Vertical tillage is still the hottest thing in turning residue, and a new design trend is on its way. That’s according to Joe Sampson, vice president of sales for Osmundson, the company that makes the disk blades for many of the original equipment makers.

Sampson recently gave a talk at the AMC Engineering Conference about vertical tillage, high-speed tillage and the future of blades. He says higher crop yields have left behind a lot more plant residue in the field, calling for new methods of tilling soil.

“We’ve seen yields go up to close to 200 bushels on average, so there’s a lot of trash and residue to take care of, and regular conventional blades just aren’t doing the trick,” Sampson says. “Farmers also want to go faster and be more precise.”

Those demands have led to new blades designed to cut and size the residue while being able to run at high speeds to cover more acres.

“What is going on in our neck of woods is that vertical tillage is still the name of game, with high speed being the next phase.” “Not all of the equipment is out yet, but all of the OEs are working on it.”

Here, Sampson walks us through the evolution of tillage and how blades will have to change to meet new field conditions.