South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service releases cropping systems inventory results

Jan 15, 2016

No-till farming appears to grow in popularity

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

According to the 2015 South Dakota Cropping Systems Inventory, no-till agriculture in the Mount Rushmore State is gaining in popularity.

The inventory, which acts as a ‘snapshot in time’ for the cropping systems farmers employ, noticed a few major changes, including:

46 per cent, or 6.75 million acres of South Dakota crop land, predominantly use no-till techniques
A cropping system which leaves more than 30 per cent residue cover on the soil is used on more than 65 per cent of the state’s farmland
17 counties in South Dakota have more than 75 per cent of their land under no-till systems

Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Jeff Zimprich said the information could have profound impacts on farmers who may not be using no-till cropping.

“It shows them that this planting method is gaining a lot of momentum,” he said in an interview with Jody Heemstra on SD Ag Chat. “I think it helps them consider if this would make sense on their farm.”

Zimprich said no-till can help farmers on the financial side as well.

“I think it’s got potential to curb costs, which are very important right now when we look at commodity prices,” he said.

Zimprich also outlined soil health, sustainability and field resilience as other reasons why no-tillage may be an option for farmers in South Dakota.

Agriculture is South Dakota’s premier industry with an economic impact of more than $21 billion annually and employing more than 122,000 people.

Do you currently use no-till on your farm? What are the benefits? If you currently use conventional tilling techniques would you consider switching?

Video: Is China Buying US Soybeans + USDA Nov 14th Crop Report could be “Game Changing”

After a week of a U.S./China trade truce, markets/trade is skeptical that we have not seen a signed agreement nor heard much from China or seen any details. There are rumors that China is buying soybean futures & not the physical. Trust in Trump?
12 MMT of U.S. soybean purchases by China by year-end is better than 0 but we all need to give it more time and give it a chance to unfold. China did lower the tariffs on Ag and is buying U.S. wheat and sorghum.
U.S. supreme court could rule against Trumps tariffs, but the Trump administration does have a plan B.
U.S. government shutdown is now the longest in history at 38 days.
But despite a U.S. government shutdown we will be getting a USDA November crop report next Friday and it could be “game changing.” If the USDA provides a bullish surprise with lower U.S. corn and soybean yields and ending stocks that are lower than expected both corn and soybean futures will break out above their ceilings at $4.35/bu and $11.35/bu respectively.
The funds continued their selling in live and feeder cattle futures on continued fears that the Trump administration want to lower U.S. beef prices. The fundamentals have not changed, only market psychology has.
Stocks markets continue to worry about a weak U.S. job market, but you can blame ChatGPT for that. In the future, we will have a more efficient, productive and growing economy with a higher unemployment rate until we have more skilled AI workers.
After 34 new record highs in the S & P 500 and 124 new records in the NASDAQ in 2025 we are back to a correction and investor profit taking as AI valuations may have gotten too stretched near-term ahead of NVDA’s 3rd quarter earnings announcement on Nov. 19th. But this is not an AI bubble.
75% of Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk!
It has rained in South America in the last 7 days, but both the American and European models agree that Central Brazil remains dry in the next 14-days!

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance looks to educate the public

Mount Forest barn fire kills 12 horses