How We Kept Weeds Away Without PlowinG
One of the important issues to be resolved was how are we were going to control weeds in this no-till plot without plowing. In our conventional tillage, farming the weeds between the rows of the crop are destroyed by plowing. Plowing is where small delta shaped pieces of iron are attached to an implement called a cultivator and are drug through the dirt behind a tractor just deep enough to uproot the small, emerging weeds and grasses.
How would we keep the weeds at bay without cultivating? Enter the hooded sprayer.
Imagine a plastic trash can cut in half top to bottom. This is the basic shape and configuration of the hoods. The hoods are suspended from a tool bar allowing it to hang suspended ever slightly above the ground with the open side pointed towards the ground. Under the tunnels formed by the hoods is mounted a spray tip. From this spray tip a chemical is sprayed to kill all the weeds and grasses, but the hood protects the cash crop from damage. We were successful keeping the weeds down and the question was answered. Yes, we are able to control weeds using this method. However, weed control was not the only truth that needed discovering.
In the coastal plains of the southern states our soils are a sandy loam and suffer from a layer formed in the soil called a hardpan. This hardpan blocks the roots of the crops from penetrating into the subsoil to access moisture and nutrients and can be a severe yield robber. So, what in the world are we to do about this hardpan in a no-till situation?
Concerning the hardpan, we can remedy that problem by using an implement called a strip tiller. A strip till implement has a shank that will go deep enough into the soil profile to break the hard pan in the subsoil and also tills a narrow strip behind the shank at the surface of the ground to give a nice area to plant into. It is sort of the best of both worlds. Right here let me say that no-till, strip-till, ridge-till and others are all conservation tillage methods that disturb the surface of the ground as little as possible and are all useful in reducing erosion and increasing farmers bottom line.
The next 10-12 years saw us going 100% no-till. I thought the discovery process had pretty much come to an end and that we were sitting on a pretty tall mountain of success, but instead of a mountain it was more like a plateau. We had found a better and more efficient way to create chaos for the weeds. We found that the savings enjoyed by using strip-till gave us more control. There was self-satisfaction in defending against the weeds and the other issues farmers face, plus there was self-satisfaction in enjoying the more efficient methods of farming that we employed. But to me a plateau is not a pleasant place to be. I’d just as soon be in a rut. Dang I was getting bored. Fortunately, like so many things in life, what we thought was the end was just the beginning.