Perry County, 35 miles NW of Harrisburg, PA | John,
First, lets please not let this get into a till vs. no-till fight. We all choose a system that is best for our operations, whether it be full tillage, conservation tillage, no-till or some combination that is best for our individual situations.
With that being said, the switch to no-till in my county was is NO WAY a result of any governmemt progam. Those that have switched have done so to save time and $$$. PERIOD!!! Many of us are dairy farmers that are trying to cover as much or more acres with less available labor. We just don't have the time to turn dirt like was done in the past. Those that have switched over the last few years have been watching those of us who have been playing this no-till game for over 10 years or more and winning. Our crops are consistently as good or better with less time and $$ involved in getting the crop out. Note: Perry County has HILLS. No-till keeps the soil where it is needed.
Yes, REAP has brought some new equipment into the county, but I can not think of even 1 case where it was purposely used to start no-tilling. In every case, the farmer was already no-tilling, he just used the incentive to update an existing piece or used it to buy a bigger piece of equipment.
We have been "left alone" to do our own changing and we are still choosing to no-till. It is a system that works for our situations.
Dave |
Does your eq. dealer support conservation farming, or fear it?
