SOIL HEALTH
What are the four Principles of Soil Health?​
1. Maximize Living Roots: Living roots can provide the easiest form of food for microbes in the soil. They can feed the foundation species of the soil food web during the growing season.
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2. Maximize Soil Cover: Cover crops, perennial crops and annual crops can be utilized by leaving residues and living mulches on the soil surface. They can help restore soil health, protect natural resources, provide habitat wildlife and livestock feed.
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3. Minimize Disturbance: Incorporating reduced tillage can increase water infiltration, decrease runoff and can make the soil more productive. Some benefits include reducing soil erosion, providing habitat for wildlife, aid in crop growth and save money from reducing the number of passes across the field.
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4. Maximize Diversity: This can be done through a variety of approaches: cover crops, . diversified cropping rotations and grazing livestock.
HELPFUL WEBSITES
NO-TILL
What is no-till? No-till is a farming method where no tillage is done in an agricultural field. The residue from the cash crop stays on the field and is not tilled under. This method has its own advantages and disadvantages. No-till can help decrease erosion, increase the overall soil health of your field and can increase the amount of organic matter in your soil. There are two main challenges to this type of tillage. One includes the challenge of learning how to switch your cash crop rotations to no-till. The other main challenge is the start-up costs of the equipment needed. If you are thinking about transitioning from full width tillage or strip-till to no-till, soybeans are typically the simplest crop to transition with.
COVER CROPS
Cover crops are plants that are being established to cover and protect the soil, rather than being harvested. Cover crops can help reduce erosion, increase soil fertility, increase soil quality, can increase water infiltration rates, provide fall/winter grazing opportunities for livestock and can eventually help with weed management in agricultural fields.
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Cover crops can be planted as a single or multiple species. Mixes can range from being an overwintering mix, which provides excellent coverage in the spring, to a winterkill mix, which typically no dot survive the Minnesota winters. Cover crops can be utilized to fit the goals of the producer and needs of the land.
If a landowner or producer is interested in utilizing cover crops in their rotation, reach out to the office! There are multiple programs available in the county that provide cost-share for this type of practice. Rates can vary depending on the location of the field with the funding source.
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STRIP-TILL
Strip-Till is where the row, in which seed or fertilizer will be placed, will be the only area where tillage is completed. These strips are typically done with a strip-till machine, which tills a width of 6-12 inches. This spacing varies depending on the machine and what the producer wants for their strips. This type of tillage leaves an area of residue between the stripped rows. By utilizing strip-till, one can see their soil health increase and it could provide a more precise application of their fertilizer. Some challenges in utilizing strip-till can include erosion occurring where your strips were tilled and the start-up cost of the strip-till machine.
