Farmer-Led Research

The challenges in weed management in 1992 came from the weather. Postemergence herbicides were ineffective in the dry spring and early summer conditions, while there were plenty of good days for using the rotary hoe. But cultivating helped …

PFI cooperators have continued to work with Iowa State University researchers on the practice of narrow strip intercropping. In narrow strip intercropping, alternating strips of different crops run side by side across the field. In addition to giving …

Many farmers, agricultural professionals, policy makers, and members of the general public have questions about the manner in which weeds are controlled in row crops: Are trade-offs between tillage and herbicides inevitable? What are the environmental effects of …

Richard and Sharon Thompson devoted a major effort in 1991 to the study of cover crops for weed control. (See table) Previous trials by the Thompsons and other cooperators have pursued cost reduction, weed control, and managing the …

The table of manure trials shows two trials comparing manure to purchased nitrogen. In neither the Reicherts trial nor the Svoboda trial was there a significant yield difference. In the trial on the farm of Mike and Jamie …

1991 was the fourth year PFI has used the late spring soil nitrate test for corn. The test has been a good indicator of nitrogen sidedress needs in both dry years and wet. PFI cooperators continue to work …

Rootworm Control Jim and Vickie Striegel compared rates of rootworm insecticide. (See table 1) They used the shopcrafted banders manufactured by their neighbor, Larry Conrad, which are supposed to give more even distribution of material across the row …

Following on university research that shows banding to be the most efficient method of fertilization in ridge tillage, PFI cooperators have compared banding and broadcasting on their own farms. Two trials this year yielded inconclusive results. Paul and …

Two-Treatment Trials Starter fertilizers were a popular subject of trials in 1991. Of nine with-and-without trials, two found a significant yield increase and one a significant yield decrease with starters, and six trials found no significant yield difference. …

In the past five years PFI cooperators have compiled an impressive record showing that ridge tillage can be used to raise crops profitably without herbicides. Even in the wet growing season of 1990, only one of eleven trials …

The list of on-farm investigations goes on. Not every question that comes up lends itself to a replicated field trial. In these cases, simple demonstrations of a practice help in the exchange and development of management pointers. For …

Cooperators continue to search for ways to succeed with winter cover crops, and interes Midwest continues as well. The three cover crop trials carried out in 1990 illustrate that s are a drawback. The National Soil Tilth Laboratory …