In their journey to build successful strip-till systems, growers often cite the need for patience, precision and payoff.
Early experimentation with equipment setups and fertilizer placement often leads to long-term investment in precision technology as strip-tillers work to meet their in-field objectives.
In an industry-first report, No-Till Farmer’s sister publication, Strip-Till Farmer, surveyed readers to evaluate how strip-tillers are building their systems and provide a foundation for future analysis.
The data reported in the 1st Strip-Till Operational Benchmark Study comes from more than 70 subscribers of No-Till Farmer’s Conservation Tillage Guide and Strip-Till Strategies e-newsletter who identified themselves as strip-tillers and filled out a 30-question survey.
After compiling the responses and crunching the numbers, we’ve assembled 50 notes and nuggets of information comparing strip-till practices, equipment use, fertility strategies and precision-farming techniques.
1. Strip-tillers tend to practice tillage diversity in their farming system, as they strip-till 54% of their acres, on average, with 11% strip-tilling their entire operation.
2. Corn is king for strip-tillers with 98% indicating they strip-till this crop. Soybeans are a distant second at 25%.
3. Strip-tillers are averaging 9.3 years in this reduced-tillage practice, with 30% having more than 10 years of experience — revealing a long-term commitment to the system with a substantial number of growers.
4. 70% of farmers have strip-tilled for 10 years or less, with 40% of that group strip-tilling for 5 years or less, revealing some…
Download these helpful knowledge building tools
On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by CultivAce, we head to Amboy, Ill., where Dave Thompson shares his top takeaways from harvest season. Univ. of Illinois soil scientist Andrew Margenot discusses why some no-tillers might want to dial back P and K rates next growing season.
