He also says there’s a dynamic relationship between the art and science of farming. “Science gives you the tools, and the art is in how you make the system function,” he says, adding that the goal for productive crops should be to optimize the system so that the most profit can be gleaned from the least inputs while protecting and enhancing the soil ecosystem. While Hogan concedes the row clearing puts an extra step in the process for no-tillers, he says it’s been better than their past experience with traditional tillage, in which fields were worked in the fall and cultivated two or more or more times in the spring. 8 “Those three passes cost-wise would be at least six times more costly than running the row clearer once,” he says. Another alternative to fall tillage for residue management or spring row clearing, according to McDonald, is a rapid, shallow till in the spring, when the days are warmer, and the residue is more brittle and oxidized from overwintering. “Tillage was originally developed as a weed control system, and its use for seedbed preparation came later,” he says. “Now, we really don’t need a lot of tillage for seedbed preparation, but we can use it to manage the previous crop residue before planting the next crop.” McDonald believes the row clearing system is a superior choice and that using this method supports no-till farming while resolving the challenge of managing substantial corn residue after harvest and the trash issues that often affect soybean early emergence and growth the next spring. At the end of the day, he says, the system and the choices made should not be about bushels per acre but about dollars of profit per acre, with special attention paid to protecting and enhancing the soil platform. As he summarized in an article in CropTalk, “This system is worth thinking about if your goal is lower costs, improved soil management and continuing to achieve top yields!” l USING A ROW CLEANER SUPPORTS NO-TILL FARMING WHILE RESOLVING THE CHALLENGE OF MANAGING SUBSTANTIAL CORN RESIDUE AFTER HARVEST. PHOTO COURTESY OF ONTARIO MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS. continued from page 6
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