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On this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment,veteran agronomist Michael Petersen reacts to new data revealed for the first time from the 2024 Strip-Till Farmer Benchmark Study.
How do your strip-till practices compare to hundreds of other farmers across all regions of the U.S.? You’re about to find out as technology editor Noah Newman shares results from the 2024 Strip-Till Farmer benchmark survey.
Michael Petersen, a former National Resources Conservation Service soil scientist and independent consultant with over 35 years of strip-till research experience, shares his instant reaction to data from the survey, including 2023 strip-till corn and soybean yields, most popular strip-till toolbars, shanks vs. coulters, nutrient management strategies, fall vs. spring strip-till, precision technology and more!
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The Strip-Till Farmer podcast is brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment.
Yetter Farm Equipment has been providing farmers with solutions since 1930. Today, Yetter is your answer for finding the tools and equipment you need to face today’s production agriculture demands. The Yetter lineup includes a wide range of planter attachments for different planting conditions, several equipment options for fertilizer placement, and products that meet harvest-time challenges. Yetter delivers a return on investment and equipment that meets your needs and maximizes inputs. Visit them at yetterco.com.
Full Transcript
Noah Newman:
Hey, welcome to the Strip-Till Farmer Podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment. I'm your host, Noah Newman, Technology Editor.
Today, veteran agronomist, Michael Peterson, shares his instant reaction to new data revealed for the first time right here from the 2024 Strip-Till Farmer Benchmark study.
How do your strip till practices compare to hundreds of other farmers across all regions of the United States? While you're about to find out as Peterson, a former National Resources Conservation Service soil scientist and independent consultant, shares his take on 2023 strip till corn and soybean yields, the most popular strip till toolbars out there, shanks versus cultures, nutrient management strategies, fall versus spring strip till, precision technology and more. We have a lot to talk about. Let's jump right in.
The first thing is, so of the strip tillers we surveyed 73% said they also practice no-till on some of their acres, and 74% are using cover crops in some of their acres. That's up 13% from last year. So just what's your initial take on that in terms of how conservation minded strip tillers tend to be?
Michael Peterson:
Well, first off, the numbers sound pretty darn close from what I can tell. By that, I mean it's close that hey, those seem to be very, very reasonable and I've noticed with conversations with people in my past and those I've worked with and folks I still work with, that sounds very realistic. In the Midwest and the corn belt states, that's probably reasonable. Coming out west though, I wouldn't think that that figure would hold water, due to the reason that it was so dry through Nebraska and parts of South Dakota in 2023 that what cover crops did go in, they failed. I know that my conversations with folks that I work with in western Kansas and Oklahoma and Texas, cover crops were abysmal failures. So no doubt the number that you're giving that comes from Midwest and the corn belt states, I think that that's probably reasonable.
Noah Newman:
So for our next one, it was about strip till acreage. Strip tilled corn acres are up to 555 on average, and that's up 63 from last year. Strip tilled soybean acreage dropped to 231, that's down 124 from last year. So what do you think about those numbers and in terms of strip tilling soybeans, what are the benefits of that? Do you think some people are missing out by not strip tilling soybeans?
Michael Peterson:
Yes. To answer that last question, yes, they are missing out, due to the fact that a lot of people still think that they don't need to fertilize soybeans. Well, if they want to have top-notch yields, good quality protein in the soybeans, strip-till gives you that advantage because you can put some fertilizer down four to eight inches deep and watch the yields go up, but also watch the quality of the soybean itself, both the protein, the oil quality, all of those things are enhanced. But folks are not looking at... Unfortunately, no, they're not looking at their soybeans really being more than just kind of the second crop out and corn is the one that they predominantly look at. But yeah, I can see the reasoning why the soybean acres are down. Not that I like that reason, but I see the reason why it's down.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, we had Alex Harrell break the world soybean yield record with strip-till and cover crops down in Georgia, so maybe that could motivate some other people to start looking at it.
Michael Peterson:
Well, we can hope.
Noah Newman:
Yeah.
Michael Peterson:
What did he turn out? What kind of yield did he come up with?
Noah Newman:
He was 206 bushels per acre, which broke Randy Dowdy's record.
Michael Peterson:
Oh my goodness.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, this was down in Georgia and he is a Schlegel rapid-till and he strip-tilled through terminated cover crops, I believe, and then yeah, kept it pumped up throughout the season with plant growth regulators and all kinds of fertilizer. But yeah, that was a 206 bushels. That's pretty amazing.
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, I know that when I was still with Orthman, we raised some 130 bushels soybeans, but that's still a ways away from 200 plus.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, 130 is really good. Well, speaking of yields, the strip-till yields corn yard numbers held steady in 2023, despite a good portion of the country, especially in the corn belt being in a drought. Corn yields were 204, which was down only three from last year. Soybeans 59, which was down a little under two from last year. So pretty much the same there, but both of those are way ahead of the U.S. averages of 177.3 for corn and 50.6 for soybeans. So what does that just say about the strip-till resiliency in a drought year?
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, you would think that those kinds of numbers, Noah, would catch on to those people that are not using something like strip-till and seeing the benefits that are coming out of it in their yields and their overall tactic of how they form their soil. I just... I'm still shaking my head, even after when I look at it, I've been working in strip-till since 1986, that people just don't get it. It's such a good concept, but hey, I'm biased.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, the numbers speak for themselves. When you look at a corn yield of 204 on average, that's higher than the no-till average in our no-till survey where it was 184 for no-till corn. So that's 20 higher than no-till.
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, man, those numbers speak for themselves and it sounds as though strip-till is gaining even more because 30 bushel improvement, that's amazing. That's amazing. That's statistically... That's incredibly significant for sure.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, that's a big advantage there. Let's jump into the equipment portion of the survey. So we asked survey participants, what strip-till rig do you use? The top five were, KUHN Krause, Dawn, Yetter, Orthman, Unverferth, and then we also had 18% say others. So people might be custom-building or I'm not sure what other entails, but lots of equipment options out there. How much has that kind of changed since you started getting into strip-till, just how many more options there are out there for people?
Michael Peterson:
Well, way back in the eighties, there was probably about three units or three implement companies that were doing something in regards to strip-till. Out of those three, one dropped out. Then in the late late nineties, more strip-till companies got involved. By the time I... Let's see, at the height of strip-till when it was really rocking and rolling, especially for Orthman, which is about 2015, 2014, right in there, there were 16 companies, American U.S. companies that were building strip-till rigs. Of that, I think there's maybe a little bit less numbers, but yeah, I'm really glad to see that the number of companies that are still involved in building strip-till tools and making things happen.
Now, the one thing that's still strange, Noah, is the agronomics behind strip-till still do not take, I don't want to say this, a priority with all of the implement companies. They build the machines and they sell them on what the machine is. They don't sell it on the agronomics, the science behind it, and really the science behind it is probably the best thing going for strip-till, because of what all of those advantages are just incredible. I know you've heard me say that when we've been at conferences together, but it's still true.
Noah Newman:
43% said they use colters, 49% shanks, 28% mole knife. So a little bit of each there, but what's your take on that? Does it just depend on soil type, when a strip tiller would want to use a colter or a shank or a mole knife?
Michael Peterson:
A lot of that is personal preference, but in real, real wet soils, the shank can be a nuisance for some growers, due to the fact that maybe they don't have adequate drainage with subsurface drainage using tile lines. But I still think the shank machine is probably the best. Those numbers are... I can believe those numbers really, really well.
Noah Newman:
Yeah. Well, let's jump into the fall versus spring strip till debate and 45% of survey respondents build their strips in the fall, 33% in the spring, and then 22% said they do both. A little bit of both. So where do you come out on that? Anything jump out there in those numbers or pretty much what you'd expect?
Michael Peterson:
Most of the reasoning that I know of, that the reason they do some of the spring and some in the fall is because timing, maybe they get weathered out and others find that there is a benefit for whatever their spring crop is going to be, especially if it's going to be planted a little bit later. They'll strip till in the spring. Now you go down into the southern states, there's a lot more of that... That they mix and match some in the spring and some in the fall and by southern states, I'm talking about from Texas all the way to Florida.
Noah Newman:
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Then when we asked, how deep are you making strips? 34% said six inches, 21% seven inches, 16% eight inches deep. So six to eight inches, is that the sweet spot that you would recommend?
Michael Peterson:
Well, yes and no. I think tearing... If you're using a shank machine going as eight inches, maybe all the way down to 10 is best, but your sweet spot usually fits right into that six to eight inches. Now for all of the units that are colder rig, I don't even know if the one that comes out of Minnesota can go any deeper than about five inches.
Noah Newman:
Yeah,
Michael Peterson:
Or did you ask that question of whether or not if they're going that deep, was it a colder machine versus a shank machine?
Noah Newman:
You know what? We should add that to the survey next year. We didn't have it for this year's, but that's a good one to add there to give a little more perspective.
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, it'll give you a better idea of your numbers of 30 some percent doing colder versus another near 30% doing the shank. Or I might have hit those numbers wrong now, but you'll find out that, hey, that's the colder machine, and those are definitely people that are probably not running their shank deep enough.
Noah Newman:
Yeah. Well, I remember at your Strip-Till Conference presentation a couple of years ago, you talked about how you want to put the fertilizer where the corn root runs, where it could run to get it.
Michael Peterson:
Correct.
Noah Newman:
As opposed to broadcasting it. I think you said broadcasting fertilizer is passe, it should be a thing of the past.
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, well, it's only about 12% efficient. When you start thinking about if you're strip tilling and putting fertilizer products down in the zone of the disturbance, you jump it up above 50% efficient. So goodness gracious, that ought to tell the story right there.
Noah Newman:
Yeah. When we asked what fertilizer are you applying with the strip till rig, 61% said potash, 45% sulfur, 36% MAP, 25% for DAP, zinc, and liquid nitrogen. Then 22% said other micronutrients, so... 56% are applying nitrogen at plant, 34% applying nitrogen in the spring with the strips, 25% in the fall with the strips and 23% pre-plant. So anything jump out there?
Michael Peterson:
No, those sound... I think that that's probably been numbers that you've, I don't know, you'd have to go back and look in your archives, but I think those numbers are changing just a little bit, more towards trying to put a mixture of products down in. I know that most of them are putting their DAP or MAP down in the ground and also putting their potash in the ground.
Noah Newman:
Then in terms of P&K, 53% are applying P&K in the fall with strips, 32% in the spring, 22% at plant and 17% pre-plant.
Michael Peterson:
Okay.
Noah Newman:
So that's for P&K.
Michael Peterson:
Those numbers all sound very reasonable.
Noah Newman:
Then here's another one about nitrogen. We asked how much nitrogen do you apply toward targeted strip till corn yield goal? So 51% are applying 0.8 to 0.99 pounds per bushel. That was the most popular answer there.
Michael Peterson:
Okay.
Noah Newman:
Then 30% are applying less than 0.8, and then we have 19% applying 1 to 1.2 pounds per bushel. Who would you side with there, would you say the 0.8 to 0.99 majority are doing it right?
Michael Peterson:
Yeah, at least at the thinking that we know that's coming out of the universities and USDA research right now, that 0.8 to 0.99 is right on target. Now, can a grower go lower? I know that we experimented going all the way down to seven tenths of a pound per bushel, and right at about that point, we started finding out we were lacking some things, being able to make sure that that crop was going to be able to go all the way to the finish doing it right. So the 0.8 to 0.99 is right on target.
Noah Newman:
All right. Well, you think of strip tillers, you always think of farmers who are innovative and technology first, willing to invest in that precision technology. We have the numbers to back that up here in this survey. No surprise here, probably that 90% are using GPS auto steer.
Michael Peterson:
Good.
Noah Newman:
72% are using yield monitor data analysis, 61% field mapping, 61% auto seed shut off, 59% nozzle shut-offs, 45% satellite and aerial imagery, and then over 40% are using variable rate seeding and variable rate fertility. So how big of an opportunity is that for strip tillers to have this precision technology? How big of a difference can it make for them?
Michael Peterson:
Oh my gosh, no, that's a huge difference. If farmers can get their heads wrapped around being able to use all of the tools that come out of GPS and the technology that comes from the combine, they only can do better. It's about alike looking at your hands and saying, yeah, I've got one side where I see all of my palm marks and the underside of my fingers and switch it over. No, there's a top side.
Noah Newman:
That's a good analogy. I like that.
Michael Peterson:
It just makes all kinds of difference, and I think that those numbers are going to improve. They won't jump up a whole lot, because you're already reaching a very, very high percentage of what they're doing.
Noah Newman:
Yeah. Almost half of survey respondents are using variable rate seeding and fertility. Would you recommend more to do that? How big of a benefit is a variable rate?
Michael Peterson:
Oh, yeah, I would recommend more. Now, you've got to find trustworthy equipment and also people that know what they're doing when they do variable rate for their mapping. Are they doing at a one acre sale? Are they doing it at two and a half acre sales? What are they doing? Are they doing it on using soil survey maps and looking at zones? Those are the things that I think people still need to come up with, what's the best idea of how you use variable rating?
Noah Newman:
Well, those are all the numbers that I had to run through. I appreciate your perspective and your take on all that. Is there anything you're looking forward to keeping an eye on here in the coming year, in terms of maybe an opportunity for growth out there in the world of strip till or any kind of improvements you're hoping to see?
Michael Peterson:
Most likely, as I watch what growers that I work with and others that are watching the growers that I work with, is that they're going to start doing better on their weed control. We've got these new tools that John Deere has where they spray only the weed and they don't spray anything more. It's this very accurate observation about how they are using product to spray on the weeds and they're flying through the field at 10 miles an hour. If you've ever seen what they're doing with the infrared, if you watch it at night, if they're doing it towards sundown, you see all of these blinking lights going through the field. It's amazing how they're changing their weed control, to a point where they don't have to use probably 60% of what they used to.
Noah Newman:
Yeah, it is pretty amazing.
Michael Peterson:
So what I see there, that's going to be the next facet of strip till, along with all of their capabilities of using GPS and the technology that comes out of yield monitoring and that. Now they'll go to being able to do it and control their weeds better, and then they're going to have a system that's going to be just crackerjack.
Noah Newman:
That'll wrap things up for this edition of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast. Big thanks to Michael Peterson for taking the time to join us today and share his take on that new Strip-Till benchmark study data. We have a full article coming soon to striptillfarmer.com breaking down all the survey questions. So be on the lookout for that. Thanks to Yetter Farm Equipment for sponsoring the podcast and making this series possible, and thank you for tuning in as always. Until next time, for all things strip till, head to striptillfarmer.com. Have a great day.
