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Aberdeen MS | Oliver, hopefully a postive greeting to you and yours this Holiday weekend.
I'll offer my opinion, and it's nothing more than that based on my experiences on some of your questions, others I'm just the messenger so keep the "safety on"..... LOL. And I'll preface by saying I try to strip till as much as I can, but I still do conventional also. As well as attempting some no till. The biggest hangup "here" is for corn, by the time bean planting rolls around, ground temps/conditions have changed drastically.
In regards to the fall vs spring. This spring is a prime example for "here". It has made no difference if it's been conventional, mulch, or strip till most of the surrounding people I've chatted with from seed dealers, fertilizer dealer, consultants, or farmer have said the same thing. The top inch or so of soil is bone dry, past that, it's just plain muck.... period!!!!!!! It appears that moisture isn't going down over time.... it's coming UP in the soil profile.
One of the bigger operators in the area took a PU and drove an entire field, including where the "normal" trouble spots were with no problems, called the floaters in to spread and they dropped the floater in 3 different spots and made a mess.
That type of conditions ties into planting into a stale bed fall vs spring. It's dry on top .... you can carry very nicely across the field (usually), but can't close the seed slot very well to save your soul. Some type of aeration in needed for decent seed/soil contact for germination without causing a sealed slot when normal drying takes place. That also provides a warmer environment for germination. It doesn't make any difference if it's full width tillage or strip till. The seed is only concerned with the area immediately around it, within reason of course. I changed a field from spring wheat to corn, it was chiseled beans stubble last year, previous year was strip tilled and no tilled beans into corn residue. It was worked twice this spring just to get the surface to dry to carry. I was leaving, in some areas a voided seed slot underneath a very nice appearing closing from Curvetines/rubber wheel combo. Dust dry on top... muck gumbo underneath. A wide spread condition "here" this spring.
I'm not sure if I can agree with Joe 100% on me having the absolute worst conditions, but I do know that he is totally stumped on the conditions/reactions to the performance of the Pluribus when comparing "here to there". But I can say positively, there have been more growers giving up on strip till here than there are those of us trying to continue.
As far as the fertilizer, I don't think I've advocated the drastic cuts as it seems to appear by the replies to that practice. I'm in total agreement on the amount one can cut is questionable. The U of MN has publicly gone on record stating UP TO a 50% reduction ( a few CCA's I've talked with side more with the U than I do, but that's another thread), I don't agree with that in the majority of cases. One or two years at the start MIGHT be very plausible if high levels are there, but long term. NO!!!!!!!!! I think what you see to the reaction is once a cut.... always a cut. It's managing the system, be it no till, mini till, strip till.
The comparisons I've done for savings is basically gone from broadcast build recs that are normal for this area, (in the mid 80's I covered the SW corner of MN doing sampling and recs as my sole method of employment, so I've seen a few "acres" worth of recs over the years) and brought that down to removal amounts and apply that in the band. That is my practice "here" and I don't advocate anything more for anyone until data from sampling those specific fields show different down the road, plus or minus. With removal only applications, in theory, I"m not changing my profile any one way or another. The "hard" data that I show, if from my fields only.
In simple terms, the seed zone is seeing MORE fert available for use, reducing tie up getting more bang for the buck. The U of Mn has data showing the soil profile is actually increasing in residual from this practice OVER THE COURSE OF TIME. It's not a one year to the next situation, just as one or two years of heavy application broadcast builds up a profile in one or two years. If one doesn't get more bang for the buck by banding, no tillers couldn't keep up fertility by putting everything down with the planter either.
I think I've pretty much said there is a place for all types of systems generally as a whole. Again I can only relate to me "here", that may or may not be the case 1/2 mile down the road.
I'm not defending/attacking any system anywhere else, just what I see as "fact", "here", for "me". | |
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No till Corn on Corn at an ANGLE to the old rows...technology changes things (video and pics - work)
