{"id":1992,"date":"2017-03-29T09:50:15","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T13:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:22:59","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T14:22:59","slug":"vertical-tillage-how-does-it-fit-in-the-tillage-continuum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/vertical-tillage-how-does-it-fit-in-the-tillage-continuum\/","title":{"rendered":"VERTICAL TILLAGE: HOW DOES IT FIT IN THE TILLAGE CONTINUUM?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rico Balzano<\/a>, UVM Extension Agronomy Outreach Professional<\/em><\/p>\n

Here in Vermont, when farmers are considering a no-till system, several
\nquestions often arise: What about incorporating manure? What about cold
\nsoils? What about ruts leftover from harvest? Vertical tillage offers a solution with minimal soil disturbance and virtually no soil inversion, thereby maintaining a natural soil structure essential for success when otherwise no-tilling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vertical tillage implement (Great Plains) with straight cutting disks, rotary harrow and rolling baskets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aerator machine (Gen-Til) equipped with coulters for vertical tillage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vertical tillage can be a vague and confusing term for both equipment dealers and farmers, mostly because there are so many implements that claim to accomplish vertical tillage. A very general definition of vertical tillage equipment is any implement with disks, shanks, or teeth that enter AND leave the soil vertically, only moving soil up and down. Implements that move soil horizontally, such as moldboard plows and disk harrows
\n(with concave disks), create restriction layers that impede water movement and root growth. These implements shear or smear the soil, which can lead to compaction in or below the tillage depth.<\/p>\n

By definition in-line rippers and chisel plows (with straight points) are vertical tillage tools, and can be used to \u201creset\u201d the soil profile when restriction layer(s) are present. Ideally, this \u201creset\u201d should happen only when necessary and not on an annual basis, which would just amount to a conventional tillage system. Most often, vertical tillage refers to shallow or surface tillage that sizes and incorporates residue and manure without creating a stratification layer. Usually the depth is limited to 2\u201d to avoid
\ncreating a compacted layer under the seed. This allows vertical tillage to fit into a reduced tillage system, with the goal of seeding at or below tillage depth. Other advantages of vertical tillage in a reduced tillage system include warming the seed bed in the spring, incorporating
\ncover crop seed in the fall, incorporating manure, and leveling out ruts from harvest or other field activities.<\/p>\n

Most vertical tillage tools consist of vertical cutting blades set straight or at a very shallow angle to size and incorporate residue while minimizing horizontal soil movement. Also, most implements have some combination of rolling baskets and cultivator wheels to break up clods and level the seed bed. Aerator machines can be effective vertical tillage tools, especially when equipped with some combination of coulters, rolling cultivators, or rolling baskets. Some manufacturers\u2019 vertical tillage implements have
\nconcave disks or straight disks set on an aggressive angle. These set-ups can help incorporate residue and manure, but increase the chances of smearing soil and creating compaction in the tillage zone. Care must be taken not to use ANY tillage implement when soil moisture is too high, as more harm than good will be done.<\/p>\n

\n

Where\u2019s Rico? <\/em>\"\"<\/a>Rico Balzano has moved to the Rutland Extension office, but he is still an active part of our team and continues to be involved in programming
\ncontent and outreach. Contact him at:
\n(802) 773-3340 ext. 281, rico.balzano@uvm.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rico Balzano, UVM Extension Agronomy Outreach Professional Here in Vermont, when farmers are considering a no-till system, several questions often arise: What about incorporating manure? What about cold soils? What about ruts leftover from harvest? Vertical tillage offers a solution with minimal soil disturbance and virtually no soil inversion, thereby maintaining a natural soil … Continue reading “VERTICAL TILLAGE: HOW DOES IT FIT IN THE TILLAGE CONTINUUM?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[420899,52202],"tags":[420928],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter","category-no-till-2","tag-spring-2017-newsletter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1049"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2031,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions\/2031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cvcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}