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ten a factor in how strips can be utilized in a farming operation. Existing and potential weed and disease problems can be easily addressed under this system. Don Mitchell, a Fauquier truck farmer, utilizes 60 foot strip widths of alfalfa and truck crops. “I like to strip because it gives us much more flexibility in what we need to cultivate; we use tillage and need not worry about the erosion.
David Hunnicutt, of Madison, summarized the total benefit of strips to a farming operation when he noted his success. “Three years ago this farm was "eaten up with Johnsongrass. The whole place was solid com with-gullies you couldn’t cross. We laid off the strips to get rid of the Johnsongrass and fix the gullies. We run a rotation system of no-till beans, barley, and com. Getting after the Johnsongrass using different treatments in the com and beans have done the trick. Now you have to hunt to find any Johnsongrass on this place. I feel the rotation has reduced disease problems and improved yields. When I came here, yields for com were between 30-100 bushels per acre. Now the average is between 125-150 bushels per acre. We see a lot more quail and other wildlife since we put in strips so they must be good for wildlife habitat.”
Should every farmer install strips? That is a hard question to answer. They do provide benefits of erosion reduction, increased yield,
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