|
 With deep tillage, huge
amounts of nitrogen, and plenty of moisture this monoculture
approach seemed to bring good results at first. However, in time
disease, soil wear, and nutrient depletion took its toll.
Corn-on-corn production ultimately brought a decrease in yield.
But not much changes fast in agriculture. And when it comes to what
seed goes in the field, that premise is supported by figures
released this past June. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) surveyed
approximately 8,600 segments of land and 70,500 farm operators
across the U.S on what farmers actually planted for 2018.
-
Soybean planted area was
estimated at 89.6 million acres, down one percent from 2017.
-
Growers expect to harvest
81.8 M acres of corn for grain, down one percent from last year.
Varieties of seed cast also
showed no change:
-
Producers planted 94
percent of the soybean acreage using herbicide resistant seed
varieties, unchanged from 2017.
-
Ninety-two percent of all
corn acres planted in the United States are in biotech
varieties, unchanged from last year.
For most of Illinois,
farmers are planting soybeans or corn with many following rotation
patterns that may include cover crops between seasons or between
rows.
In Logan County many farmers do indeed use crop rotation on their
farms. One farmer shared that soybeans will use the fertilizer that
is left over from his corn crop. Soybeans fix nitrogen to the soil
that corn can use the following year. This saves on fertilizer
costs.
Another local farmer shared that he crop rotates because there is
less chance for diseases and you don’t have to use as much fungicide
and insecticide. Rotation, also keeps this farmer from having to
till a lot of acres.
In Logan County most tillable farmland is put into corn or soybeans
with little difference in total acres of either corn or soybeans.
Comparing numbers of acres planted in corn or soybeans over a range
of years does not determine how many acres might be in rotation, but
you can see small fluctuations which may be related to a planned
rotation, or may be related to other factors, such as more favorable
markets.
|
A three-year
comparative of Logan County corn and soybeans |
| |
Acres
planted |
Acres
harvested |
Bu/A |
Total
Yield |
|
2017 Corn |
185,000 |
182,000 |
213.0 |
38,830,000 |
| Soybeans |
156,500 |
155,800 |
64.7 |
10,087,000 |
|
2016 Corn |
200,500 |
199,300 |
219.4 |
43,723,000 |
| Soybeans |
138,000 |
137,000 |
66.6 |
9,156,000 |
|
2015 Corn |
196,000 |
194,500 |
172.8 |
33,602,000 |
| Soybeans |
140,500 |
140,500 |
56.6 |
7,955,000 |
|
What might be asserted from
the above information is that just as seen in the over-all U.S.
figures, there are not dramatic changes between how much corn and
how much soybeans are planted in Logan County from one year to the
next.
A field study of crop rotation conducted from 2003–2011 in Iowa
contrasted three rotation systems:
• The two-year maize/soybean rotation received fertilizers and
herbicides at rates comparable to those used on nearby farms.
• There was a three-year maize/soybean/small grain plus red clover
rotation.
• The four-year maize/soybean/small grain plus alfalfa-alfalfa
rotation managed with lower synthetic N fertilizer and herbicide
inputs and periodic applications of cattle manure.
The research evidenced less costs in nutrient and pesticide inputs
with higher yield benefits from crop rotation: “Grain yields, mass
of harvested products, and profit in the more diverse systems were
similar to, or greater than, those in the conventional system,
despite reductions of agrichemical inputs. Weeds were suppressed
effectively in all systems, but freshwater toxicity of the more
diverse systems was two orders of magnitude lower than in the
conventional system. Results of our study indicate that more diverse
cropping systems can use small amounts of synthetic agrichemical
inputs as powerful tools with which to tune, rather than drive, agro
ecosystem performance, while meeting or exceeding the performance of
less diverse systems.”
Going back to our original
postulation, not much changes fast in farming, but one thing for
sure, crop rotation is a reputable farming practice that has stood
the test of time.
Growing the same crop in the same place for too many years depletes
the soil of certain nutrients. With rotation, a crop that exhausts
the soil of one kind of nutrient is followed by a crop that returns
the nutrient to the soil. Decisions about rotations may be made in
the year prior, season prior, or sometimes at the last minute
depending on weather, soil tests and market opportunities.
[to top of second column] |
Crop rotation takes time and planning and depends on farm size,
climate, market, soil type, and growing practices.
Each year the challenge is to rotate crops in a manner to have a
profitable farming season. At the same time farmers have to keep in
mind equipment rotation and labor capability. The expert farmer
considers all these aspects of farming before making the rotation
decisions.
Alternating crops on Illinois farmland can provide yield increases,
erosion control and reduced compaction in fields.
Rotating crops over any given plot of land has been an ancient
practice of farming dating to BC (Before Christ birth), a long, long
time ago. Maybe that should tell us something.
In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 25, the Lord shared
some ideas about farming with Moses:
| 2 “Speak to the
Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am
going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to
the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years
prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the
seventh year the land is to have a year of Sabbath rest, a
Sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your
vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the
grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of
rest. :6 Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year
will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female
servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who
live among you, :7 as well as for your livestock and the
wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be
eaten. |
He even goes on later in
the chapter to talk about the market:
| 14 “‘If you sell land
to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take
advantage of each other. 15 You are to buy from your own
people on the basis of the number of years since the
Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the
number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years
are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years
are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is
really being sold to you is the number of crops. |
It is conceivable that this
is where the idea for crop rotation began. Crop rotation is the
intentional planting of growing different types of crops in the same
area in sequenced seasons. It also requires not planting anything at
all in a given season to allow the land to rejuvenate.
Logan County farmers have returned to a program of crop rotation.
Keith Jones reports that on the acreage the Vernon Klockenga family
farms they usually rotate two years of corn and one year of beans to
bring production up and disease down. Jones said, "It seems to be
what works best."
Crop rotation is not just for farmers. Home gardeners practicing
crop rotation tend to find benefits of rotating crops including
higher yield of vegetables and fewer complications from insect pests
and diseases. This is occasionally difficult because of the
limitations of backyard space, so some gardeners choose container
gardening changing the soil at the end of each growing season.
There are risks with crop rotation: improper execution of a crop can
cause more harm than good by taking time and money to repair the
damage of nutrient build up. Also rotating crops does not allow a
farmer to become an expert on a single type of crop. However,
practice of crop rotation is can improve yields, increase soil
nutrients, reduce soil erosion, limit pests and diseases, and
maintain weed control.
Crop rotation is positive for farmers and home gardeners, alike!
References
Diversity study conducted in Iowa from
2003 – 2011 Increasing
cropping system diversity balances productivity, profitability, and
environmental health"
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