For Immediate Release
Date: September 21, 2007

Contact:
Paige Buck, State Public Affairs Specialist, (217) 353.6606

Fight the Urge to Fall Till!

Champaign IL—Staff from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Illinois are discouraging farmers from fall tillage operations. “With such an early harvest and yields so good, you might be tempted to get back on that equipment and disk things up a bit,” says NRCS State Conservation Agronomist Brett Roberts. “Unless you just like wasting gas or destroying good soil structure, I’d ask you to do something else this fall—do some early Christmas shopping, paint that basement or just read a book—but leave that residue alone and let the soil quality characteristics you’ve built over the last year sit tight. Resist that urge to turn that soil over,” adds Roberts.

Whether landowners planted corn, beans, or wheat this year, leaving crop residue on the soil surface over the winter is a valuable contribution to the quality of the soil and the erosion protection available on the farm. For landowners committed to a no-till operation, a reduced tillage operation, or any conservation tillage system, resisting this urge to till saves money and offers a variety of other environmental benefits.

“It means fewer trips across the field, less wear and tear on equipment, better erosion control, improved soil quality, wildlife habitat establishment, and water quality enhancements, just to name a few,” Roberts explains.

Roberts also notes that harvest progress is on pace to be completed earlier than normal in some regions of the state. The early harvest provides more time for farmers to complete normal fall activities such as applying fertilizer. Farmers are urged to delay nitrogen application until the soils are cooler. Applying nitrogen to warm soils creates a high potential for losses to occur and making nitrogen unavailable next year to the following corn crop. Part of the nitrogen lost can leach into the ground water or be drained from the field through tile lines.

“Nitrogen loss represents an economic loss to producers and is detrimental to water quality at the same time,” notes Roberts. It is recommended that farmers delay fall nitrogen applications until soils remain at 60 degrees or cooler. Soils in Illinois generally do not cool sufficiently until mid October in Northern Illinois or the third week in October in Central Illinois. It is best to wait until soils reach 50 degrees unless nitrogen is stabilized. It must be emphasized that nitrogen should not be applied in the fall in Illinois in areas south of Route 16.

“Take advantage of this early harvest and the extra time it gives you but don’t let it tempt you to do things that make take their toll on the environment or your bottom line,” adds Roberts.

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