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southern MN | Moisture is my limiting factor for planting 90% of the time as well - I have _way_ too much. Miles of tile on a small farm, but 120+ feet of topsoil clay (from Canada) that _needs_ to be dried out in spring. We should get 40 inches of snow & heavy spring rains on a normal year, all that moisture has to soak into & soak out of heavy clay that can have 2-4 feet of frost in it.
Without some bare dirt, one could possibly start planting corn stubble about now. It may have warmed up enough, & dried out enough now.
I wish no-till would work here. I can't think of anyone doing it in a 2 county area..... I'd love to save the fuel bills & time.
I have hopes for strip till some day. Greywolf is getting it working - his soil is a little bit lighter than mine, but there is hope. I see a tiny bit of strip till working into the area on the farms with lighter soils.
But, it is a challenge.
The problem is messages like - I think the fellow from NEBRaska below - that says whatever he does is supposed to work everywhere for everyone. That kinda raises the hair on a persons neck.
I enjoy hearing what works for you, or what your conditions are. I understand what I do most likely would be a disaster if I tried it where you are operating.
Just be nice if some of the no-tillers would broaden their horizions a little & realize this is a big country with many varried conditions, some not suited for pure no-till.
Here's something that probably raises the hair on your neck - my best $$$ years are when we have a drought. I have much less work, much higher crop prices, and I still get an ok crop - my soil holds water so long. Those are my good years.
But I learned I can't say that. Those of you in the dry areas really get hurt in a drought. Badly. It's not good for me to forget the struggles of others........
Those of us in cold, wet, short-growing season, heavy soils should also get some consideration tho. Pure no-till is just a joke to us. It can 'work' if you don't mind losing 20% of your growing season & 30% of your potential yield.
I've never seen pure notill. I graze some cornstalks & oats stubble which just gets a spring working, and the past 2 years I've gambled with no fall tillage on my bean stubble - just knife in NH3 & 1 pass with field cultivator in spring. So I might have some of the least tillage in my county - for being a big promoter of needing tillage. :)
Too windy to spray around here the past week, so don't mind my ramblings. Got nothing better to do than grumble. :)
--->Paul | |
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How to manage wash outs in fields
