No-till potatoes into cover crop, using mod. conv. planter

Over the next two growing seasons, my partners and I will research the performance of Russet Burbank potatoes that have been no-tilled into a cover crop using a minimally modified conventional planter in SE Idaho. This will be a “side-by-side” comparison of the no-tilled potatoes with conventionally tilled and planted potatoes, in the same field (planted to cover crop), under the same center pivot irrigation. The goal of this research is to determine whether this practice is a viable option for production agriculture in SE Idaho.

 

While potatoes can be a very lucrative crop, prices are highly unpredictable year to year. The only way I can increase the potential for profit is to reduce my inputs. I have been participating in the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District’s (SWCD) Healthy Soil Initiative, no-tilling small grains and planting cover crops after small grain harvest. No-tilling the small grains has significantly reduced my inputs. If I could grow a successful crop of potatoes using no-till, it could eliminate up to five tillage operations.

 

I searched the internet for research on no-till potatoes, but didn’t find much information related to production agriculture. However, I did find a video clip of Ron Morse’s no-till of potatoes in cover crops at Virginia Tech in Weed ''Em and Reap Part 2: Reduced tillage strategies for vegetable cropping systems [DVD]. A. Stone. 2006, which sounded promising. So, I “no-tilled” a few rows of potatoes, in 2014, with my conventional potato planter; just to see if it could work. I found that in some areas the planter didn’t place the potato seed deep enough. I

had to go back through with the harrow to cover them deeper. After harvest, the no-tilled potatoes seemed to have performed on par with my conventionally tilled potatoes, though I have no quantitative data to support this conclusion.

 

I have determined that if I were to mount a “tool-bar” with shanks to break the ground just in front of the planter’s furrow openers it would provide enough assistance to the planter, that seed would be placed at the right depth, and eliminate the need for a separate operation to ensure the seed is covered to the right depth.

 

I have enlisted the following partners:

The Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District, NRCS Rexburg District Office, the

Madison County Cooperative Extension Agent. These partners have helped me design the research project. They will help collect and analyze the data that will help me determine if it’s feasible to grow Burbank potatoes using this no-till system.

 

This project will take place on my farm on the Egin Bench, west of St. Anthony, Idaho during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Each year, we will identify about 2.2 acres of a field located under the same irrigation pivot, with a fall planted cover crop, similar soils and the same cropping history. The no-till potatoes will be compared to the conventionally tilled potatoes. We will be tracking emergence, plant health, diseases & pests, production/acre, after-harvest quality and profit/acre for both the conventional and no-till potatoes. I have contracted with a local potato warehouse, Moody Creek Produce, that will run quality tests on the 2.2 acres of no-till potatoes, and 2.2 acres of the conventionally tilled potatoes each year.

 

Some of the challenges we expect from the no-till are:

• Delayed emergence

• Cover crop residue interfering with harvest

• Reduced efficacy of pre-emergent herbicide (needs contact with the soil)/weeds

• Cooler soil temperatures

• Possible reduced yields and/or quality.

Some of the possible benefits we expect are:

• Increased organic matter in the soil which would capture an hold more nutrients from being flushed from the soil by irrigation

• Reducing eliminating up to five tillage operations

• Possible reduction in the amount of water needed to grow the crop, due to increased organic matter, and ground cover prior to row closure.

My partners and I will host and on-farm tour in late July to discuss methods, findings, and lessons learned. My neighbors, local area farmers, legislators, Cooperative Extension, USDA experiment station staff, Idaho State Department of Ag, NRCS staff, Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission, ID SWCD’s with potato growers, Potato Growers Association and the press will be invited to attend.

We will develop and update a factsheet on our findings, and chronicle all field aspects and findings with a video.

Factsheets will be available at the Farm Service Agency (FSA), NRCS office, Farm Credit Services, County Cooperative Extension, and SWCD offices. We will encourage the staffs of these agencies and businesses to provide their potato growers with a copy. It will also be posted on the Idaho NRCS, and University of Idaho Cooperative Extension websites.

DVDs of the video will be made to be used a local farmer meetings. The video will be posted to You Tube with links to the video posted on the NRCS and the Cooperative Extension websites. The video will be an on-going production. We will be posting segments as the project unfolds.

We will present our findings at the Idaho Potato Conference in Pocatello, Idaho, January 2019.