More local farmers custom strip tilling

With fall harvest primarily done now for weeks, farmers throughout the region are cleaning up their machinery, stowing it away for the winter, and getting back to the business of family and other work.
But its this time of year that local farmer Jerry Houselog is actually the busiest, preparing for next spring by getting in as much custom strip till work as possible.
And not just on his own fields.
Houselog, who farms with his wife, Krist, just west of the Minnesota border off Highway 34, has been strip tilling his fields for years, following in the footsteps of other farm soil conservationists in this region. Once his own corn and soybean fields are done, he moves throughout the county, increasingly doing the same custom work for others.
Its important, he says.
The practice not only improves the quality of ones soil by holding onto valuable nutrients, such as Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), it also improves yield and drastically reduces erosion from area fields.
Custom strip tilling is actually a version of no-till as in the fall, only about a third of the ground gets worked up, Houselog said and more farmers locally seem to be giving it a try.
Fertilizer is put into the strip at the same time and in the spring, corn or soybeans can be planted without the ground having to be re-worked.
It helps stop erosion from the wind and rain and prevents much of the snirt, or snoil the black snow you often see in the ditch, throughout the winter.
Snirt, according to officials with South Dakota State University Extenion, is a clear example of where valuable topsoil is lost.
Gods not making more soil, not in our lifetime. Id like to save what we have, Houselog said. Weve got so many guys who were taught that when it warms in the spring thats the best time (to till).
On its website, researchers with SDSU Extension state that, As years have passed, research and experience have shown us that tillage actually reduces water infiltration by destroying natural pores and root channels that transport water. Tillage also destroys the natural soil ecosystem, and burns up soil carbon (organic matter) more quickly. In a dry year, keeping as much soil moisture as possible is very important. In fact, soil organic matter can hold up to 20 times its weight in water (Reicosky, 2005). Tillage reduces soil organic matter by exposing it to air, which allows it to be consumed by opportunistic bacteria and lost as carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. The very reasons many were originally taught to till the ground have now been proven to be just the opposite.