Measuring progress is key to determining which farming techniques are more profitable than others for growers. Clay Mitchell, a farmer in NE Iowa says aligned-farming is a precision farming technique that allows growers to measure their progress, particularly compared to angled-farming.
“What’s special about aligned farming systems is that it allows us to measure them,” Clay said. “We can finally observe how we are doing. It’s very difficult to do that in angled farming systems.”
Clay says aligned farming systems help farmers actually achieve their target rates. Plus, he adds, in his research, aligned farming systems compacted the ground less, touching the earth 17 percent of the time as compared to the conventional 85 to 100 percent ground contact.
“It’s a really powerful solution to compaction,” Clay said.
I interviewed Clay about his work with aligned farming and how it can work with raised-bed farming and even strip-till farming. He also commented on how precision played an important role in mitigating crop loss from this year’s flooding. You can listen to my interview with Clay here: