Reducing Tillage in Organic Production Systems

1
Reducing Tillage in Organic Production Systems

• Anu Rangarajan, Cornell University
• ar47_at_cornell.edu

2
Reduced Tillage Goals

• Enhance soil quality
• Conserve organic matter
• Improve tilth
• Conserve moisture
• Reduce erosion
• Minimize soil disturbance
• Minimize weed germination
• Reduce compaction
• Reduce fuel use
• Reduce equipment use
• Minimize hand weeding
• Maintain yields

3
Key Features in Organic RT

• Cover crops intensively cultivated
• Seeding and rates
• Timing of seeding
• Methods of seeding
• Methods of killing
• Rotations can be complex
• Diversified operations
• Diverse crop types and planting schemes
• Integration of animals

4
All organic RT systems will require some type of
tillage at some point in the rotation

• Objective is to minimize frequency, intensity and
  energy needed for these events.

5
Organic Options to Reduce tillage

• Annual Strategies
• Frequency
• Intensity
• Spatially
• Multi-year Strategies
• Rotation
• Different Systems
• Hybrid mulch system
• Permanent Beds

6

• Permanent No-till
• No tillage passes
• Residue minimally disturbed
• Maximize protection against erosion and crusting

• Conventional tillage
• Primary, secondary tillage, seedbed preparation
• 2-4 field tillage passes
• Clean Field

7
Steps

• Seeding a cover crop
• Kill cover crop, leaving mostly on surface
• Establish reduced width planting zone
• Establish Transplant or Large Seeded Crop
• Manage weeds
• Harvest crop
• Seed a cover crop

8
Cover crop seeding rates and stand are critical
9
Mechanical killing Cover Crops
10
Killing cover crops

• Flail
• Sickle
• Rotary
• OR
• Winter killed cover crops

11
(No Transcript)
12

• Zone tillage
• Zone building for seedbed
• Till zone 4-6 inches
• One field pass

13
Unverferth Zone Builder

• Strip tillage
• Vertical tillage to reduce compaction
• Zone building for seedbed
• One or two passes

Tufline subsoiler
14
Vertical Tillage in the Zone
15
Reducing Tillage Widths
16
Penetration Resistance
17
Manage residue during planting
18
(No Transcript)
19

• Maintain a Minimum Weed Free Period
• Hand weeding
• Mechanical cultivation

20
(No Transcript)
21
High Residue cultivator sweeps (12 to 20 wide)
work well in high residue conditions to undercut
weeds. The angle of the sweep can be changed to
0-degree, 2-degree, and 4-degree for differing
aggressiveness. The shank is ½ wide at the soil
to allow soil and residue to flow more easily and
minimize hairpinning.

• Test
• Sweeps
• V-plows
• Undercutters
• Seeding Rates!

Grisso et al
22
Reducing tillage in time through Rotations

• Bio-extensive rotation
• Weed management
• Soil moisture conservation
• Fixing and recycling carbon and nitrogen
• Feed soil microbes and crops
• Shallow and reduced tillage

Dacum Rotation Planner, NESFI and NEON
23
Organic Options to Reduce tillage

• Annual Strategies
• Frequency
• Intensity
• Spatially
• Multi-year Strategies
• Rotation
• Different Systems
• Hybrid mulch system
• Permanent Beds

24
Hybrid Mulch Approach Plastic intact for 2-3
years Cover crop managed between rows
25
Permanent beds
Tillage to incorporate cover Controlled Traffic
26
Maintain drive areas Reduce Tillage in space

• Fall
• tillage (conventional)
• drill cover crop
• Spring
• roll cover crop
• no-till transplant into cover
• NOTE cooler soils

27
Mixing cover crop species on the bed
28
Future Directions

• Small seeded crops
• New cultivation strategies
• Dealing with residue
• Scaled for smaller vegetable operation
• Organic reduced till
• Systems comparisons
• Cover crop management
• Engaging more growers in on-farm trials