Assistance to No-Till Farmers

Auburn, November 26, 2002 --- Two years ago, farmer Tom Ingram and scientist H. Allen Torbert were trying to plant cotton on Ingram’s Lee County farm when the rye residue from the previous cover crop choked and clogged the planting machines until both men gave up in discouragement.

"We were in the field trying to plant the cotton crop, and we couldn’t because the planter kept choking up," Ingram says. "We kept having to stop and clean it, so we finally went home and sat down and thought of a way to fix it. We had to do something so we could plant."

Ingram, a successful cotton farmer, and Torbert, an agricultural research service scientist with the National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, Ala., sat down in Ingram’s shop and created what they now call a "forward residue remover."

Because Ingram practices conservation tillage, including the strip-till and no-till methods, he often struggles with residue from the cover crop getting caught up in his planter.

A huge fan of conservation tillage, Ingram wasn’t about to go back to traditional methods.

"Conservation tillage has so many benefits for farmers," he says. "It saves us time, saves us money, saves fuel, saves energy – it saves everything. We just had to come up with something to help us plant."

Working together, he and Torbert did just that, creating what Ingram refers to simply as "a row cleaner."

The device is a triangular piece of metal that is inserted around the blades of the planter to push crop residue out of the way.

"The row cleaner keeps the planter from clogging so the planting runs smoothly," says Ingram, who plants about 600 acres of cotton each year on his farm that sprawls through Lee, Macon and Russell counties.

Ingram says he’s used the device for the past two years. It has helped tremendously, he says, with proper seed placement, as well as with clearing out crop residue.

"It helps make sure the seeds are placed under the soil instead of on top. With cotton especially, it is critical to have the right seed placement. This device helps keep the ground clean, and helps you get good seed depth."

Ingram says he and Torbert have no plans to market the device or to apply for a patent.

"Most farmers come up with things like this to help them," he says. "We just wanted to tell people about it so they could make one if they need it. It’s pretty easy to make."

Jeff Clary, a county coordinator for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Lee County, says Ingram is always coming up with innovative ways to improve farming.

"Tom Ingram has always been a pioneer in improving farming practices and techniques," he says. "The residue remover that he and Allen Torbert developed is just one of many innovations that he has made that has helped his and others’ farming operations. This device helps with seed placement, so that in a conservation tillage operation, it helps the farmer get a better stand every time."