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By adding cover crops and
switching to no till, Junior Upton drastically improved his
habitually compacted soil.
Photo by Dan Anderson. |
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Ralph
“Junior” Upton
Springerton, Illinois
New in 2005
Summary of Operation
1,800 acres of no-till corn, beans and wheat
Rye grass, cereal rye and hairy vetch cover crops
Problem Addressed
Difficult soil characteristics.
Ralph “Junior” Upton farms poorly drained land characterized
by an impenetrable layer, or “plow pan,” six to eight
inches deep that crop roots typically can’t grow through.
Background
Upton, whom everyone calls “Junior,”
grew up on the land he now farms. His father was a teacher and only
dabbled in farming, but Upton loved it, and still does. He began
farming full time in 1964, at age 18, on the family’s 1,800
acres in southern Illinois, and, over time, perfected his cropping
system.
To Upton, the soil became everything. His dominant soil type ––
Bluford –– is poorly drained, especially on the broad
summits of his farm’s hills and knolls. On slope ranging from
0 to 3 percent, Upton is challenged by the plow pan limiting the
soil from holding water. Droughts, even short ones, can be a problem,
and heavy rains cause flooding that is slow to recede in low areas.
For years, he did the best he could with the difficult soils he
had. He employed tillage and other technologies, but did not think
he could actually improve the soil over the long term.
One day, in the mid-1980s, Upton got a magnified view of his soil’s
limitations. While tearing out a fence, Upton noticed plenty of
moisture in the soil about three feet down. Above it sat a compacted
layer of soil through which no roots were growing. Upton had a visible
confirmation of why, during dry years, the shallow-rooted crops
dried up even though there was plenty of water stored in the soil
below.
“I began looking for a way to break up that plow pan so my
crops could get to the moisture they needed,” he says.
Focal Point of Operation
— No-till and cover crops
About the same time Upton learned about his soil’s
plow plan, he began hearing about no-till farming. He wondered if
some of the claims might help his soil. He started no-tilling, thinking
that it might at least stop further erosion of his soil, and possibly
alleviate some of the compaction caused by the plow pan.
A few years later, with the help of University of Illinois Extension
Educator, Mike Plumer, Upton started educating himself about cover
crops, non-cash crops grown for benefits such as protecting the
soil from erosion, providing nitrogen to the following cash crop,
helping manage weeds, increasing soil organic matter and providing
habitat for beneficial insects. Upton began experimenting with covers
in his no-till system, and Plumer helped Junior choose species and
set out experimental plots to test their ideas.
Upton began planting cover crops –– rye grass, cereal
rye and hairy vetch –– after harvesting beans and corn.
He developed a cycle that works on his primary goal of improving
the soil’s water-holding capacity, but one that makes sense
in his southern Illinois climate. Farmers seek to get as much growth
as possible without compromising the following cash crop. If allowed
to grow too much, cover crops suck up the water needed by the following
cash crop. Moreover, if the cover accumulates too much above-ground
growth, it can be difficult to kill and plant in during the spring,
especially using no-till.
“Timing,” Upton says, “is everything.”
His rotations follow this dictum.
Following wheat, for example, he plants hairy vetch to add nitrogen
to the soil for the following corn crop. Vetch needs to be planted
early — in August — to put on enough growth before winter,
so it’s a natural follower after Upton’s wheat harvest
in July. Similarly, Upton follows soybeans with rye grass, which
breaks up his soil with its deep roots. It doesn’t grow as
tall as cereal rye, so it’s easier to kill back before Upton
no-tills corn the next spring.
He kills the cover crop with an herbicide, aiming for the optimum
time after the cover crop roots have grown down into the plow layer
but before the plant puts on too much above-ground growth. That
way, the cover crop puts most of its energy into roots. A few weeks
after killing the cover, Upton no-tills his corn or soybeans directly
into the cover crop residue. He side-dresses liquid nitrogen a few
weeks later in corn. While some growth occurs in the fall and winter,
by the following spring, cover crops really take off.
Over a decade, Upton worked with Plumer to perfect the system.
The results, Plumer says, have been impressive.
“We’re seeing corn roots down to 60 inches,”
Plumer says. “The corn is not stressed, water isn’t
pooling in the low areas like it use to, and yields are higher.”
He points out how the plow pan, once a very visible white layer
of compacted silt, has faded dramatically. Covers crop roots and
earthworms have begun remixing the A-horizon soil ––
the top layer –– with the compacted layer, changing
its appearance and structure.
“Junior has done something that most soil science students
are taught is all but impossible: In a relatively short time he’s
changed his soil into something different than it used to be,”
Plumer says.
Upton’s research over time helped him understand the subtle
nuances that make the system work, and the results have been both
visible and gratifying. “Since we have been using no till,
the organic matter has gone up 1 percent to almost 3 percent,”
he says. “The hard pan, which restricted the depth of the
roots, is just about gone.”
Economics and Profitability
The effect of Upton’s improved soil on corn
yields has been dramatic. Before the change, corn yields were as
low as 35 to 40 bushels per acre. Junior has seen yields rise to
well more than 100 bushels per acre.
Upton estimates that no-till farming saves him $10 to $15 per acre,
primarily thanks to smaller equipment, fewer trips across the field
and less fuel burned in the process.
Planting and managing cover crops comes with a cost — $8
to $20 an acre for Upton to buy cover crop seed and purchase herbicide
to knock it back. Yet, the hairy vetch partially replaces commercial
nitrogen; he credits the vetch cover crop with supplying 30 to 40
pounds of nitrogen for the following corn crop. (Typically, a farmer
in his area might apply 100 to 150 pounds of nitrogen for corn.)
Upton maximizes hairy vetch’s nitrogen contribution by allowing
it to grow into April before killing it prior to planting corn.
The cover crop brings other benefits, too.
“It kills fast and easy and produces a nice mat that keeps
down weeds,” Upton says.
The cover crop makes Upton’s operation more resilient. He
can plant his cash crop late without losing yields, and his crops
survive without rain, thanks to his soil’s new water-storing
capacity. In 2001, for example, Upton didn’t plant corn until
late May, and in three subsequent seasons no rain fell in July and
August, but the crop still yielded 115 bushels per acre.
“It was amazing to me how much impact the soil improvement
had on yields,” Upton says.
Upton’s yields always suffered when more than two weeks
elapsed between rains. By enhancing the soil’s ability to
hold water, Upton reduced the risk of crop failure from drought.
Economically, that means a steadier, more dependable income from
the land.
Environmental Benefits
In fall 2004, the skies opened over southern Illinois.
It proved eye-opening. No-tilling for several years improved the
soil enough that harvesting proceeded apace, but fields without
a long no-till history were too muddy for Upton to run his harvester.
“We didn’t cut any ruts on the ground that had been
no-tilled for a number of years. It gave us no problems because
it was more solid,” Upton says. “The ground that had
been no-tilled only a year or two cut ruts 4 to 5 inches deep.”
By contrast, his neighbors who plowed had to wait to harvest into
December.
Upton’s no-till/cover crop combination has improved the farm
hydrology. Before, his shallow topsoil quickly saturated with rain.
The excess water flowed quickly to low areas, carrying loose soil
into waterways, or collecting in pools that drowned the crops. After
the rains stopped, it didn’t take long for the crop to use
up the small amount of moisture stored in the shallow topsoil above
the plow pan.
Upton enhanced the soil’s ability to store water, and more
water available to the crop during the growing season explains much
of the yield boost he’s seen. Short-term drought is less of
an issue, crop health is improved, and when the water finally does
leave the farm, it isn’t carrying the farm’s soil with
it.
The improved hydrology also helps retain nutrients within the system,
as eroded soil carries with it soil nutrients inherent in the soil
or applied as fertilizer. “Water runoff from the no-till field
is clear,” Upton says. “There is no wind erosion, and
it has provided a good environment for wildlife.”
Community and Quality
of Life Benefits
The no-till and cover crop system has resulted in
real changes for Upton’s lifestyle. The elimination of tillage
means fewer trips across the field and a reduction in labor. During
wet autumns, Upton previously delayed his harvest, with great stress.
Today, Upton can run the harvester on soils whose surfaces dry more
quickly thanks to improved soil quality.
In general, Upton likes the new cropping system. “I do enjoy
it,” he says. “I feel I’m improving the environment
and the water quality, and the soil health is good. Being able to
find earthworms any time I dig in the soil tells me I’m improving
the soil.”
His success has drawn the attention of other farmers. He frequently
gets calls from others requesting information on how he got started.
His farm is a popular location for field tours, and several study
groups run at his local Extension office visit his farm. Even though
it takes time away from farming, Upton regularly shares what he’s
learned with others.
Transition Advice
“Use on-farm research to test ideas before
adopting practices on the whole farm,” Upton advises.
With a wide variety of no-till equipment available and a solid
history of no-till research, many farmers can adopt no-till in their
fields. Adding cover crops, however, will succeed better with an
incremental approach and on-farm research. For example, timing of
planting and killing are crucial, as is having the proper equipment
and choosing suitable species.
“It definitely takes time to learn the system,” says
Upton. “Start slow on a small scale, then build up the acres
when your confidence increases.”
Upton gives Mike Plumer credit for the personalized help he provides.
He recommends employing the services of a knowledgeable Extension
educator to assist with on-farm research, data analysis and management
decisions. “If it weren’t for Mike and a few others,
I couldn’t do it,” he says.
The Future
Now that Upton understands how cover crops are working with his
no-till system, he has begun the process of using it in more of
his fields, and fine-tuning the system already in place. He sees
a need for better cover crop species and ways to incorporate them
into the corn-soybean rotation. “I see no end to the need
to learn more,” he says.
 Profile
written by Dan Anderson
For more information:
Junior Upton
RR 1, Box 176
Springerton, IL 62887
(618) 757-2369
upton@hamiltoncom.net
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