No Till Notes: Rotations

The final stop on our tour at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, S.D., was a look at the dry land portion of the farm. I’ve always felt dry land farming is much more interesting than irrigated farming. The ability to irrigate can mask some deficiencies in cropping rotation and soil health.

On dry land acres, there is much less room for error.

Proper management of crop rotations is critical to the success of a continuous no-till cropping system. Lack of carbon inputs, lack of sufficient residues to protect the soil surface, poor crop diversity and insufficient intervals between like crop...