But for years, farmers had plowed the soil too fine, and they contributed to the creation of the Dust Bowl.”(Ganzel) This was a big mistake farmers had made. This was one of the huge factors in contributing to the Dust Bowl. This has definitely changed now. “Now, many farmers are learning how to raise crops without tilling their fields at all. (Ganzel) Farmers now not tilling their fields at all is a new farming
The nature of the Southern Plains soils and the periodic influence of drought could not be changed, but the technological abuse of the land could have been stopped. This is not to say that mechanized agriculture irreparably damaged the land-it did not. New and improved implements such as tractors, one-way disk plows, grain drills, and combines reduced plowing, planting, and harvesting costs and increased agricultural productivity. Increased productivity caused prices to fall, and farmers compensated by breaking more sod for wheat. At the same time, farmers gave little thought to using their new technology in ways to conserve the
The farmers were accustomed to a daily routine. Their activities revolved around farming. The farmers used traditional methods that were created by their ancestors. Many of the traditions of small villages were abandoned and they were introduced to new things. This helped the villages to become more advanced. Abandoning traditions allowed the small villages also become familiar to new technology. New features were introduced to Britain, such as the cultivation of turnips and potatoes. Two of the contributors to agriculture were Jethro Tull and Lord Towenshend. Those men made the importance of root crops important to agriculture. In addition to the innovations helping villages, they could also hurt them. These changes were very complex for the farmers. Learning new techniques could be confusing and could also destroy their crops, which would definitely hurt the farmers.
Land preparation for farming and animal rearing was done using a method called girdling – tree killing. They will cut around each tree to stop nutrient from getting to the tree and the leaves will later felled down. They will now come back and cut the branches of the trees and burn the underbrush. Farmer starts plowing as the trees stumps decays and stones will be removed from the fields. Fields for farming are always small because of labor and there are boundaries between fields and the neighbors. The house or the farm was viewed as the workplace. And land given out to each family will be fenced to stop cattle from wandering off going into the farm areas. The land allocated to each family will show the family social status within the community. The towns developed individually and community involvement was given a great significant although the community was close knit.
The European settlers who first arrived at the Great Plains found hardy grasslands that held the fine-grained soil in place in spite of the long recurrent droughts and occasional torrential rains. A large number of the travelers settled down in this area and built farms and ranches. These land uses led to soil exposure and great erosion. The cattle ranches were very profitable for the settlers; unfortunately, this led to overgrazing and degradation of the soil. In addition, farmers began to plow the natural grass cover and plant their own crops. Without the original root systems of the grass to anchor the soil, much of it blew away. The wide row crops were very disastrous because between the crops, the land was kept bare; as a result, this area was exposed to the elements. Also, the nutrients in the soil were used up by the plants faster than they could be replaced. The soil had become exhausted.
Settlers who first arrived at the Great Plains found the grasslands keeping the grain like soil intact. In result many settled down in the area and began building ranches and farms. At firs the there was mostly cattle ranching and some farming. However, a series of droughts and overgrazing of the grasslands let to the growth of land cultivation. Also recurrence of wet weather led to the belief that “previously” dry land is suitable...
In his book Jean Gimpel goes over medieval primary industry, which includes energy sources like the creation of mills that were moved by wind power or by water. In these cases, the turning of the wheels were used to drive the shafts that were connected to the gears used to operate the entire machinery. The agriculture revolution includes the creation of the plow. The plow was considered to be very important. It had existed before this time but was later improved. This new and improved version was able to plow through wetter and heavier soil. This change the way farmers cultivated their lands, before they were using a 2-field rotation but after the new plow was introduced they switch to the 3-field rotation. The horse harness is also part of the agriculture revolution, anci...
Many farmers always wonder about newer, more efficient ways to farm. Farming becomes more and more precise every day; farmers struggle to keep up with moisture loss caused by dry-spells, soil and nutrient run-off caused by erosion, and trying to raise better yields. Although it may seem as if there is no answer, many farmers are turning to no-till as the solution. Some farmers stand against no-till, saying it keeps the ground too cold for too long in the spring, or that it will not allow them to get their crops up, but much research proves these beliefs wrong. No-till is an advantage over conventional-till for three main reasons: conserves moisture in the soil, reduces erosion by wind and rain, and increases the quality of the topsoil.
Proponents of no till gardening claim that it is beneficial because it does not disturb the organism's. Some disadvantages of no tilling however are leaving the bad insects or fungi into the soil to disturb the crop. This no till method may allow beneficial organisms to thrive but could encourage other harmful pests to also flourish as well. With few disadvantages of no tilling there are many advantages of this farming technique. With no tilling there is also another method called tilling. Tilling will destroy invasive weed growth in your crop, and will also help loosen up the soil so that your seeds have a faster sprout and germinating process. The reason as to why your plants will prosper faster is because there is less roadblocks stopping your plants from growing by establishing a rooting system. Unlike the no till method ways of putting organic matter over the top soil. For example, mulch where it can decompose faster to provide earlier biomass to your plants. In order to till however your soil actually needs to be at about 60 degrees fahrenheit before you work with it. To test and see if your soil is able to be tilled pick up a handful of your soil and squeeze it in your palm. If your soil crumbles it should be dry enough for you to start tilling the soil for your crops. Dry also meaing moist, not wet.
Agriculture relies on water just as much as it relies on the land. The different sectors of agriculture, livestock and crop production, seem to be divided by the Missouri River. The landscape and the soil type have determined that livestock should be raised in the west while crops should be raised in eastern South Dakota. Farmers and ranchers have developed an industry that produces
The three first methods that I listed were by far, in my opinion, the most effective. Strip Cropping is where you plant crops, that are erosion-permitting crops (jower, bajra, maize), together with close-growing crops (grasses, pulses). This process will check and hold the flowing water and soil. Stubble Mulching is the act of leaving crop residue on the land as a surface protection against erosion and to conserve moisture. Lastly, Contour Tillage, is where any farmer or business worker needs to know that if you are going to be placing tillage operations, they should be done at right angles to the slope of the land so that each furrow intercepts the flowing water and allows it to soak back in the
As agriculture has become more intensive, farmers have become capable of producing higher yields using less labour and less land. Growth of the agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing. It, like every other thing, has its pros and cons. Topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm labourers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. These are the cons of the new improved agriculture.
Johnson, G., & Shober, A. (2013, May 17). Field Crops Growers Can Conserve Nitrogen in Poultry Litter While Retaining Benefits of No-Till | Weekly Crop Update – Cooperative Extension in Delaware. Retrieved October 21, 2013, from http://extension.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=5581
crop. We spread slurry from the sheep shed and cattle shed and fertilisers such as 10-10-20,