Tillage Stealing Soil

This is an article that I copied and pasted to this post from an online source of the Successful Farming magazine.  The link is as follows:  Is Tillage Stealing Soil.  This is damning research done and reported on fields that aren't nearly as vulnerable as the Palouse Hills.  I don't think that farmers really appreciate the damage they do with tillage.  It's just something we do, it has been done for generations,  and many are not interested in changing.  I'm convinced we can stop eroding our fields and can actually rebuild the productivity of our soils.  We just have to break with tradition and learn to farm using new technology and ideas.
                                    _____________________________________________

IS TILLAGE STEALING YOUR SOIL?

TILLAGE IS A STEALTHY ERODER THAT ROBS YOUR PRECIOUS TOPSOIL. HERE’S HOW TO FIX IT. 

By

Gil Gullickson

10/10/2017

In 2014, Jodi DeJong- Hughes prepared a field day exhibit with other University of Minnesota (U of M) researchers.

“We created a soil with alternating layers of sand and clay through which we ran a disk ripper,” recalls the U of M Extension soil scientist.

As the disk ripper steamed through the soil, something caught their eye, akin to a shiny penny at the bottom of a swimming pool.

“We could see the soil moving 8 to 10 feet in front of the disk ripper,” she says. “I knew the disk ripper moved soil, but I didn’t think it moved it that far.”

On the surface, that short distance seems insignificant. Yet, soil movement keyed by hundreds of tillage trips year after year adds up. Erosion by tillage takes on a disturbing tone in areas with glaciated hilly landscapes.

“Over time, severe soil losses result from soil moving off hilltops to lower ground through tillage,” says David Lobb, a University of Manitoba soil scientist.

Soil erosion often conjures up visions of blinding dust storms or soil mired in tar-like gullies. Yet, soil loss keyed by tillage can dwarf those of wind and water erosion. A 1994 erosion analysis by Lobb and other researchers in southwestern Ontario found tillage erosion accounted for at least 70% of total soil loss.

‘‘More soil is moved by tillage erosion than by wind and water erosion combined,’’ says Jodi DeJong-Hughes.

A 1994 erosion analysis by Lobb and other researchers in southwestern Ontario found tillage erosion accounted for at least 70% of total soil loss.

STEALTHY ERODER

Tillage erosion surfaced long before the moldboard plow was just a gleam in the eye of John Deere. When man first tilled with a hoe, soil moved.

“The soil was always pulled downslope, never upslope,” says Lobb.

Over time, tillage – whether by hoe or machine – strips topsoil away, particularly on sloping land. Ever notice those yellow to white hues on hilltops before crops mask them? This indicates tillage that has stripped an elevated area right down to the subsoil.

Tillage erosion can even impact the pancake-flat ground of the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota.

“Even on so-called flat land, tillage will fill surface drains in the field with soil,” says Lobb. “Google Earth or aerial images can show diagonal ridges in those fields where soil has been moved by tillage.”

Soil losses incurred by tillage erosion can be staggering. DeJong-Hughes cites a 2002-2006 USDA-ARS study at Morris, Minnesota, where a moldboard plow tilled highly erodible land (HEL) slopes.

In 2003, the tillage erosion loss of 27 tons per acre per year was nearly 5½ times as much as the natural 5 tons per acre loss per year. 

In 2003, the tillage erosion loss of 27 tons per acre per year was nearly 5½ times as much as the natural 5 tons per acre loss per year. Tillage erosion can then trigger wind and water erosion.

“Once tillage occurs, wind and rain can move the soil as it becomes detached,” says Dave White, who served as NRCS chief from 2009 to 2013. This negatively affects both flat and hilly land.
That’s what happened in the USDA-ARS study.

“When water in the gully area (of the field) moved in, erosion increased another 9 tons per acre,” says DeJong-Hughes. “So, 36 tons per acre of soil per year were moved. In these areas, we were getting 45-bushel-per-acre wheat. The farmer was basically farming the subsoil. The phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter in those eroded areas also decreased.”

3.8 to 5.7
The years for economic payback for soil landscape  restoration in a 2004 to 2008 Manitoba study. 

One perk surfaced. “On low-lying areas, 90 bushels per acre wheat was harvested,” she says.

Increased yields on lower areas don’t always result, though. On a typical slope, tillage erosion can deposit topsoil up to a meter deep, Lobb says.

“The crop often can’t benefit from that,” he says. It just can’t use that much topsoil.”

 NO QUICK FIX

Granted, moldboard plowing HEL soils these days is akin to robbing a bank. Conservation tillage is now seen as the panacea to all that ails soil. Some conservation tillage tools, though, worsen erosion. Chisel plowing at high speeds can move more soil than moldboard plowing, says Lobb.

“It’s like taking a road grader over the field,” he says.

No-till works better. Just don’t expect it to work miracles on high eroded areas.

“Just stopping tillage will not change the situation,” says Lobb. “It just stops it from getting worse.”

Despite its name, no-till uses some tillage to clear a seed path.

High-disturbance openers, such as hoes and sweeps and injection units, key tillage that leaves at least 50% of the soil surface exposed to subsequent wind and water erosion, says Lobb.

“With high-disturbance seeding, we still scrape off topsoil,” says Lobb. He notes some early Canadian no-tillers were surprised that higher yields didn’t result on these areas.

“Improving yields on eroded hilltops means rebuilding the soil,” says Lobb. “There was no biological capacity in those areas to build up the soil with more organic matter. The topsoil was scraped off.”

WHAT TO DO?  

Farmers still have to farm using some form of tillage, whether it’s conventional tillage or the slight tillage incurred under no-till.

Still, chin up. The following steps can minimize tillage erosion. In the case of tools like cover crops, farmers may even begin to rebuild tillage-eroded areas.

• Study yield monitors and maps. Yield monitors and maps can pinpoint where tillage erosion occurs.
  “If you see the same (lower) yield pattern year after year on those areas, they can help you determine if tillage erosion is the problem,” says Lobb.
• Slow down. Quicksilver planting and tillage rapidly speeds fieldwork, but they trigger tillage erosion.
  ‘‘Going up and down hilltops at particularly high speeds, such as 10 to 15 mph, will devastate landscapes,’’ says Lobb.
• Steady your speed. “When you see great variation of field speeds, massive soil losses can result,” says Lobb. That’s easier said than done on rolling ground. Tilling or planting uphill slows implement speed. Meanwhile, tilling or planting downhill boosts it.
  “You’re always going to move more soil going downhill,” Lobb says. Compounding this is the fact that power ratings for tillage implements are often evaluated on flat ground, Lobb says. In the real world of rolling ground, ratings run askew, he says.
  Technology helps. GPS tools can help pinpoint varying speeds.
  “You can see if you are creating problems when moving up and down field dips,” Lobb says. Farmers can use this real-time data to better maintain a steady speed, he adds.
• Vary tillage depth. That’s the premise behind John Deere’s TruSet Tillage technology. TruSet draws data from field and yield maps to create a tillage prescription that automatically adjusts tillage depth.
  TruSet can automatically adjust for less intense tillage on slopes and deeper tillage on heavier soils and high-residue areas, says Jarred Karnei, John Deere product marketing manager.
  
  
  TruSet fits eight of Deere’s units that till soil via ripping, field cultivating, mulch finishing, disking, vertical tilling, and nutrient applying.
• Move residue, not soil. Although no-till can’t restore or fix topsoil-devoid areas, it can preserve existing topsoil. No-till using double-disk openers combined with trash whippers works best, says Lobb.
  Pay special attention to row cleaner settings, says Steve Berger, a Wellman, Iowa, farmer.
  “When running row cleaners, move the residue and not the soil,” he says. “A lot of erosion occurs from not correctly setting row cleaners.”
• Rebuild the soil. “After you stop stirring up the soil through tillage, grow cover crops to increase organic matter,” says Berger. He started dabbling with no-till and cover crops back in the 1970s.
  “With no-till and cover crops, I have a whole new environment underneath the soil,” he says.
  This approach has spurred hyphae (hair-like projections) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil and roots to produce a sticky substance called glomalin. High glomalin concentrations help stabilize soil aggregates and boost soil structure. This helps soils better function to grow crops, says Berger.

DON’T GIVE UP  

Mother Nature took centuries to build topsoil. It won’t come back overnight. Recognizing that tillage erosion occurs is the first step to reclaiming soil.

“If you do things right, the soil can bounce back,” says  DeJong-Hughes.

RESTORING LANDSCAPES

Chinese farmers historically managed tillage erosion in moving soil from low areas to higher ones by bucket brigade.

North American farmers can use the same concept. “Just like in China, this entails moving soil up from the bottom to the top,” says David Lobb, a University of Manitoba soil scientist. “This just does it mechanically.”

Soil landscape restoration uses road construction scrapers to move topsoil at the bottom of slopes to top slopes and hilltops. In many cases, a $5,000 to $10,000 scraper pulled behind a field tractor does the job, says Lobb.

MOVING ON UP

Ivan and Brian DeJong, two brothers who own Youngfield Farms Ltd. near Nestleton in southern Ontario, were first tipped off to declining yields on sidehills by combine yield monitors. Readings indicated yields on sidehills eroded by tillage were 50% that of the average field yield.

So, using a scraper hooked to a tractor, they moved 2 to 3 inches of topsoil at the bottom of hills to the sidehills. Yield average on mitigated slopes zoomed from 60% of field average to 90% of field averages after four years on their wheat, corn, and soybeans.

“We are so convinced that it works, we plan to use this method whenever we pick up new farms,” says Ivan DeJong.

The DeJongs typically move soil following wheat harvest in early August. “That is a time when it is normally drier and we do less (compaction) damage,” he says.

Risk exists. “Heavy rains can wash the soil back down the hill,” says DeJong. The brothers reduce this risk by nurturing a cover crop of volunteer wheat, tillage radishes, and Austrian winter peas.

The DeJongs’ experience concurs with findings Lobb and other soil scientists have made. A 2004 to 2006 large-scale field study in rolling fields in southwestern Manitoba compared four fields in which soil restoration was compared with control areas. Tillage-eroded sidehills to which 4 inches of bottom-lying topsoil were added had:

• Quicker crop emergence.
• Greater plant populations – 60% greater.
• Larger yields ranging from a 31% increase the first year to 64% the next in one primary site.

In three secondary sites, yield increase ranged from 10% to 133% compared with control plots.

Decreased yields in areas where topsoil is removed is a risk. In the Manitoba study, though, this occurred in just one of three sites where this was monitored. Overall, field yield averages were higher in renovated sites than controlled ones, says Lobb.

“It is one of the most cost-effective land management practices we have,” says Lobb.

Read more about

Tillage or Conservation

• 
  

A 30 YEAR JOURNEY

This is a 15 minute presentation that I was suppose to give recently, but ended up in a snow bank.  I looked it over and decided that it was a pretty good representation and decided I would post it.

A  30 year  Journey To  Improve  Soil  Health

_______________________________________________

My name is Tracy Eriksen.  My wife, April, and I farm as a family corporation.  My son Kye, joined us in 1994.  Most of our land in the 14-16” rainfall area between St.John and Ewan.  The remainder is in the 18-20” rainfall zone near Thornton. 

My journey started in 1975.  One hot summer day, riding a noisy steel tracked tractor with no cab, making one of those mindless passes round the field pulling a rod weeder, I come to realize that I just can’t do this any longer.  At that point in time I had already spent more than two decades doing that same operation, making that same pass, and watching the dirt flow down the hill.  Tillage erosion became real to me at that point.  

My farming experience has totaled more than six decades.  Two of those decades were spent farming like my grandfather and father farmed. 

    [pic-erosion 4]--This could have been our field but was not.  I never saw erosion on our place quite this bad.    The next three decades were spent with only one goal, —STOP EROSION!,—salvage what top soil we had left.  During that period there was never any consideration of  building topsoil.   The information stating that it took 100 years for natural processes to build 1” of soil was accepted.  I no longer accept that statement.  My belief is that we now have the knowledge to build soils much faster if we stop degrading our soils and fix the biology.    Articles printed back in the mid 1970’s described the wonders of the Palouse, and how soil erosion was destroying those deep rich soils.  Soil erosion in the 1930’s -40’s -50’s -60’s, and into the 70’s was bad, and not infrequently,—horrendous, as pictured here.  

Have we changed our farming practices so as to not revisit those bad old days??..  Some of us have, … but there is still a lot of vulnerable land in the region showing those scars regularly.  A miracle saved our region last winter.  Do we get two in a row??  Looking outside it appears we are set up for serious runoff with a lot of drifted snow on frozen ground late in the season.   Our climate appears to be in an erratic cycle with more extremes.  My hope is that the ground we steward is prepared for some serious rainfall and runoff event.  We are not yet prepared for a serious drought.  Our soil biological health is just not good enough.

My early attempts to reduce soil erosion took a four prong approach.  

—-the first prong was to mulch till.  I called it trashy fallow.

—-the second prong was having a strict three year rotation that included winter wheat, spring barley and fallow or peas. That was pretty common rotation for the day.  A two year rotation of wheat fallow was problematic.

—-the third prong was to strip out each field according to NRCS guidelines and put all three crop types in each field annually.  The extra moving time proved significant, but was done for many years.

—-the fourth prong was to modify the equipment to combine operations, and size to fit the strips, and also, be easily moved from field to field.  Since my interest, and education was in engineering I enjoyed those challenges that consumed most of two decades.  Some of the projects were to complex to be practical for long days in the field.   They were generally modified after a couple of years.  This was a time of continual evolution.  Today, computers and software are doing what I was doing manually with switches and levers.   

Everything that I had put in place to stop erosion at that point in time was marginally successful.  Come spring the fields still looked bad from erosion.  Dennis Roe, who, many of you know, would figuratively hold my hand from time to time and assure me that those few ditches carried less dirt than the rilled and sheet eroded fields that were so prevalent.  I was never completely convinced.  

By the 1990’s no-till technology had made significant advancements.  Glyphosate, available since 1974, was more reasonably priced.  There were several types drills being marketed.  Guy Swannson regularly sponsored seminars supporting the value of no-till and various soil topics.  He brought speakers in from all over the country, and Canada.

In the mid 1980’s I started doing some no-tilling.  For several years I had Dwayne Blankenship custom drill winter wheat into my pea ground.  I rented disc drills to seed my chem fallow ground for a few years.  In 1992 I bought an AgPro hoe drill.  We modified and reconfigured that drill many times.

Around the year 2000, while touring the long term field plots at Oregon State University’s Pendleton Station I learned that no-tilling, with fallow in the rotation was not building soil health.  The fallow year degraded our soil more than the two crop years could build.  No-tilling was obviously saving soil.  Our chem fallow looked a lot better than the fields at Pendleton, so our response was to improve the residue on our fallow ground.  By this point in time I come to realize that even using no-till, if the soil was loosened and the surface exposed, there would be erosion.  Our response was to build and preserve more residue.

From the beginning, I and then, we, continually fought with residue. There were days I spent more time under the drill than in the tractor seat.  When entering a field we were never confident we would be able seed it.  We always did, —but some of it didn’t look pretty.  Every winter, and summer we would modify the drill and finally, the fall of 2009 we hit the residue wall.  A decision had to be made, —do we go back to doing some strategic burning, or use a different type of drill.  Burning was a huge step backward, —not acceptable.

    Starting the spring of 2010, we hired custom operators that used the CrossSlot technology.  All our residue issues went away.  By 2014 we completely retooled, going to ULD (ultra-low disturbance) system. We use the CrossSlot drill to minimize soil disturbance, and we are able to drill through any residue.  We have a GVM sprayer to minimize field tracks and be more timely, and  we bought a Shelbourne stripper header to maximize snow capture, and reduce wind velocity across the ground surface.   What have we accomplished by going this route?

1—Soil erosion has disappeared, —but we are still losing some water.  The armor is protecting the soil, but water, and all the bushels it represents is still escaping.  The fields look a lot better without rills and gullies.

2—Weedy cultivars are fewer and less competitive.  The mat of residue we have on most of our ground makes a very hostile environment.  Seed needs to contact earth to grow competitively.   Drilling with minimum disturbance minimizes the planting of weed seed.  If we could remove wheel tracks we would do even better. 

3—Soil temperatures have moderated both in the summer and winter.  In 2015 and 2016,  I used HOBO sensors to measure temperatures at seed depth.  Ground with good armor is 3-5º warmer than bare ground in the winter, —and 20-25º cooler in the heat of summer.  

Early spring planting has not been a problem.  Our seed depth temperatures are 1-3º cooler than in cultivated ground at seeding time.  Once seeded though, within 2-3 days the armored field reaches the same temperature as the cultivated field.   Soil armor helps support and spread the weight of our equipment, reducing compaction.

4—The drill technology has given us good emergence and stand count for a variety of crops in very difficult seeding conditions.

Are we at the point where we are improving our soil health, building soil organic matter and related carbon?  I would say YES …. and NO!  

Soil health has many parameters.  The physical parameters of our soils have improved dramatically, but the biological parameters are definitely not where they should be.

Over the years we have included more crop diversity in our cropping rotation.  Crop diversity has certainly helped make no-till successful, but the biological soil component has not gained a perceptible amount.

The next step appears to be the introduction of cover crops. Inter-seeding holds some promise.  This will be a new and challenging experience.  

At this point we have been replacing some of our fallow ground with a mixture of cover crop species, —making it green fallow.  In the short run green fallow is showing a yield drag because of the late emergence of our winter wheat crop.  My hope is that this yield drag disappears when we can get the right biology in the ground to provide the nutritional elements needed for a stronger, faster growing plant.  That sounded crazy a few years ago, but we now have a better understanding of plant nutrition and the problems that arrive from imbalances.  We are still trying to figure out what species and how many species need to be in cover crop mixes.  There are lots of ideas about that.

Seeding radish with our winter wheat will be pursued. It’s cheap and holds promise.  The idea here is for the radish to develop a finger size tuber that  extends below the frost layer before winter sets in.   When the radish dies, it shrinks quickly leaving a hole in the frozen ground for surface water to enter the soil profile.  I first saw the possibility in February of 2017, while walking a field during the spring flush.   I noticed that water was visibly moving across all of our winter wheat field except where we had grown the cover crop.  This observation supported earlier soil tests where our cover crops were using 3” of moisture, but nearly all of that moisture was replaced by the following spring.  I believe radish played a big part in that.  Except for radish all the other cover crop cultivars die leaving roots or tubers intact through the winter.

Seeding a perma-cover of a short statured perennial legume intrigues me.  I visualize seeding them onto our eroded hill tops.  This will help armor those vulnerable areas.  It will displace weedy cultivars.  It will add nitrogen, for a cash crop that will be seeded into it.  

I am currently part of a small group that is looking at soil additives, testing methods, composting, and application of compost teas and extracts to our soils and crops.  The purpose is to enhance the soil biota, and eventually reduce dependency on commercial inputs of fertilizer and chemistry. 

We are living in exciting times, and the future will be more so.  Since the mid 1980’s a great deal of work has been done on soil biology and how that component interacts with plants.  After hearing, Dr. Elaine Ingham’s story on how to rebuild soil health, I have been fascinated with the subject.  The more I delve into it, the more complex it becomes, but it holds hope where there was none before.  I doubt that there will ever be a play book on how to put all of this together, —but similar to the set of principals established for successful no-tilling, I envision a set of  principals to be developed that a farmer can follow for successfully developing a biologically healthy soil.

         This concludes my presentation.  I pray it invokes some thought about the future of FARMING THE PALOUSE.

Crop Summary for 2018

      Four years ago, with all commodity prices in the good to excellent range, it was a lot easier to maintain a good diverse mix of crops in our rotation.  Now, that goal is more challenging with most commodity prices in the dumper.  We are all limited on the short term monetary loss one can adsorb for the long term benefits of an expanded crop rotation.   In 2018, we were down to three crops, alfalfa, winter wheat, and spring canola, with only winter wheat and spring canola in a regular crop rotation.  Our alfalfa in a long rotation is more than eight years old.  It's very important for successful longterm no-tilling to have diverse crop rotation for weed, and disease control.  You get a wider selection of chemistry, and many soil borne diseases can decrease in severity.  The closer you get to mono-cropping the closer you get to a mono-chemical reliance.

     2018 Winter Wheat:  We started seeding the 10th of September at 80#/a, and went into the winter in great shape with several tillers.

     Yields were great with the ranch average breaking 100bu/ac, and some exceptional areas going over 150bu/a.  We have never had a farm average of 100bu/a, but normally have exceptional areas going 140bu/a, --there were more of them in 2018.  There were still ridges and eroded hilltops that were in the ~30-60bu/ac range.  It's really difficult to get top yielding crops on ground that is eroded or continuing to erode regardless of commercial inputs.  I didn't think we had any spring nights with frost, but there apparently was.  The wheat showed definite frost damage along with other issues.
      Brundage 96 replaced Madson winter wheat in our operation many years ago, and has performed very well.  While scouting our fields this past year I noticed that there were a lot of deformed heads, some missing meshes, different kernel size within meshes, some missing meshes along the head, --just odd appearing.  After having a couple of people look at it, no real conclusion could be made; however, it was suggested that maybe Brundage 96 has run it's course.  The fall of 2018 we seeded certified seed of Brundage 96 and NorWest Duet.  We'll watch the two cultivars and decide whether to continue with Brundage 96 after the 2019 harvest.  Part of the value of Brundage 96 is that it is not a propratory cultivar and we can save back the seed, which costs from a third to half that of buying a certified proprietary variety, --which they all are now.

      2018 Spring Canola: Winfield HyClass 730 was seeded the first week of April @ 5#/a.  The crop emerged very well, and I could see that it was way too thick.  Unlike 2017, the bloom lasted for a good three weeks.  The year looked perfect to me for growing both winter wheat and spring canola, --but not.  Canola is considered quite drought tolerant, and I concur with that after the long hot dry spell in the critical growing period of 2017.  Heat tolerance may be something else though, and heat may be dropping the yields below our expectations.  I'll have to check into that.  With the moisture that canola pulls, I'm thinking that our high plant population negatively effected our yield.   As we grow and learn more about this crop we'll get a better understanding.
      2018 Alfalfa:   The stand is old but production has not, in the past, slackened.  This years alfalfa crop was only about 50%.  The first cutting took close to a month to get off the field do to several rain events.  Starting with the first cutting, the other two cuttings cascaded down respectively in both tonnage and quality.   

SOIL HEALTH

     My interest in learning and applying soil healthy practices has taken many twists and turns over the years, and has proven to me the need for continuing education. ---(example) back in 2015,  I decided biological testing was a needed step after hearing a presentation by Dr. Elaine Ingham on the Soil Food Web.  I didn't have a clue as to what those tests meant and participated in three webinars offered by Earthfort explaining different aspects of the tests.  My interpretation at the time was that my soils were a wreck.  Now, four years and several meetings later, the fog has lifted a little.  I have a better understanding of the Soil Food Web, the value of cultivar diversity, how soil microbes feed plant cultivars, what foods are needed by soil microbes, and how to supply those needs.  My current interpretation of those same tests(2015) are that my soils are not a wreck, but they need help.  No-tilling has improved our soil structure and saves moisture, but that is only part of the soil health picture.  No-tilling alone is not having a dramatic effect on the Soil Food Web (biological life in the soil).  In March, 2019,  I will retake the biological tests from the same locations to compare with the 2015.  Hopefully the crop diversity (9cCC, WW, Canola, 5cCC, WW) has made a positive impact on that field  
     While looking up information on organic soil amendments I was directed to a 1992 video on Soil Life in Japan.  That led me to Jay Fuhrers presentation, then to Dr. Nichols presentation.  All three complement each other.
      Earth Vision '92, has some poor quality video, but the translated narrative is quite good and the images/video from the electron microscope are very good and helpful to me in identifying bacteria, fungi, ameba, flagellates.  A statement from Dr. Elaine Ingham (back in 2014) that the first comprehensive book on soil biology was published in 1985, makes Earth Vision a fairly early work and explains why it incorporates, generalities, where we currently have more specifics.  Also, the video shows cultivation as an implied positive practice, which is now considered a negative practice for improving soil health.  All in all it is a good introduction that I found well worth the 30+ minutes to view.     Earth Vision '92(30:21
        A video about the importance of carbon, presented by Jay Fuhrer is nearly an hour and a half long.  This presentation is well organized and Fuhrer is an excellent presenter.
                               Jay Fuhrer-Carbon Cycle practiced(1:22:24)
        Building (soil) resilience, by Dr. Nichols also explains the importance of carbon, it's interaction with fungi and nutrient exchange making a case for incorporating cover crops.
                               Dr. Nichols-building resilience(1:01:45)