HVORDAN LOW-TILL?
The first 5 years takes scrupulous planning and punctual care to help the earth regenerate after the use of plough pan. Therefore you need to prepare yourself to the period of transition, where the workload will be larger and where the profit wont be at its maximum. The carbon substance, worm population and the beneficial organisms in the soil have to be restored, so that the humus substance in the soil can be restored again.
This takes lot of professional self-discipline. This is the recipe on how to get started yourself:
1. Seek guidance, mentoring and sparring
Having a network and knowledge sharing is the two most important factors for succes when you wish to re-adjust to Low-Till.
You have to get in contact with Low-tillers with experience that can help you with the planning of chaning to Low-Till and how to avoid the mistakes they made. Some of the choises you have to invest in, are the right machines, and especially in this area, there is alot of money to save by making the best choices in the beginning.
A good network is the source to inspiration and motivation on how you can do it. At Low-Till we got a large network of other Low-Tillers and are happy to help you get in contact with a partner to spare with near you.
2. The smallest investment
When you change to the solution of Low-Till, it is especially the saving in machinecosts that are profitable.
It is a good idea to start with a plough-free system, where you still harrow, before switching to not harrowing at all before sowing with little-to-none soil preparation.
The soil need to reconstruct a balance and the full effect of switching to Low-Till will first be after 8-10 years. Soil with a high clay content has the longest change-over time, because a high clay content shall correspond to the high content of organic substance in the soil to be optimal.
Keep your spring-tine cultivator and maybe your chainharrow, as they are great for the soil processing and buy a sowing machine, where it is possible to sow directly into the stump or the subsequent crop, but keep in mind the mascinecosts and avoid overinvestment.
When making Low-Till ecology, you can use the chain harrow aswell to make a fake seedbed with a minimal disturbance to the surface, which will make a good effect towards the sprouting og weed, snails,
edge trimming after a wet year or something similar.
Strwas should be sliced and leaved on the field to get a better soilstructure. It would be an advantage to level and divide the straw and chaff.
3. Make your own field experiment
As your cultivation depends on alot af factors such as soil compaction, removal of carbon, quality and other physical, chemical and biological conditions, it can be a great advantage to make your own field experiments, where you test different treatments.
In that way, you can always know what works for your soil and what dosn't.
4. Nothing comes in one day
When you evaluate how its going, keep in mind, that nothing comes in one day, but look instead at the earnings instead of the profit and compare with the earlier earnings.
When you want to see the evolution in the soil, it can be extremely motivating to go out and dig up some dirt with the shovel and see how the soil changes to a much richer and alot better soil.
