Soybean School: To till or not to till

Tillage destroys soil structure, cuts organic matter, and decreases soil water infiltration. That means reducing tillage makes sense, right?
But the decision is not that simple, says Jodi DeJong-Hughes, University of Minnesota soil and tillage extension specialist.
In her presentation at the virtual Ontario Agricultural Conference, DeJong-Hughes notes that there's no hard and fast rule to determine the right amount of tillage - it really does depend on the farmer and the farm. And when it comes to soybeans, research from Minnesota and the Dakotas shows the oilseed crop will deliver top yields in no-till more often than not.
#SoybeanSchool #Tillage #Soybeans #Agronomy #Farming
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[@Hp2G1]

Great video! I learned more in it than in many other videos and readings. For once, a specialist form the university that is not dogmatic about the no-till! Jodi is a great advisor, and give real-life and practical advice to migrate toward minimum tillage, backed by real data! Thanks!

[@hyvenhuang4221]

Great insights with data support! It is really helpful for growers to choose the proper tillage way and system since it was so confusing!

[@EastxWestFarms]

Thank you for the great insight. We live on the Blackland Prairie with very different climate and rain patterns than y’all up in MN. Do you have any recommendations for North Central TX?

[@TwoHappyChildrenFarm]

I like the topic and how you handle it. While in Texas not everything you worry about is the same in no till, I still pay attention to residue and soil temperatures for no till. We have residue breakdown almost 11 months of the year.

[@przemyawkubin5808]

Thank You. Very important subject.

[@JamesTyreeII]

So, if I am understanding correctly, no till works for some people but not necessarily for other people, and is most advantageous to those who have lower amounts of rainfall as well as for soybeans which have minimal residue. Strip till is a good compromise for those who want to have tillage, especially through corn 🌽 field with lots of residue left on the ground rather than standing corn stocks. Vertical tillage is preferable to disco guitar and non twisted chisel shank points are preferable to twisted.

[@zeusmacafee5097]

Oh so now you understand lol

[@nifs159]

Here in Texas all of my corn/wheat go's to silage. Usually the ground is still wet when we cut and the trucks turn the field into what seems like pavement. I have to chisel and disk to beak up the hard pan left after harvest. If I don't chisel the corn won't get over 4ft tall. We also plant back to back so it doesn't help. Very informative video!

[@codydog1700]

Tillage causes hard pan

[@sassymassey5002]

Discs do but chisel plow pull up breaking up the hard pan and remember we all have diffrent soil

[@off-labelbotanist5355]

I wonder. Forgive my ignorance but are the truck wheels running right where the corn is to be planted? Is it possible to only rip where the row will be and not where the truck wheel will go?

[@nifs159]

@@off-labelbotanist5355 The trucks drive all over the field. You can't really see exactly where and some of our pivots are 500 acres so they make lots of trips if the corn is averaging 25-30 tons.

[@jaykay643]

I have a small acerage/25 and was all for no-till or min-till until I started pricing new (even used) equipment. Besides a long delivery time for new, a no-till drill and related tillage would take me 20 plus yrs just to pay for itself with corn , beans or grain. I don't hear much about the cost vs benefit and wonder where people are getting the money from?

[@muskyman26]

Question for those of you that do both conventional and minimal tillage methods, or have switched recently. How bad of yield loss on head land from harvest compaction? Does it get better over time? We avoid needless fall compaction but you can’t avoid it all Thanks

[@maximemontenot910]

Can you add the metric unity for yield please

[@shootermcgee628]

In western Pennsylvania we chisel and disc. I believe no till is a good practice where there's not much clay or rocks but here I can tell you chisel and disc yields higher numbers

[@fonddulaclandwater6058]

Hey Shooter. Check out our channel, as we are challenging two farmers in heavy clay soil, to implement continuous no till, cover crops, and low disturbance manure injection. It's a three year project. Will get video of them no-tilling into standing rye this spring.

[@leorickt.9604]

Strip tilling offers a great solution to warming and drying clay

[@off-labelbotanist5355]

So to clarify, the stalks are left upright to reduce the coolness and wetness of the mat of residue, and to cause the residue to decay and release nutrient over a longer period of time?

[@richardw.crocker2725]

tT Tyty yyyy. Y y G Myyyyuu. Y

[@cowboyyoga]

Super video - thank you both for your sharing )))

[@oe542]

Jodi is great!

[@fishydubsfishing6516]

Years ago the government wanted everyone to eliminate tillage but the farmers want to till all the videos I watch everyone tills I love the deep ripping vids

[@northrockboy]

I like my old friggstad chisel plow. We cant afford any newer vertical tools on a smaller acreage.

[@hudsonklauber485]

So does compaction not mean anything?

[@kyleymefford4729]

Never done no till. Always wanted to try it. What about beans after beans no till. We farm some airport ground where plant height is an issue. Just curious. Mid Missouri area.

[@almorris934]

Try a few acres and see if it works for you. We are 100% No-till in central KY. We get a better stand on Bean-Bean acres vs Bean-corn no-till. Since your going into bean ground, equipping a no-till coulter is optional(IMHO). Add some downforce, drop the units a couple of notches, up the pop to 150+, and roll on.

[@kyleymefford4729]

@@almorris934 Even when using a JD 750 no-till drill. A couple notches would put seed to deep I'm afraid and why up the population?

[@kyleymefford4729]

Also what's your opinion on no-tilling milo after beans? Same JD 750 drill

[@almorris934]

@@kyleymefford4729 I have no experience with Milo. The row-units bounce more in no-till so the seed trench isn't as consistent as conventional, there is also a layer of soybean stubble you have to cut through and it is holding the gauge wheels off the ground. You are still shooting for the same planting depth just a little harder to achieve. With the more variables in no-till, upping the population will help offset some of the disadvantages of no-till. There are still farmers in the county using no-till drills. We used to use a Great Plains drill on a coulter cart, it worked well in corn and bean stubble. You will also want a good kill on the weeds before you plant, Dual-roundup-24d is what we use.

[@sassymassey5002]

Here in manitoba people tried no till and no one does it any more because it got really like concrete and people where buying alot more spray

[@MrMagnum7220]

We have slug problems when we try no till after taking small grain off in the spring.

[@donready119]

Slugs have been a real problem for this 30 year plus notiller. If your rotation is good, skip the seed insecticides. The slugs accumulate them and it does not hurt them but it kills their predators.

[@jamesswanson7213]

Get Ducks

[@MrMagnum7220]

James I swear that water fowl eat the young tender beans.

[@jamesswanson7213]

@@MrMagnum7220 Dang. I know they work good in vineyards.

[@kansascatfish5743]

Why not drill them seen people drill beans come up pretty good then after drilling your beans in go out with a coil packer and pack it in so then you have last year crop on the ground keeping moisture in

[@arfaabbas]

Very Nice! ( From Pakistan )

[@rajbeekie7124]

At the end of the day, it has to do with how much money is left in the farmers' pockets.

[@prophecyrat2965]

Yea for sure, especially when the soil is dead and all you got is dust and dirt. But forsure, turn that profit.

[@Bortismah]

@@prophecyrat2965 please agronomy is a science of more than 200 years don’t come here a say shit like that, we are not ecology terrorists or sociology, or weed heads like you that only know how to say shit without a single study in there hands.

[@oe542]

The soil is not “dead”. That’s a weird narrative that makes no sense. I don’t know why people don’t push back harder on this.

[@frederickoch3128]

The idea is cover crop and no till go hand In hand. When you leave it on top the worms eat it and poop in the ground and there you go fertilizer. If you plow the cover crop it rot away and it turns to alcohol. Which is not good for soil. Farm land all started with 8% organic. So question is are you farming short term or generation long term?

[@Bob-vy7lw]

Vertical tillage allows all your residue to blow onto the ditch and you neighbor's field!! Would be better off bailing your stalks and selling them We have has a 12 ft deep ditch filled up with stalks after VT.

[@bobinil7143]

Who funds the no-till research?? companies that make their money selling chemicals??

[@sassymassey5002]

Yup

[@SoilLorax]

Most of my grant money for research is funded by the Minnesota Corn and Soybean Growers.

[@sassymassey5002]

@@SoilLorax can i ask you cause no videos cover it is there any advantages to tillage? Because in manitoba no one does no till so maybe soil? Maybe where all idiots ?

[@SoilLorax]

@@sassymassey5002 You're not idiots. Farmers tilled because it took care of weeds, warmed up the soil, incorporated fertilizers, and cleaned away competition from the planted seed. We also did not understand the biology of the soil. It's difficult to manage what you can't see. Plus US govt crop insurance is based on yield, not sustainability. More and more data is coming to light on how important the soil is and how to take care of it. But we have to balance, tradition, experience, risk, markets, and many other factors that have nothing to do with science but are just as important when making farming decisions.

[@rjfarms1206]

Haven’t found or heard of a weed species that has resistance to iron.

[@SandeepChoudhary-lm7bi]

Sir plase I am not English language, Hindi language upload videos ,my Village soyabean 90% farming, please sir

[@fishydubsfishing6516]

This woman never planted a corn cob or bean in her life

[@lauraclaudia47]

Soybean school no till argentina teacher 30 years of the experience en argentina nosotros hacemos siembra directa durante 30 años ya desde 1990 a 2020 2021 con sembradoras directas pesadas nooo con plantadoras de soja. Se usan sembradoras directas pesadas de fabricas argentinas como erca cele crucianelli bertini juber dolbi agrometal genovese templar fercam pla ascanelli apache fabimag pierobon super walter dankar etcetera.

[@petersonsawmillservice268]

Heavy corn residue means your soil is dead.

[@user-in7yh6yz4g]

Πώς μπορούμε να βοηθήσουμε σε αυτό το νεκρό έδαφος και να αρχίσουμε να βελτιώσουμε αυτή την πραγματικότητα.... Τί φταίει για αυτό? Τα λιπάσματα?

[@jerrylansbury9558]

No till.....then the constant talk is about tilling ? Which is it ? I have a disc.......with the gangs out of gear.......and compared to my neighbors so called vertical till implement........there is no difference. Still they say Im discing. Please...... define " No TILL " ??????

[@SoilLorax]

No tillage implement used to prep the ground. Only the planter may stir the soil.

[@mikekahl5609]

VT is tillage, just minimum tillage

[@leelindsay5618]

Are you only do planting and harvesting with possible laying over, or are you "prepping the soil"? Laying over is actually better with cover crops and this video isn't following any of the science which talks about no-till or minimal till.

[@joshboettcher8930]

No till is a mind set not a farming practice. If you want to improve your soil health you will stop tillage.

[@sassymassey5002]

But the reason we till is because its one less pass of chemical that destroys soil health but this is in the praries where no one notills like no one

[@noni-lx1it]

But how do you do no till if you don't have roundup ready corn/soybeans? Here in southern Europe even if your field is squeaky clean first thing in the spring there are a ton of emerging weeds even on tilled fields let alone on no till. Most of the herbicides we have kill weeds best when they are about 1cm tall. Everything after that is risky. And the thing I see in farming videos from the USA is the use of fungicides. 99% of fields here are mouldboard plowed so that all of the residue is cowered with dirt so with the combination of crop rotation the disease pressure is almost zero. I have never used and don't know anyone who has used fungicides on corn or soybeans. This also almost nullifies the problem with soil pests.

[@sassymassey5002]

@@noni-lx1it exactly no till is for chemical farming and they sell it like it’s for soil health

[@noni-lx1it]

@@sassymassey5002 The other argument I see is that no till builds up organic matter, but this article sums up that even that is not exactly true: www.arc2020.eu/andrea-beste-soil-matters/

[@shaungiesbrecht4697]

Don't need chemical to no till

[@prashantpinkimehra3906]

Syabean lagao khud jaan jao

[@PrestigeWorldWidePWW]

To till or not to till is pretty much common sense. I mean why even discuss the subject?

[@sassymassey5002]

So till ?

[@codydog1700]

Never till

[@sassymassey5002]

Yeah just spray