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E.C. MI | Wondering if anyone on here intercrops the two, wheat and soys, not necessarily in twin rows. I need some opinions. Am I nuts for thinking it would work? I'm in Michigan, an hour north of Detroit. I am basically 100% no-till. Currently I plant wheat in 6" rows, and twin 30" corn and soys. If I planted wheat with my planter, I would in effect be planting 15" wheat, which is the norm for double cropping, at least I believe so. That would allow me 22" to spray, etc in the wheat so I would never drive on it. I could topdress with liquid (I use streamer bars) and block off every other nozzle (mine are on 15" spacing) so that I am only applying N right over the wheat rows, saving money there. Then in the beginning of June or so go in with either a 3pt no till drill, or planter (or 2 pt and modify the lift wheels to run on the rows) and plant the beans in a 30 " row, again not running over the wheat. Then when I combine the wheat, I could straddle the soys so that I am not running those over. We are usually harvesting wheat around the 15th of July. Currently my five year average on wheat is 97 bu/acre and beans are 52. Based on what I've read in some articles, I could expect 75%-85% normal wheat yield when in a 15" row. Also from what I've read , guys in Ohio usually get 20-40bu in intercropped soys depending on the moisture. I know I'm north of there, but I don't see why I couldn't do at least that good, with the system I'm thinking of, because of not running on either crop, and I think the soys would get alot more light in my system vs. 15" wheat. If I could achieve that, it would be a no brainer for me to do, plus when you figure on reduced wheat seed cost, and lower N usage etc., it becomes more economical. Another benefit for me would be not having to deal with so much wheat residue with the no-till. I have had some awesome crops no-tilling into the stubble (we've had a couple dry summers around here), but it is a challege to get it to dry out in the spring, plus there is often slug presure with wheat residue. This system would help that out alot I think. I value the opinions on here and would like to hear what you think. | |
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Intercropping twin row wheat and 30" soys
