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2003
Table of Contents |
History
Four generations ago Frank Rad homesteaded at the base of Cottonwood Butte,
Located approximately 5 miles west of the town of Cottonwood, Idaho. The homestead
remains the center of operations for Rad Farms, Inc. My father, Al Rad, and
I own approximately 4000 acres. We have 2200 acres in cropland and the remainder
is used for our cattle operation. In the early 90’s I took over all farmland
and at the age of 69, my father still runs the cattle ranch. The operation is
located on the Camas Prairie where the ground ranges from deep prairie soil
to light timber soil. Rainfall averages 20 to 25 inches per year.
The Camas Prairie farming community produces mostly dry land crops. Irrigation is not common due to the lack of available water sources. The elevation ranges from 3,000 feet to 3,700 feet resulting in a short growing season. Spring rains often dictate even shorter productive seasons. Most farmers choose the traditional method of farming handed down from generation to generation. They are very reluctant to change. The average age of the local farmer is 60. As these farmers approach retirement, concern for the future of farming exists as their children do not want to continue in the family traditions. The next generation does not see profit in current farming methods. This result is increased portions of lands being put into CRP programs, leased to others, or sold to large farm corporations.
Thought non-traditional, it is my belief no-tilling can be a more profitable way to farm. Only a handful of local farmers are venturing into this technique on the Prairie. Farmers who have reverted to no-tilling have become more proficient using this method. They have saved time and money in operations. This has come about through hard work and not without some costly mistakes. End results demonstrate a method proven to be more efficient and profitable. I could not see myself returning to the traditional way of farming on the Camas Prairie.
Breaking Tradition
In the early 1990’s Dad and I broke out of tradition and rented a John
Deer 750 disk drill. On a limited amount of land we began direct seeding. Records
were kept over the next five years on the ground we no-tilled. By spring of
1997, we were convinced this was the way to farm. I took the next step in becoming
a no-till farmer. Visiting the ASCS office I signed up 500 acres in the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program. During this time many neighboring farmers thought
I would lose everything with this foolish method of farming. “If it ain’t
broke don’t fix it”, was told me over and over. My father supported
my venture but even he had concerns as he witnessed my struggle to make no-tilling
pay off.
In the fall of 1996 we plowed in our fields for the last time. The tillage equipment was no longer needed for production. Everything was sold with the exception of my heavy disk, which I kept to disk around my blue grass fields for fire control. In 1999 I sold my eleven bottom plow. I was now fully committed to no-till farming.
Biggest Challenges
Springtime on the Camas Prairie can be very wet and can be very challenging!
In saturated lowland, the 750 drills would get so bogged down they responded
like a large boat anchor dragging bottom. My 900 Versatile Tractor with 30.5
x 32 radial tires would float right over the mud until the front tires of the
drill started to bog down. This would leave mud ponds all over the field and
make a mess after seeding. I needed a solution. In talking to other no-till
farmers it became apparent it was necessary to modify a drill for flotation.
Tumac Machinery modified a 750 John Deer with a direct hitch and 30.5 x 32 radials
on the back. This worked well and I have never had the same problem again.
I use a disk drill for two reasons: First, we have 900 acres of cropland in hay ground or blue grass and rotate at least 100 acres every year. The single coulter disk cuts sod perfectly, pulls easily and leaves a nice seedbed. Secondly, rocks are a real problem! Hoe drills are just a modified chisel plow that finds every rock in the field. I was sick and tired of picking rocks
Residue has been my biggest challenge. I tried to ignore it the first few years, but hair binning worsened each year. With high moisture content in the spring and early summer our crops have almost always had high residue. Chaff spreaders and choppers help but after a few years the residue becomes unmanageable. This year is the third year we have been heavy harrowing. Heavy harrowing is an art of its own. It will take years to learn how to manage it correctly. As a result my recrop winter wheat average increased from 60 to 101 bushels per acre. This was a result of God’s blessing of timely rains, moisture retention and fertile soil resulting from no-tilling. To get this kind of results on a recrop winter wheat is unheard of. Usually you will only have this kind of crop on summer fallow wheat. The winter wheat fields needed to be heavy harrowed four times because of the residue but the results were exceptional. My DNS wheat looked like it would produce 75 bushels per acre but without summer rain it only yielded 38. It took two passes with the harrow to break it down. Hard white spring wheat and barely took only one pass to break them down enough to prepare them for manageable seeding.
Burning is the easiest way to get rid of the residue and give the best short term advantage. However, the future rests in successful management of residue without burning. Burning and the related environmental effects has become a controversial issue with the general public. By implementing management of residue without burning we are a step ahead of upcoming mandatory regulations against burning. Not to rule burning out, it should not be necessary if straw residue is managed correctly.
Rotation
As a general rule we rotate our crops on a three year rotation. The first year
we will plant winter wheat. This we plant in the fall and harvest the following
summer. The second year we will wait until spring and plant either barley or
spring wheat. The third year can be a variety of different dry land crops. Roundup
ready canola is one crop that is hard to make a profit on but does make a good
rotation crop. Flax, lentils, peas and oats all make a good third year rotation
but are not very profitable. The third year rotation must break up any diseases
in the ground and be beneficial to recrop wheat. At higher elevations, we keep
hay ground or blue grass in production. Rotation is not as important with grass
crops until signs of aging in the grasses warrants change.
Conclusion
Rad Farm, Inc. is
in its 6th year of farming exclusively no-till. The changes in the soil are
apparent. Erosion is nonexistent and earth worms are plentiful. The soil becomes
more productive each year and we don’t labor working the soil as we did
using traditional farming. No-till methods save time and money in production
and the end result is increased profit. Consistent annual yields with less labor
and no erosions will increase profit. No-till farming reduces burden, increases
crop production and efficiency without compromising land quality and turns a
profit. My son will be working the farm 20 years down the road and the land
will be as good as it is now. No-tilling makes farming rewarding and is definitely
a method worth sharing.
 Contact
us: Hans Kok, (208)885-5971
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