Spring is on the way, and that means farmers are thinking about tilling the fields for the spring crops. Longtime readers know that despite my last name, I have been a strong advocate for no-till and strip-till systems of soil management. Strip till is a good compromise that gets the benefits both of conventional tillage (warming and drying the soil) and no-till (protection of soil quality). Here are some strip-tillage best practices that may come in handy when you hit the fields.

You probably will be applying anhydrous ammonia when you prepare your strips to provide an N boost – that should be limited to 100 pounds of actual N per acre at most in a strip till field. Since you’ll be planting along the tilled strip, wait about two weeks between your ammonia application and planting to prevent salt injury to your seeds and seedlings.

You can skip the ammonia and apply liquid N directly during your spring tillage, or you can use urea as an N source – if you use urea, separate it from the seed line by three or four inches. If you do use ammonia, place it about eight inches deep and use packer wheels to break up lumps in the soil and to reduce volatility. If you need more N, you can apply it via the irrigation pivot.

P and K applications are also commonly deployed while doing strip till passes. Place P and K between three and six inches deep to prevent erosion but still leave plenty of nutrients available for uptake. Starter fertilizer can also go into the strip till – put it about 2.5 inches deep and 2.5 inches away from the seed line to avoid fertilizer burning the seeds and seedlings.