No-till cropping means soil improvement plus carbon for US farmer

摘要

"It is time to change our management practices to match our soils. Traditionally we have changed our soils to meet our management practices." These are the words of David Dukes, a no-till row-cropper in Iowa, north central United States. Dukes is referring to the effect ploughing has had on soils, and now advocates using "chemical tillage" (ie, herbicide) and planting directly into stubble. Dukes is a fourth generation farmer. He and one full-time employee manage 542 hectares, some of which are leased. The average rainfall is 875mm, which occurs mainly from March to June, although autumn (September to November) can be wet. The farm enterprise includes 120 cattle in a small feedlot, 3000 hogs, 333ha of crop land, and the remaining land is growing pasture and hay. Six to seven hundred large round bales of hay are produced each year and fed to the cattle. The hogs are weaned at three weeks, and moved from the nursery when they reach 30kg liveweight. For marketing purposes, Dukes stopped using hormones and antibiotics on his cattle two years ago. However, he is not yet receiving a premium for the changed approach.