No-till and Sustainable Agriculture
Conservation tillage systems are developing as an important part of sustainable agricultural systems, in that they can be used to decrease soil erosion losses ordinarily associated with conventional tillage. With conventional tillage (complete turning over of the soil, a common practice in the Klamath Basin), bare soil is exposed to the erosive action of water and wind.
Gone are the "good old
days" where single practice farming techniques were the rule.
In today's agriculture producing areas, much is at stake both
financially and environmentally.
Farming practices now must include not only the best possible
land use, they must be fiscally sound as well.
Farming practices must include a wildlife element that all
farmers willingly embrace as long as they are based on common sense.
No-till farming can be a valuable tool to keep food production
possible at the lowest possible cost to the grower and the consumer.
KSWCD's two no-till drills are continuing to gain in popularity with a growing number of area farmers. New this year is the addition of a small acreage no-till seeder is available for lease from the Lava Beds-Butte Valley Resource Conservation District (LB-BV RCD).
The LB-BV RCD saw a need for the small acreage landowner to gain the benefits of no-till farming. Often times, the two larger no-till drills just simply would not work for the smaller-size farming operation. Occasionally a landowner does not have access to a large enough tractor to pull the bigger machines. This new drill is 8 feet wide, and mounts on the drawbars and third point of a tractor, and in most cases a much smaller tractor will work.
This new machine is well suited for landowners who want to seed ditch-banks, levies, dikes, or buffer strips for wildlife habitat. It will work in areas that have limited access or where the larger grain drills simply cannot navigate.
Both conservation districts remain optimistic about work with the no-till concept, and the no-till machines are available to landowners in both California and Oregon. Once again, farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin have shown they are willing and anxious to work across political boundaries for the common good of sustainable conservation agriculture.
No-till and Water Quality
What crops can be planted?
No-till and Weed Control
No-till and Crop Yields
No-till and Sustainable Agriculture