Downunder_7720
Guest
Don't exactly "No till",but minimum till [two passes] or direct drill into last years residue. Been doing it for 15 years, and in my part of State of Victoria in Aust. it has helped the 'bottom line' -profit. Figures run through a farm business organisation show that since I have been retaining stubble [wheat, barley, lentils, canola, peas and beans] there has been a better return in $ per hectare per usable millimeter of rainfall. We only get 287mm [long term average] Growing season Rain, April to Oct winter crops, and evaporation is about 110mm. My experience was that it took our self muylching soil about three years to build up the soil microbes. During that time we needed more Nit fertiliser to compensate for breakdown of stubble, but since then all is O.K. Retaining stubble sure beats burning, leaving soil bare, and seeing it drift in wind if it turns out to be a drought. Getting some problems with resistance in grass weed. Solution is grow a hay crop, then be fanatical about killing anything that looks like setting a seed. If too big a seed bank, do two hay crop years then go back to grain crops.