Advantages of zero till

[farmaholic]

Off topic, derail..... seems grassfarmer and klause have shallow roots ;-)

[SASKFARMER3]

We have been direct seeding since 1981 last fall was the first year we high speed disced end to end on a 1/3 of our acres these fields this year are first up and clean. Spring tilled are not as clean. We also did like the past when this land had no farmers Burnt fields black end to end. Peas are the nicest crop in the 4 RMS I'm in. Canola is also up on these fields and going strong no Flee beetle pressure either.
Fall will tell the story but right now Direct seeding has a place we just after years of to much water need to readjust how we farm. Fire has a place so does Tillage from time to time.
We are in the Black soil zone on clay to clay loam and extremely wet.

[Guest]

no , I understand why you have to burn occasionally , just can't understand why some people are burning here as dry as we are and I cant believe how hard this new quarter is ! the 550 # trips were tripping all the time trying to go 2 or 3 inches deep . we farm about a third of our land in real light white clay and the rest in heavy black . the zero till advantage was very obvious in the light land immediately . obviously it's a real advantage in the heavy black also . sure hope we don't lose our roundup advantage . we are also knifing NH3 in a lot of it in the fall.

[farmaholic]

The first place we will lose our glyphosate advantage is preharvest. Should be no reason to lose it for early incrop weed control or preseeding.

I am never so steadfast in my opinion that I would say there is never a time to till. Huge difference between what was done years ago and today. Tilling and continuous cropping is still superior to tilling "summerfallow". JMO

[Guest]

I was thinking of weeds becoming tolerant , is anyone having problems with this yet ?

[sumdumguy]

There was talk the other night at a social gathering about the link being made between Round Up and Autism. Definitely pre-harvest is likely to get nixed.

[sk_wheatking]

Pre harvest glyphosate applications are going to be banned within 5 years or less, guaranteed. The environmental voice and conspiracy people will never quit until it is. They will change farming grain and cattle in ways that you wouldn't believe in our lifetime.

[hobbyfrmr]

I see the advantages and efficiency of zero till. I am not much on conspiracy because i dont have the time to study them to back them up. The disadvantage I see and really dont like is the dependancy on glyphosate. Without it. You cant farm. That makes it an addiction.
Industry has got you. Buy their seeds , buy their products and you have to. What are you going to do about it? Make your own? Industry has a choke hold on farmers all in the name of efficiency , higher volume production and the reward is grain prices are still low.
I recently had a church function where the older men were still agreeable that you cant grow a crop without spraying because you are fertilizing the weeds.
My balance sheet says otherwise.
I am not against zero till or spraying, everyone has to make their living and my 20,000 and 45,000 acre neighbors are excellent fsrmers and it looks like they are going to have serious wealth at the end of their careers so its hard for me to argue against that.

[sumdumguy]

The produce more for less cheap food policy. Farmers, get in the groove or move aside has won.

[sk_wheatking]

Nothing against you hobby. Just saying that ore harvest glyphosate applications are on their way out fast. Maybe they should be anyway. You can still spray the stubble. If it's banned life will go on, guys will adapt.