California story one of 2010's most-read

An article about silage corn production using conservation tillage was one of Progressive Forage Grower's Top 10 most well-read online articles in 2010, the magazine announced.

Written by UC Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist Jeff Mitchell, the article featured vignettes about four California dairy farms where conservation tillage is being applied.

• Michael and Adam Crowell of Bar-Vee Dairy in Turlock, California, have been no-tilling their winter small grain, twin-row corn and sorghum sudan for five years.
  
  
• Ezequiel Correia Jr. and Sr. of Correia Family Dairy just north of Santa Nella, California, began strip-tilling their silage corn in 2009.
  
  
• Dino Giacomazzi, a dairyman in Hanford, California, in Kings County, has been strip-tilling silage since 2005.
  
  
• Tom Barcellos of Barcellos Farms in Tipton, California, has been in the no-till and strip-till business longer and more consistently than just about any other dairy silage producer in the entire SJV.

In addition, the article outlined "common points" employed by all of the producers, such as advanced planning, laying out appropriately-spaced, shallow irrigation berms, and selecting and adjusting proper strip-till equipment for specific field conditions.

Ezequiel Correia Jr. during a conservation tillage field day.

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