The quantity and quality of the corn stalks remaining following harvest operations has increased in recent years. This situation has led to damaged tires, decreased planter and drill performance and delayed soil drying and warming in the spring. Vertical tillage is one of the conservation tillage options for managing corn residue prior to planting soybeans. This article summarizes the results from five Michigan on-farm research trials evaluating the effects that two different vertical tillage implements had on soybean yields.
In all cases, the untilled control was not tilled prior to planting soybeans, but had been tilled prior to planting corn the previous year and therefore should not be considered no-till. All vertical tillage operations were performed in the spring into untilled corn stalks and all treatments were planted with no-till planters or drills.
Salford RTS versus an untilled control
The Salford RTS vertical tillage implement was compared to an untilled control at two locations in 2010 and one location in 2012. When the 2010 trials were combined and analyzed, tillage did not significantly affect soybean yields (Table 1).
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