Published July 30, 2008 | By admin
Scientist Explains In-the Field How Strip-Till is Catching On!
Here at UC Davis we (Dennis Bryant and associates) pioneered using the Orthman 1tRIPr in tomato production systems by configuring this very versatile tool for bed-center strip tillage and simultaneous furrowing-out. These operations were also combined with bed center herbicide application providing multiple operations in a single pass in front of tomato seedling transplanting.
This has allowed growers to enter fields early in the spring, even during wet years, while reducing the potential negative effects of furrow compaction. It also substantially reduced costs of production by requiring less horsepower and fewer passes than typical pre-transplant operations. This has proven successful in fields with substantial volunteer or cover crop residue as well as conventionally winter weed control systems.
We continue to use this configuration of the Orthman 1tRIPr pre-transplant and follow with a ground driven incorporator for further energy and production cost savings.
This unique configuration of Orthman’s 1tRIPr continues to be a topic of discussion for the attending growers, farm advisors, agricultural researchers and the ag community in general with growing interest during these times of rapidly rising production costs. Thanks to Orthman for their continued support and assisting us in these innovations!
written by: Dennis Bryant, UC-Davis