This is the question that I get the most from skeptics of strip till in my conversations with folks this winter. Honestly "I don't know" I guess has to be my answer for now since I haven't had one. My assumptions based off my observations made this spring the few times that it was actually wet are that I like my chances.
My favorite response to that question to a conventional tillage farmer is "What are YOU going to do in a wet year?".
Drag a field cultivator through wet soils to dry out the top few inches and put a smear pan an inch underneath where the seed will try to grow roots?
Have a 3 wheeled floater drive every 90 ft spread fertilizer and compact a 10 ft wide strip from it's huge tires?
Struggle to stay a float on top of soil that has little structure or strength to support equipment since it was pulverized by a ripper or a plow last fall?
Plant directly into those angular compacted wheel track zones and then wonder why the corn that grows in those spots is a different color and stunted the rest of the year?
My point is that all systems have flaws....it's just easier to do a certain practice when everyone else is doing it along right with you...no matter if it's the right or wrong thing to do. These are all things that we used to do personally because we thought we didn't have any other way to do it that could work.
One of my favorite experiences learning about strip till was a talking with a grower who was doing modified ridge till/strip till 2 years ago during a very wet spring in SW Minnesota. It was one of those springs where they could not catch a break with numerous 3-4 inch rainfall events that wasn't allowing anyone to get much accomplished. He had gotten an opportunity to get into the field and start planting some soybeans before the next rainfall event moved in and was able to plant about 40 acres of the field before he got rained out again by another inch of rain. I should note that in his his system he strip/ridged the main portion of the field but ripped and field cultivated his headlands. Two days later he went back to the field to find that his stripped/ridges were starting to grey off already but where he had field cultivated and planted the headlands they were still a muddy soupy mess. He took a chance and went out planted the remainder of the field by simply planting until he'd nose the tractor into the muddy headlands and then would lift the planter up, back around on the solid undisturbed stripped/ridged ground, set the planter down on the next pass and kept planting. He told us he nearly caused a traffic jam as the neighbors couldn't believe that he was out planting and were driving by watching what he was doing. Next thing he knew his neighbors were going home to get their own field cultivators to head out and try to start working ground on their own fields and made an absolute mess and had to pull out. They couldn't believe that the ground that hadn't been tilled was dryer than the ripped ground. It was after hearing this story that I began to feel better about my fear of a cold wet spring.
Here are some other reasons why I like my chances with strip till in a wet spring:
-I'm planting into a slightly elevated seed bed that is relatively free of residue and will warm up and dry out faster than soils that haven't been tilled.
-The area between my strips has soil structure in place that hasn't been disturbed and will better support equipment in the spring.
-The soil in between the strips also has all the natural drainage pathways still intact from earthworms and rotting root channels from last year which will help aid drainage through the profile to tile.
-If we do get heavy rains, the increased water infiltration from the point above will help minimize runoff and off site movement of nutrients keeping them where they belong.
-The strips I plant into will not have any zones of wheel compaction under the surface to restrict root growth.
-My fertility is placed either with the seed or directly under it in the same compaction free zone.
-Our fertilizer applied in the fall does not dictate what crop we grow if we are forced to switch from our intial crop placement plans on certain farms
All those points aside, there are still things that worry me if we have a wet spring including:
-If fall strip berm heights aren't sufficient and they settle to the point where I have a depression that won't dry out.
-Carrying so much weight on the planter tractor between starter and UAN that we create significant pinch row compaction compared to those who don't carry so much weight.
-Controlling weeds that get a significant head start on the crop before we can get in to burn them down.
-Strips washing out on hill sides
-Dealing with residue deposit piles around low spots where ponding might occur
At the end of the day, I think the benefits of the pros outweigh the potential challenges of the cons when it comes to evaluating the risks of dealing with a wet spring with our new system. That being said...I hope for all of us in the Midwest that my rookie confidence gets challenged and it starts raining this spring! I'd gladly trade in a little ego for some moisture at this point!!!
