Tillage

General Equipment Information

Farm equipment size has been steadily increasing over the past 40 years since the acreage under production for for a single farm operation have also increased. This is an index to images for production-scale tillage equipment commonly used in South Dakota:

Standard Tillage Approaches

Tillage is a process by which an implement is pulled through a field to mix and disturb the soil to prepare the field as a seedbed. A primary tillage operation is performed in the Fall or early Spring for maximum soil disturbance. This is accomplished by either a chisel plow, a disk or field cultivator or a moldboard plow (not as common anymore). A second tillage operation is usually accomplished just before crops are planted so that soil moisture loss is minimized. This is a shallow operation designed to breakup large dirt clods and smooth the soil surface.

Soils in eastern South Dakota are cold and moist in the early-mid Spring as the complete dissipation of the ground frost can occur as late as mid-April. High soil moisture and low soil temperatures are the most important factors that delay planting operations. Tillage encourages soil moisture evaporation and consequently, increases the ability of the soil to warm-up faster. Tillage is also a low cost method for controlling weeds. In addition, a mid-season cultivation operation by either a field cultivator or rotary hoe to row crops controls control weeds and increases topsoil infiltration. Corn achieves it's greatest yield potential with tillage. However, the disadvantage of tillage is that it can increase production costs, soil compaction, wind and water erosion, and the loss of soil moisture in dry years.

Conservation Tillage

"Conservation tillage" is a concept introduced by the USDA within the last 40 years as another soil conservation tool. By limiting the number or intensity of tillage operations, crop residue from previous crops remains on the soil surface. The greater the amount of residue remaining on the surface, the greater the soil erosion is reduced. Variations of the approach include minimum till, ridge-till, and no-till or zero-till. All of these approaches minimize or eliminate the use of tillage implements before planting operations begin. Even though minimum tillage approaches may lower grain yields and increase herbicide costs, they may actually increase profitability. An economic benefit is realized as less equipment, labor, and fuel is utilized and production costs are lowered. The proportion of South Dakota farms employing tillage compared to those utilizing some sort of conservation tillage practices has been changing to favor a more conservation-minded approach.

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