The Economics of Using Reduced Tillage for Corn on Cash Crop Farms PDF Download

Author: Richard M. Klemme
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conservation tillage
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Author: Boyd Alonzo Henry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Author: Andy Clark
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437903797
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

Author: Noel Uri
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 100044791X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Discover farming techniques that will decrease soil erosion and costs! Soil erosion from U.S. croplands has long been recognized as a national problem. Conservation Tillage in U.S. Agriculture: Environmental, Economic, and Policy Issues is the first ever complete study of the costs and benefits of using conservation tillage to prevent soil erosion. Designed for professionals working in the areas of soil science, agronomy, economics, environmental studies, and agriculture, this complete study covers everything from machinery and trends in conservation tillage to its adoption to use in regions of the United States. With this in-depth manual, you will examine different types of tillage and the many benefits this practice can ensure, such as improving water quality, increasing organic matter in your soil, sequestering carbon, and providing habitat and food for wildlife. Covering the economic, environmental, and policy issues of this practice, Conservation Tillage in U.S. Agriculture features: the history of conservation tillage case studies on costs and benefits of differing conservation tillage practices with various crops tables and graphs of trends, and case studies concerning the use of different farming methods U.S. Department of Agriculture soil conservation policies how to prevent soil erosion without harming the environment factors affecting conservation tillage, adoption, and use for crops such as peanuts, potatoes, beets, tobacco, and vegetables. With the help of this book, you will measure the benefits and costs of conservation tillage based on profitability and environmental impact and explore the positive and negative environmental consequences that may involve air, land, water, and/or the health and ecological status of wildlife. Conservation Tillage in U.S. Agriculture is a timely and informative look at conservation tillage practices that will help you improve residue management and create better conditions for wildlife and the environment.

Author: Judy Ohannesian
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Author: Ray P. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This thesis analyses the economics of reduced tillage farming compared to no-till on a western Kansas farm using elevated crop residue levels and higher intensity opportunity cropping strategies to overcome obstacles. Farming expenses are from the author's farm. Crop yields and rainfall data come from the Tribune Unit of the KSU-Southwest Research-Extension Center. Price and crop insurance data are from USDA sources on the Internet. Crop enterprise budgets are used to determine per acre expenses, net revenue, and the risks of high cropping intensity no-till (NT), and reduced tillage (RT), eco-fallow and with and without opportunity cropping. Grain sorghum was added to the NT rotation, the RT opportunity cropping and the NT opportunity cropping to potentially increase revenues and compete against perennial grasses. However, grain sorghum revenues for various reasons did not cover average variable costs. Results indicate that NT opportunity cropping can be as or more profitable than RT eco-fallow using corn, however risks and expenses are greater. Over the 10-year study, the NT opportunity cropping averaged $3.97 more net revenue than the RT rotation. The NT rotation averaged $5.40 less net revenue than the RT rotation. The RT opportunity cropping averaged $3.83 less net revenue than the RT rotation. The NT opportunity cropping produced the highest net revenue, followed by the RT rotation. The RT opportunity produced the third highest net revenue and the NT rotation produce the lowest net revenue. The RT rotation showed relatively little risk in the ability to recover variable expenses. These results only apply to this farm and should be extrapolated to other regions only after study and analysis. This case study is not necessary applicable to other farms. However, the ideas and analytical techniques may be used to address similar issues on other farms. This analysis reveals that higher intensity no-till cropping can increase net revenues as long as intensity is decreased when soil moisture at planting is not adequate. This allows farmers to benefit from increases in soil organic matter and decreases in soil erosion from no-till farming.

Author: Martine Trip
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Decreasing soil quality, worsened by climate change-related weather extremes, is prompting the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture's aim for sustainable management of all agricultural soils by 2030. One proposed practice for this goal is reduced tillage, which offers potential benefits such as improved soil structure and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However reduced tillage comes with potential drawbacks such as topsoil compaction and yield reduction. While global meta-analyses mainly focus on effects of reduced tillage in North and South American cash crops, like grains, maize and soy, this long-term Dutch farming systems experiment called BASIS is unique in its focus on Dutch small seeded, root and tuber crops. The BASIS experiment, established in 2009 by Wageningen University and Research in Lelystad, consists of three organic and two conventional fields with common Dutch crop rotations. In BASIS we experiment with three tillage systems: conventional tillage with mouldboard plough (CT), reduced tillage with sub-soiling (RTS), and reduced tillage without sub-soiling (RT). Reduced tillage with shallow ploughing was added (RT/SPL) later in the experiment. The experiment employs controlled traffic farming (CTF) and is a randomized complete block design with four replicates per tillage system and field. In the BASIS experiment a system approach is used; this allowed for the experiment to be optimized during the project period. Effects of reduced tillage on ecosystems services such as yield, yield quality and soil quality were investigated. Overall, reduced tillage systems showed comparable or higher marketable yield for most crops, except for fineseeded crops like carrots and onions. The Twinrotor tiller seems a viable option in reduced tillage systems to create a finer seedbed and reduce the yield gap of carrots between reduced and conventional tillage. The influence of extreme weather conditions on reduced tillage effects varied, with yields sometimes higher and sometimes lower compared to conventional tillage. Over time the differences in marketable yield between reduced and conventional tillage showed no increasing or decreasing trend. For yield quality, the difference between gross yield and marketable product, there were no significant differences nor discernible trends between the tillage systems; with the expedition of carrots which showed a lower yield quality under reduced tillage, with larger-sized and deformed carrots. This was likely caused by cover crop residue and soil aggregate size. The impact of reduced soil tillage on crop quality parameters such as sugar content (sugar beet) and thousand grain weight (cereal crops) showed no significant differences between the tillage systems. Bulk density showed no differences in the upper 0-10 cm layer, but significantly higher values were observed in the deeper 10-20 cm layer for reduced tillage. Soil moisture was generally higher for reduced tillage in the upper 0-10 cm layer, while conventional tillage exhibited higher moisture in the lower 10-20 cm layer. Penetration resistance was consistently greater for reduced tillage, particularly in the 10-30 cm layer. Despite these soil property differences, there was no substantial evidence of decreased yields or root limitations. The increased compaction under reduced tillage could potentially enhance soil bearing capacity. Reduced tillage leads to higher soil organic matter and carbon content in the upper 0-15 cm layer compared to conventional tillage. However, in lower layers no significant difference were found. Reduced tillage shows minimal impact on soil pH. Total nitrogen content is higher in the upper 0-15 cm layer for reduced tillage. Other nutrient availabilities are not strongly influenced by tillage systems. Mineral nitrogen levels in the soil are very low in this experiment and differences between tillage systems are small. Overall, reduced tillage increases soil organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen in the upper layer (0-15 cm), with a trend towards higher values in the 0-30 cm layer. To summarize, the BASIS experiment shows that reduced tillage is a viable option for most of the Dutch crops and indicates a trend towards improved soil quality.

Author: Fred Magdoff
Publisher: Sare
ISBN: 9781888626131
Category : Humus
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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"'Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture."

Author: Douglas Allen Holler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Author: Paul Faeth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
The changes needed to protect U.S. agriculturral resources and income over the long term are analyzed and critical links that are missing in the current debate about sustainable agriculture are forged