EC Nebraska | swne - 11/27/2013 23:17
You will need to tender the fertilizer. Strip till is tillage only on about half the ground. But it is still a major disruption to the earthworm and microbial activity going on in the soil. Banding nutrients works well in low fertility but won't show as much return in adequate soils. Roots tend to stay close to the nutrient band and not spread out as much. I have seen plants lodge worse in strip till due to the root mass being in loose soil.
I know everyone talks about that, but whenever I've washed root pits on banded fields I've NEVER seen any significant root clumping or failure to spread out. Now, we use a slanted coulter to open a 4-5" slot and dump the dry blend (MAP-based with various blends of micros) in the slot and then press wheel to close the slot. So that's not a true strip-till. We need to upgrade that particular piece of equipment so that we cover more acres with it, but when that's done I intend to apply all my P and most micros with that type of system. I think it's the best way to apply P if you're not doing enough tillage to work it in. |
strip till
