Tillage Best Practices

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History of Tillage Practices

Impact Farms Relationship with the Land:
Formerly 100% no-till in the 1990's, Impact Farms has since done minimum-till, conventional-till, vertical-till, no-till, and strip-till. At Impact Farms, we match our tillage practices to the needs of the crop and soil requirements in each field. We work hard to limit tillage and reduce compaction.

Impact Farming Best practices

Our goal is to reduce or eliminate soil runoff, keep nutrients and nitrates in the soil and maximize yield now and for the future. Different scenarios call for different modes of action and is just one aspect of the level of experience that we have to offer.

Types of Tillage Practices

The soil structure, soil type, and slope on each farm can be much different. Each farm reacts differently from another on which tillage practice or no till method we choose to use. Yield data and water runoff are two ways to determine best tillage practices for the following years.

For example, if a lot of compaction has taken place over the years, it is good to use a deeper type of soil tillage. Compaction usually has to do with the lack of tile and soil structure gets damaged. Vertical tillage is used to size up residue from previous crops, so it will break down quicker and nutrients can be reused in the future crops faster. One other big thing to consider is seed to soil contact which affects uniform seed emergence.

If soil structure is in good condition we are able to use reduced tillage and consider using the no till system. In the spring weather conditions also can determine how much we tillage is used. A few benefits of no till farming include less fuel used per acre, less potential compaction, less tillage equipment needed and letting the soil naturally breakdown.