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| Jim:
I believe that your generalization regarding ND will roughly apply to KS east/west. That said, Mark Viets has quickly pointed out that there's a lot of risk in spouting generalities in Great Plains states. Generalizing again, we don't usually need to extend our growing season in the western part of the state via strip-till's soil warming; it's already too long for the precipitation available. But, that applies to dryland farming for the most part and not irrigation. Irrigated crops might very well benefit from growing season extension. Moreover, those with irrigated crops (250 bu/acre corn in particular) struggle with handling the large amounts of residue in a pure no-till setting. Finally, because of the high N needs, irrigated farmers also like to stay with the cheaper NH3 if possible. So, it should not be surprising to see a lot of irrigated strip tillers in the western reaches of states like KS and NE. Of course, we then turn to "what about limited irrigation," where we might be able to raise only 150 bu/acre corn rather than 250. Is that more like dryland or more like irrigated, etc. etc.? Finally, we begin to examine evidence about whether root development is actually greater in strip till and whether such increased root development actually translates to higher crop yield and so on. As always, thanks for your input to this group.
Terry Kastens, agricultural economist, Kansas State University
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no-till vs. conventional
