Ernest Bippert says the yield difference between conventional
and conservation till cotton may be a wash in wet years, but
during dry growing seasons, which are more common than not in
south Texas, con-till makes more cotton.  His commitment to
conservation tillage, moisture management and technology help
Bippert save soil, water, time and money on his 2,000-acre
cotton and milo farm near Kingsville, Texas. That formula also
earned him the 2004 Southwest Farm Press High Cotton Award.
That prescription includes maintaining the same seedbed and
following the same traffic pattern to prevent compaction in the
furrow. He's planted on the same stale seedbed for three years.
“I pull stalks and have found that cotton plants develop a deep
root system in con-till systems. I reshape the beds in the fall
and run a v-ripper in the furrow to loosen up the soil.”
Bippert plans to analyze the effect of the ripper. “I'll do a
soil compaction trial with a meter, but I think we need that
ripper. It lifts the whole bed, and