Novag stands for much more than no-till technology.
“No-till means consistent farming in a cultivation system without tillage, with permanent cover crops and diverse crop rotations. The no-till scene and we at Novag therefore mean by no-till not just the sowing method, but the “conservation agriculture” cultivation system. This system offers solutions to the many problems and challenges in agriculture. And our no-till technology provides the key,” says Maik Freitag, Sales and Field Engineer, Novag GmbH, Germany.
Explanation of terms
While the terms no-till or No-Till are not precisely defined, Conservation Agriculture (CA) stands for an entire cultivation system in which no-till is practiced. The German and English terms stand for the same thing, which is why “Konservierende Landwirtschaft” is used here. According to the FAO definition, it is based on three main principles:
The German term Regenerative Agriculture, on the other hand, is not clearly described and differs significantly in practice from the cultivation systems Regenerative Agriculture and Conservation Agriculture, as representatives of Regenerative Agriculture propagate, for example, shallow tilling and deep loosening of the soils.
Likewise, Conservation Agriculture should not be confused with the German term konservierende Bodenbearbeitung. While the latter merely means not plowing, conservation agriculture does not involve any soil cultivation at all.
Novag T-SlotPlus coulter system
No-till technology must therefore be able to cope with firm soils and dense layers of mulch. “Our machines have been developed precisely for such tough applications and are equipped with our unique Novag T-SlotPlus coulter system, consisting of our T-ForcePlus cross-slot coulter and our IntelliForcePlus automatic coulter pressure control. We are the only ones to offer the cross-slot coulter in Europe,” emphasizes Ramzi Frikha, CEO, Export Manager and head of development at Novag.
Other agricultural machinery manufacturers work with tine or disc coulter systems for no-till. The tine coulter creates a U-shaped Slot. It clears the seed slot completely and thus prevents the negative effect of Hairpinning, but has the disadvantage that it works the soil intensively. It leaves the soil loosened and mixed to a width of several cm. The tine coulter is also susceptible to blockages. No-till sowing in dense mulch layers is hardly possible.
The disc coulter leaves a V-shaped Slot. Although it clogs less frequently, it can cause considerable losses during field emergence. The disc coulter is unable to cut up dry crop residues or a catch crop that is still standing, so that these crop residues are pressed into the seed slot. The seed is then placed on these crop residues, which in very dry conditions does not provide sufficient soil contact and water for germination.
The T-ForcePlus cross-slotted opener from Novag combines a large cutting disc with two Seed blades, creating a slot in the soil in the shape of an inverted T. This opener also does not always manage to cut through all the crop residues and presses them partially into the soil with the cutting disc. However, the blades run above the depth of the cutting disc so that the seed or fertilizer is deposited to the right and left and offset in height to the disc slot. The seed is therefore always in an area with 100% soil contact without contact with the crop residues. Due to the unaffected residual moisture in the soil, it enjoys optimum germination conditions even in dry conditions.
Automatic coulter pressure control Novag IntelliForcePlus
“With high coulter pressures of up to 500 kg, we penetrate through every mulch layer and into even the firmest soils and achieve an absolutely uniform placement depth thanks to our IntelliForcePlus automatic coulter pressure control system,” says Maik Freitag. IntelliForcePlus is operated from the tractor cab via the Novag terminal. One opener on each seed bar is fitted ex works with a sensor that measures the coulter pressure 50,000 times a second and adjusts it to the specified target value in real time.
Opportunities of no-till
“We currently have 120 of our machines running in 15 countries around the world under a wide variety of site conditions. We know that our no-till technology really works on all soils – provided that the three principles of conservation agriculture are applied. In this constellation, no-till offers farmers worldwide solutions to their current and future challenges, to which conventional agriculture has so far provided few promising answers. Farms are caught in a dilemma between climate change, increasing price pressure, legal requirements, lack of time and skilled labor and can “kill several birds with one stone” with no-till, says Maik Freitag.
Improved soil quality
Avoiding any tillage and working with varied crop rotations and dense mulch layers protect the soil from compaction, drying out and water and wind erosion (-98 % soil loss due to erosion). Its biological activity is promoted (+400 % fungi, earthworms; +150 % bacteria), its structure and thus its trafficability is improved and the humus content is increased or at least maintained.
No-till thus provides the necessary soil fitness for times of great heat and lack of germination rain as well as heavy rainfall events. Healthy soil can absorb large amounts of water in a short time, drain it into deeper layers and store it over a longer period of time. Soils that are regularly tilled cannot do this. It heats up and loses water through evaporation. Depending on the intensity, this amounts to 15 (disc harrow) to 40 (plow) mm/m² per pass. No-till has the potential to store this large amount of water in the soil. Tilled soils also lack structure. Precipitation only seeps away very slowly. This results in silting and soil erosion. “However, this doesn’t just apply to areas at risk of erosion, such as slopes. Minimal, invisible erosion takes place on any soil that is tilled when it rains, causing more and more humus and nutrients to be lost. A slope of just 0.5 % is sufficient for this. The success of the farm is based on the soil structure, which is damaged and destroyed with every tillage pass,” explains Maik Freitag.
Falling costs
If the no-till principles are implemented consistently, the plant populations are noticeably more vital and healthier, so that the use of pesticides and fertilizer levels can be reduced further and further over the course of the conversion. This saves costs in terms of operating resources, working time and machine use. “The direct seeder enjoys the same effect, but 100%, in tillage because it is completely eliminated. Every user, regardless of the size of the farm, reduces their machine and labor costs by an average of 50% with no-till,” says Maik Freitag.
More biodiversity
International studies have even shown that no-till has a higher level of biodiversity among insects and birds than organically farmed areas. Even Nabu recently published a position paper on regenerative agriculture in which it argues for an exemption from glyphosate application, provided that regenerative agriculture and no-till are practiced. The position paper was drawn up in collaboration with practitioners, which is why we see it as a positive sign for no-till,” says Maik Freitag.
Conclusion
Depending on the soil and other initial conditions, the first successes with no-till are achieved one to two years after converting to conservation agriculture. Yield fluctuations of ± 10 % may occur depending on the year, but in the long term, no-till ensures yield stabilization with significantly lower costs and improvements in soil protection, soil structure, biodiversity and environmental protection. No-till is therefore just as suitable for high-yielding as for marginal sites.