Strip Tillage for Sweet Corn Production: Yield and Economic Return

Two strip tillage systems for sweet corn production were compared to conventional tillage systems in western Oregon. A power take-off rotary tiller configured to till six rows per pass was used in 1997 and 1998; a shank/coulter strip tillage machine was used in 1999 and 2000. A paired t test experimental design was used in field-scale, on-farm research with eight replications in 1997-98 and 12 replications in 1999-2000. Sweet corn was harvested using the participating growers' corn pickers and yield was determined. A subset of the participating growers recorded types of machinery and labor for tillage operations and total costs were computed for each tillage system. The rotary strip tillage system produced 900 kg·ha -1 greater corn yields (P = 0.11) than conventional tillage. The shank/coulter strip tillage system produced yields comparable to conventional tillage ( P = 0.95). The rotary strip tillage system reduced total tillage costs by an average of $38.50/ha compared to conventional tillage ( P = 0.03) and reduced machinery operating time by 0.59 h·ha -1 ( P = 0.01). The shank/coulter strip tillage system reduced tillage costs by $36.50/ha compared to conventional tillage ( P = 0.003) and reduced machinery operating time by 0.47 h·ha -1 ( P = 0.001). Slugs damaged corn in several strip tillage fields requiring the use of slug bait to prevent economic damage. Herbicides used in conventional tillage systems were generally effective in the strip tillage systems. Mechanical cultivation with standard cultivating equipment was more difficult in some of the strip tillage fields with heavy cover crop residue.