Speaker 1: Today we continue our series on no till farming. We focus on utilizing crop rotations in a no till operation. [Inaudible 00:10] spoke to one producer who says the two go hand in hand.
Speaker 2: Here in Garfield county James Warfline has a number of crops in rotation.
James: Brother and I are on a 3 crop in 2 years rotation starting with wheat crop, followed by a double crop milo or soy bean. Some years we might through a few acres of sunflowers into it. We’ll follow the next spring with corn or milo or possibly we’ve grown cotton in the spring time. But that’s kind of a rarity so we get a… and then in goes after the corn or milo, back to wheat.
Speaker 2: He says he’s able to keep that up by taking advantage of the benefits of a no till operation.
James: With no till we’re able to save a lot more moisture in the ground with the cover, this field doesn’t show a lot of cover on it right now because of corn stalks, but wheat would have a lot of mulch to it. We still got good moisture in this ground when the neighbors and their conventional tiller complaining how they’re dry several inches deep, when I’ve got moisture a half inch below the surface here. I kick down here it’s a little dusty right on top but you’ll see within a quarter half inch, I’ve got moisture.
Speaker 2: Which is quite impressive, considering that part of Oklahoma has not had a really good rain since October. But you don’t have to take his word for it, you can see it for yourself. By comparing no till ground to conventional. No till soil definitely has more moisture. But Warfline says that’s not the only difference you’ll see.
James: Less wind erosion and water erosion off your fields. The fule savings, the time savings, you have a lot more time to plant more crops or do custom work or just have time for the family.
Speaker 2: But this doesn’t happen over night. It takes time and patience.
James: The first 2 to 3 years can be kind of a mess because when it does get wet, that ground does not absorb water yet as good and so it can be kind of a muddy mess to work with on harvesting and planting. But after about 3 years, especially by 5 years, the soil has changed and after 10 it’s gotten better and I’ve heard people that have done it for 20 and 30 years on no till and they say it gets better when you go to 20 and 30 years out.
Speaker 2: And after running a no till operation for after 10 years, Warfline hopes he will be able to say the same when he hits the 20 year mark. So far it seems he’s on the right track.
Speaker 1: Chad, one of the most important things that producers and farmers really need to focus on is crop rotation, it’s one of the keys to a good farming practice.
Chad: That’s correct. Really, especially in no till, but regardless of the tillage system, but especially no till, crop rotation is critical as far as long term success. Some producers may be able to get by a year or 2 or 3 years in a continuous system, but really for long term sustainability and crop profitability it needs to be some kind of rotation involed.
Speaker 1: Let’s start with the basics. What are the benefits of rotating crops?
Chad: The biggest benefits are breaking those pest cycles. It breaks the weed cycles, disease cycles, and also insects in some cases. In our mono culture or continuous cropping systems we have a tremendous build up of pest pressures. In our continuous wheat systems a classic example of that are the winter annual weeds that we see, rye grass, cheat, things like that.
Speaker 1: Right.
Chad: That tremendous pressure build up when we go into a continuous system.
Speaker 1: So doing rotations and crop rotations can really help you eliminate some of those and break those cycles up. If I’m a producer and I’m looking to get into rotating more and maybe incorporating some alternative type crops into this system, what are some things I need to consider?
Chad: Really the way I like to approach crop rotation is really a 3 step process. First of all you need to set some goals. Second is develop a plan and three is implement the plan. Backing up a little bit, in setting goals, basically it can be broken down into intensity, which is basically how many crops in a given year do I want to harvest? And the second part of that is diversification, what kind of crops do I want to grow? Grasses versus broad leafs? Winter versus summer? It can really be broken down into that. Intensity of a rotation, I think a lot of times we’re not quite as intensive as we should be. In a large portion of the state we get inadequate rainfall to be 3 crops in 2 years, or at least 4 crops in 3 years in the western part of the state.
Speaker 1: Right.
Chad: And granted that varies from year to year depending on the rainfall as far as intensity goes.
Speaker 1: Right. And as far as diversity goes, does that really matter or does a lot of it depend on what part of the state you’re in and how much rainfall you’re getting?
Chad: It does matter, you’re right on, it does matter where you’re at in the state but also, it does it depends on if you’ve been on a continuous grass, or say continuous wheat for several years, you want to try to include in a broad leaf, and preferably a broad leaf summer crop, that gives you twice as much diversity because it’s easy to control those winter annual weeds with a summer broad leaf crop.
Speaker 1: If we’re looking at your second rule, what does a producer need to be thinking about there?
Chad: Basically the biggest things with developing your plan is to identify those crops and make sure you look at your past herbicide. The number one issue we see when producers start to go with a crop rotation is herbicide, really herbicide pest applications really hurt them. As far as [Inaudible 06:12] being applied to their wheat, a lot of the plant back restrictions are fairly long on some of those herbicides. So definitely number one is you need to be aware of that. Second thing is maintain flexibility in your crop rotation. Some people will get set in their rotation. Say there will be wheat, grain, sorghum, wheat, grain, sorghum. With our weather patterns, we just can’t afford to be in that kind of set rotation. So you need to maintain flexibility. Another part of that is looking at residue and water use. A good rule of thumb is if you’re going to plan a high water use crop, such as corn in the state, always plant that following a high residue cover. Because the more residue you have the greater conservation of soil water you’re going to have, so the more moisture will be stored in your soil profile.
Speaker 1: Give me a little example of that.
Chad: You know, you wouldn’t want to… I’m going to use cotton or soy beans as a classic example because we don’t have a lot of residue left with those crops. So it may not be, depending on where you’re at again and the year we have, you may not want to follow corn with one of those crops because corn is a high water use crop and we don’t have a lot of residue left from those previous crops.
Speaker 1: Right.
Chad: So things like that are important to consider because typically it’s the small things that make crop rotation successful.
Speaker 1: And your third rule of thumb is execute. What specifically should producers be thinking about when they go out to make these things happen?
Chad: Okay. Well like I just indicated, it’s the small things that make crop rotations success. So if you’re experimenting with a crop for the first time, pay especially close attention to planning, because it is a little more difficult to set planners in no till situations compared to conventional till. You have to deal with the residue. That probably- should be number 1, or on top of your list, is paying close attention. Have your herbicides lined out to maintain flexibility with future crops. And then really the biggest thing goes back to maintaining a flexibility. You know, I always say rotations revolve not evolve. So if you’re successful with a certain crop most the time you include that in your rotation a little more.
Speaker 1: Okay. I guess just one last broad overview kind of question, in a no till cropping situation, are there specific things that producers need to be doing when they’re rotating versus if they’re doing conventional till?
Chad: That’s a good question. Really, no. I mean the basics are the same. You may apply a few more herbicides in the falo period, but really the basics are the same. No till, conventional till, those basics of crop rotation are the same.
Speaker 1: Well Chad good information. Sure do appreciate it and hopefully this will help producers out there put in a few rotations.
Chad: Well thank you.
Speaker 1: And you’ll have an opportunity to learn more about no till right here on Sun Up over the next few weeks. We’re doing it as a preview to this years no till Oklahoma conference. It’s February 8th and 9th at the National Center for Employee Development in Norman. You can find details on our website at sunup.okstate.edu and click on show links or contact your local extension office.