55 Years of Crop Residue Management.

My interest in soil conservation, drought and water intensified with the drought during my high school years in East Central Nebraska.  I hauled corn out of Minnesota to feed our cattle in Nebraska.  I remember cutting the corn for silage one time during those years which left the soil unprotected from wind erosion.  My dad felt that was one the biggest mistake he ever made when we observed all the soil moving from wind erosion.  In college I learned about the ridge plant system that was just being researched.  My first job in Extension was in Douglas County, Nebraska where we introduced the ridge plant system.  It eliminated pre-plant tillage, saved soil water, moved weeds and volunteer crop seeds and plants out of row and the seed planted was placed in firm moist soil along with a number of other benefits.  I then took an extension job in Southwest Nebraska.  Average dryland corn yields in the area were approximately 25 bushel per acre.  Even after a fallow year before corn planting yields were low.  Winter wheat fallow was the most popular cropping system.  In the winter wheat fallow cropping system there could be as many as 9 tillage operations which dried out the soil and destroyed crop residue which left the soil subject to wind and water soil erosion.  We then started spraying the winter wheat stubble after harvest with atrazine and paraquat to control weeds instead of tillage.  Corn and grain sorghum were then planted no-till into the winter wheat stubble the next spring.  The most popular dryland cropping systems now in the area is winter wheat, corn or grain sorghum, fallow.  Much of the fallow is now no-till with the soil protected with crop residues during the entire 36 month rotation.  Many farmer will state that they fear hail worse than drought because you lose all your crop residue.