Fitting the Pieces Together

By David Morris

Finding the right tillage system for Oegema Turkey Farms of Talbotville, in Elgin County, has been a process of evolution. It had to be an economical system with lots of flexibility -- each year the Oegemas grow about 900 acres of corn and soybeans, 200 of winter wheat and 100 of processing peas, on soils ranging in texture from sandy loam to clay. It also had to be able to accommodate the manure from the 55,000 turkeys that the Oegemas raise each year.

Oegema Turkey Farms is a family corporation owned and operated by brothers Heiko and Tom, and Heiko’s two sons, Wayne and Mike. Most of the corn and soybeans that the Oegemas produce is dried, stored and processed on the farm as feed for their turkeys. The Oegemas have recently taken the concept of value-added production one step farther by building a small store on the farm. Through this outlet they retail some of their turkeys and custom-made turkey products directly to the consumer, eliminating yet another middleman.

Although all four of the Oegemas are involved to some degree in managing all aspects of the farm, Tom does much of the planning for the cropping program. Tom recognized strict adherence to one tillage system would not be satisfactory, so they have arrived at a varying combination of strip tillage, moldboard plowing and some no-till (depending on the crop to be grown, the previous crop and whether manure was applied).

Corn is planted after either winter wheat or soybeans. Wheat stubble is usually plowed in the fall. All of the turkey manure is spread on wheat stubble and needs to be worked in to reduce odours and nitrogen losses. The land is then seeded with a cover crop of oilseed radish to add organic matter and to protect some of the manure nitrogen against leaching. The oilseed radish is seeded through a seedbox mounted on a Lely Roterra, a power-driven, rotating harrows which the Oegemas purchased in the early 1980s, before they started experimenting with no-till. It leaves the soil smooth enough to plant in the spring without additional tillage. Wheat fields not scheduled to receive manure are usually underseeded with red clover in the spring and plowed in the fall.

After soybean harvest -- if the soil is dry enough -- Tom uses a Bush Hog Row Till unit* to prepare strips into which the corn will be planted the next spring. Tom feels this system is better than no-till for their heavier soils, because loosening the soil in the fall allows it to warm up faster in the spring and improves drainage. The Row Till has a narrow subsoiling shank designed to loosen the soil to a depth of three to 14 inches without bringing any to the surface. The Oegemas usually run it eight to 10 inches deep. The shank is followed by a pair of two-inch wavy coulters, angled to create a slight ridge of loosened soil, about a foot wide. Finally, a heavy-duty rolling basket firms and levels the strip, so the Oegemas are able to plant directly into it in the spring, once the soil is fit.

They have also tried creating the strips in the spring, but found it resulted in poor stands too often to be satisfactory. Sometimes, the seedbed was too lumpy. In other cases (especially on the heavier soils) the slot created by the shank often did not close properly or would re-open when the soil dried.

The Oegema’s corn planter is equipped with a three-coulter system, consisting of a one-inch wavy coulter in front of the seed row, and two two-inch wavy coulters mounted four inches to each side of the row. The three coulters are used as much for fertilizer application as for tillage. Liquid starter fertilizer is applied with the seed. Dry fertilizer containing phosphorus and potassium is dropped on the leading edge of the side coulters, which incorporates it into the soil in a vertical band. 28 per cent nitrogen solution is injected behind the two side coulters, at the rate of 75 lbs./ac of actual nitrogen, in each band. Where manure has been applied, the nitrogen rate is cut in half and the rate of dry fertilizer is also reduced.

Tom recently discovered the family needs to refine its fertility practices on some spots. For many years, each load of grain that the Oegema’s harvested has been weighed over truck scales that are part of their grain handling facilities. As a result, they have been able to evaluate the long-term success of various practices and to track the development of any problems in a field. Nevertheless, soil-sampling on a one-hectare grid basis uncovered some previously unknown spots of acid soils and other areas where the level of either phosphorus or potash was low.

The Oegemas have also devoted some effort to finding the best approach to weed control for their operation. After experimenting with band-spraying and inter-row cultivation for a few years, Tom has returned to pre-plant, broadcast spraying of Roundup, Dual II and atrazine. Although band-spraying and cultivation gave good weed control, it necessitated another trip through the field. Often they were unable to get back into the field on time to do the cultivation, especially in wet weather. Since they were applying anhydrous ammonia at the same time, this delay sometimes resulted in a double loss. Even practices that are successful on one level have to be abandoned if they don’t fit into the overall system.

* Note: Bush Hog no longer manufactures the Row Till.

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