Vertical Farming
Farmers wanting to hang onto the soil moisture in their fields are struggling to address compaction and ruts where there has been little to no recent rainfall. Anhydrous ammonia applications are also difficult to get sealed in fields where moisture is minimal.
MIT scientists have developed robotic insects that could aid farming through artificial pollination.
Every farmer can reduce tillage — from the number of passes to the aggressiveness or the depth of the tillage tool. Learn more about reduced tillage practices such as vertical-till, strip-till, zone-till and no-till.
December might provide an opportunity. Another consideration is moving to no-till. Ferrie also addresses recouping dollars on ground that is going into solar projects.
Residue might hamper uptake, surface cover slows soil warming and most cover crops raise the carbon penalty. Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie shares timing and placement tips for phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen.
Farm Journal Test Plot research proves practices that reduce soil disturbance and sequester carbon perform best in a vertical farming system, as opposed to horizontal tillage, which creates yield-limiting soil layers.
Before heading to the field to apply anhydrous, firm up what crop you’re going to plant. Growers have been kicking around the idea of going beans-on-beans, given the markets. But anhydrous essentially ties you to corn.
A sudden change in soil density that occurs from the freezing-thawing process can cause problems with corn root growth this spring and impede water movement in the soil during the growing season.