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.
You’ve removed dense and compacted soil layers, balanced fertility and pH through the profile and set up your soil for vertical farming. Here are the final boxes to check to move away from horizontal farming.
Once you balance fertility and pH in the soil profile, and adjust to making small, more frequent lime applications, you probably won’t need to mix fertilizer into the soil, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist.
A chocolate layer cake is good. Layers of dense or compacted soil aren’t so good. Once you’ve probed or dug and found the layers put in place by horizontal farming tools, it’s time to remove them. Here’s how.
Vertical tillage is not a single tool or a single pass — it’s a comprehensive system, says Ken Ferrie. Here’s what you need to understand about a vertical tillage system and the first step of removing horizontal layers.
Removing compaction and density layers before transitioning to a vertical system can add 15 bu. to 20 bu. per acre and might lower cost of production, according to Farm Journal Test Plot research.
Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie shares two videos to explain how to successfully set and operate your hybrid chisel and inline ripper.
What is vertical farming and how can it set you up for future government incentives? Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, explains it often requires mixing and matching tools for primary and secondary tillage.