2015 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine Lincoln Daily News.com March 26, 2015 23
Is fall tillage really necessary?
T
illage is an essential part of commercial crop
operations. From spring planting, mid-season
weed control, to fall cleanup and prep for spring;
tillage serves many different functions.
The focus in crop production is to get the highest
possible yield. But what if you could practice
conservation tillage, keep high yields and cut costs?
Fuel is one of the more obvious savings. There is an
easy to use online calculator supplied by the USDA
that estimates fuel amount and cost for various
tillage options.
We referenced 700 acres corn and 300 acres
soybeans specifically on Logan County soils and at
$3.00 per gallon diesel.
The rough estimate is a $7,000 savings per year
using no-till.
Fill in your figures to learn what fuel savings you
might be missing
aspx
Continued to page 26
Mulch
Till
Ridge
Till
No
Till
3,779
3,170 3,143 2,191
1,571 1,310
1,038 699
5,350 4,480 4,181
2,890
870 1,169 2,460
Acres
Crop
Conventional
Till
Corn
700
Soybeans - wide row
300
Total Fuel Use
Potential Annual Fuel Savings over Conventional Tillage
Savings
16% 22% 46%
Fuel Consumption and Cost
The fuel use estimates are based on per acre fuel uses found in the literature on typical cropping &
tillage systems in your area. These estimates are based on field conditions that existed in test trials
cited in the literature. An example of the literature which supplied fuel consumption usage is “Estimating
Farm Fuel Requirements” by H.W. Downs and R.W. Hansen (
/
FARMMGT/05006.html)
Total Diesel Fuel Consumption Estimate (in gallons per year)
,
