North Dakota Clay Mineralogy Impacts Crop Potassium Nutrition and Tillage Systems | NDSU Agriculture

What is remarkable, therefore, is that the southwestern area in North Dakota, where no-till has been used the longest with the greatest success, is the area in western North Dakota that is lowest in smectite content and with many fields with high kaolinite content (Figure 12; Figure 13). Perhaps the reason that no-till has been so successful was that early adopters were fortunate in their timing.

The 1970s until 1992 were relatively dry, with severe drought years from 1988 through 1990. By the time the most recent wet period began in 1992, soil aggregates and soil biology related to long-term no-till already were established.

With the due care and patience common to North Dakota long-term no-till farmers, planting when it is fit, using controlled traffic in some systems and combining trips for fertilization at seeding to reduce traffic in the fields, these farmers have maintained and improved their soil health in the worst possible soil mineral types that might support it.

Western no-till farmer success provides encouragement to growers in eastern North Dakota who farm soils that are much more forgiving of early no-till establishment mistakes (Figure 12; Figure 16). With reasonable care and patience in crop establishment timing and field activities, no-till or modified no-till, such as strip-till systems, should be successful, especially with the increase in tile-drained fields and use of cover crops in eastern North Dakota fields.

Although conventional tillage is dominant to date in the Red River Valley and in soils with similar high clay content, a growing number of farmers are using no-till and strip-till in high-clay soils for periods as long as 40 years with excellent success. Utilization of cover crops in these systems appears to hasten conversion to no-till systems, with fewer adverse consequences of wet seasons and much higher traffic tolerance from heavy machinery.