The Rural Voice, 1978-03, Page 26Tips on tillage
The Department of Land Resource
Science at the University of Guelph has
these comments and suggestions for
farmers regarding the need to plow. A
farmer today has a choice of many
implements to till his soil. No longer does
he need to restrict implements as he did
even ten years ago. The important task
now is to select the right combination of
implements for maximum crop perfor-
mance at reasonable tillage costs.
Tillage requirements depend on the kind
of soil. A sandy or gravelly soil requires
little, if any, tillage, provided we can
control weeds and manage residues so that
subsequent crops can be planted. In fact,
no tillage has produced higher yields of
corn than conventional tillage, presumably
because dead residues prevented the loss
of soil moisture.
Finer -textured soils need periodic
loosening if top yields are required. This is
where the plow is important. The turning
action of th'e moldboard is the bestknown
means of getting just the right degree of
pulverization - it avoids excessive
' breakdown of soil into primary particles
and retains good aggregation. It does this
by setting up shear planes in several
directions as the plow passes through the
soil. To achieve good aggregation. it is
necessary that this structural condidition
be developed by a sound soil management
'program within which fine -rooted crops
have an opportunity to form stable
aggregates. and residues are returned to
the soil. If stable aggregates are not
present, any loosening action by the plow
will likely be short-lived - soil particles will
simply run together following the lossening
action of frost. We then say the soil is in
poor tilth and no amount of tillage will
rectify the situation.
There is good reason to defer plowing
until spring, or eliminate it altogether to
leave residues on the soil surface for
erosion protection. An alternative here is
the chisel plow which can be used in fall
while soil is relatively dry. Heavy-duty.
offset disks are not as desirable because
they over -pulverize the soil and over -incor-
porate residues. If soil must be worked in
the spring to prepare a seedbed. the first
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PG. 26. THE RURAL VOICE/MARCH 1978.
consideration should be the plow. Soil can
usually be worked earlier and with greater
success by plowing than by any other
operation.
To be effective and economical, a tillage
operation should be as shallow as possible.
Research at the Agriculture Canada
Station. Woodslee. Ontario. indicates no
• yield advantage from plowing deeper than
10 centimetres. Power requirements
actually quadruple when depth is doubled
due to the greater volume of soil disturbed
plus great draft per unit volume. Speed
likewise creates a disproportionate in-
crease in power so that more fuel is
required to plow a given area at high speed
than at low. Speed may also create
undersirable effects such as excessive
pulverization and destruction of aggreg-
ates. -
There are good arguments for plowing as
opposed to other forms of primary tillage.
This applies to those situations where some
form of tillage is necessary. For sloping
land which is erodible. certain precautior.s
as to time or alternatives may be
necessary. For fine -textured (clay) soil. fall
plowing is superior to spring plowing. In all
cases. moderation in depth and speed of
operation are beneficial.
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