What crops work best with no-till?
Written by
Paul Reynolds
Reviewed by
Prof. Samuel Fitzgerald, Ph.D.The benefits of no-till farming stand out, particularly with corn and soybeans coupled with cereal rye cover crops, sunflowers, which mitigate subsoil compaction, and clear advantages for sorghum in dry plateaus. The yield advantages from winter wheat, which gains nitrogen from biologically-fixing legume partners, is replacing traditional management systems with synergistic management with their diverse systems maximizing soil biology with fewer inputs.
Primary Cash Crops
- Corn: 36" row spacing with cereal rye covers
- Soybeans: Drill-planted into terminated rye biomass
- Sorghum: 30" rows for arid region adaptability
Complementary Crops
- Sunflowers: Taproots reach 10 ft for subsoil mining
- Winter wheat: Frost-seeded with crimson clover
- Legumes: Fix 45 lb/acre nitrogen for subsequent crops
Cereal rye has become a valuable tool for many corn-soy rotations, for its 85% weed suppression potential through allelopathy. Its root mass adds approximately 1.2 tons/acre of organic matter in the winter. Terminate at 50% flowering with roller-crimpers to establish an ideal planting mulch without herbicides.
Farmers can attain a transition of 3-5 years when they first allocate 20% of their crop area to sorghum or sunflower. These deep-rooting crops biologically till the compacted layers while also creating an income source. As the soil structure is improved, farmers can add corn/soybean no-till acres at a gradual pace. Farmers use cover crops to help accelerate organic matter increases.
Read the full article: No Till Benefits: Boost Soil Health & Farm Profits
