July 2, 2009 - Andy Spencer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service dug himself into a hole at the most recent Stiles Farm Field Day in Thrall. Actually, he climbed into a hole that had already been dug to show producers the difference in the root systems of crops grown with strip till techniques, compared to those raised on land that has been tilled in a conventional manner.
"Strip tillage puts the fertilizer, the seed and the herbicide in contact with the soil where it does the most good," Spencer said. "Underground, you get moisture conduits from old root channels, earthworms or what-have-you. When you till the ground, it breaks down those moisture conduits, meaning that the water doesn't filter through the soil like it should."
Spencer is one of several researchers conducting long-term water utilization studies at Stiles Farm, where strip tilling has become standard operating procedure. The only Stiles acres not grown with strip till techniques are the ones devoted to research of other systems.
The research plots at Stiles Farm look at the results of no-till, strip-till and conventional tillage practices on land with a cotton-corn-grain sorghum rotation. Researchers say the data shows that strip tillage provides the best results and the best economic return, especially when considered in terms of time management.
"You can interpret data a lot of ways, but one thing these studies have shown is that you spend a lot less time in the field with strip till," Spencer said. "If you believe that time is money, strip till is a better farming system for you. It gives you more time to get over new land if you need to, or attend to other phases of your operation."
Instead of tilling an entire field, as in the conventional practice, strip tilling utilizes tillage strips about 10 inches wide, which are seeded and fertilized. Residue is left on the ground between the strips to help conserve precious moisture and reduce erosion.
"The mission of Stiles Farm is to demonstrate crops and techniques for the Blacklands," Spencer said. "It's significant that Archie (Abrameit, manager of Stiles Farm) strip tills nearly all of his acreage."
Abrameit said that strip tillage reduces the amount of time a farmer spends on the tractor in a field, which saves fuel as well as time. The direct placement of fertilizer also reduces the amount of fertilizer needed, which cuts back on another input cost.
"Producers might look at yield totals from some of these studies and decide that conventional tillage is the most productive, but just looking at yields doesn't take into account the cost savings you get from strip tilling, as well as the time you can save," he said.
Dean Carstens of Twin Diamond Industries in Minden, Neb., demonstrated some of strip-till equipment his company sells. He compared strip-tilled crops to potted plants.
"It works pretty much the same way," he said. "You're concentrating all the fertility into that one area of the plant, same as you do with a potted plant."
The Stiles Farm Field Day has been held annually since 1963, with the exception of 1996, when drought forced its cancellation. The 3,300-acre farm was established in 1961, by bequest from the late J.V. and H.A. Stiles to Texas A&M University in 1961, and operates as a crop and livestock demonstration site for Central Texas and the state.
