CCSP -No till Farm

MISSION STATEMENT

 

The mission of the CCSP is to evaluate profitable crop rotations and crop management strategies that are uniquely adapted to the climate in the project area.  These strategies will strive to protect the natural resources of southeast North Dakota and northeast South Dakota though demonstration, research and education.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

            The Conservation Cropping Systems Project (CCSP) was initiated in the fall of 2001, on a 160-acre tract of farm land, located two miles south of Forman, ND along highway 32.  A ten member Board of Directors composed of local producers in Northeastern South Dakota and Southeastern North Dakota advises the CCSP staff.   Professionals from ag research, as well as natural resources conservation agencies and non-profit interest groups, assist the Board with technical advice and support.

 Diverse crops are grown in no-till rotations that range from 2 to 6 years. Rotations are studied to compare their effect on water and wind erosion, soil tilth, soil moisture retention, organic matter changes, infiltration and most importantly, profitability.  Each crop in each rotation is grown each year and replicated three times. This Project has a planned duration of at least 12 years.  The goal is for this Project to go on indefinitely. 

This project provides producers with data that allows them to qualify and quantify the advantages and disadvantages of a wide range of no-till crop rotations. The effective use of crop rotations to break weed and insect cycles in no-till is demonstrated.  The placement and appropriate timing of legumes in rotations results in reduced dependence on fertilizer N.   The ability to more efficiently cycle plant nutrients in diverse no-till rotations reduces nutrient runoff into surface and ground waters.  This project demonstrates how agriculture can produce food and fiber in an environmentally favorable manner, preserving and enhancing wildlife habitat, while providing producers with a good economic returns.

 

PROJECT PURPOSE:

The landscape of Eastern ND and SD is dissected by numerous tributaries and sub-watersheds that eventually end up in Hudson Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.  The land area is composed of rolling topography and wetland complexes of the prairie coteau, undulating features of the drift prairies, transitional beach ridges and the level cropland of the Red River Valley Basin.  The sub-humid to semi-arid climate of this region receives significantly more precipitation than the central and western Dakotas.  The growing season is also longer.  

No-till rotations from the west whose strategy is to conserve and store moisture become problematic in the east where moisture intense crops and possibly cover crops are needed to use excess moisture. Crop rotations need to address the specific climatic and hydrologic characteristics of a geographic area in order to be effective in sustaining the environment and producing food and fiber.

Currently there is an absence of information on no-till cropping systems in this region.  It is the goal of this Project to provide that information.