We took a different approach to fall tillage this year.  All the corn stalks (except for 1 field that will be no-tilled) were disked with a rolling harrow behind it.  All the irrigated ground was ripped. Depending on the field, the bean stubble was either left untouched and sprayed, or a chisel plow or ripper was run over it.

Oh, and we have 80 acres that was in irrigated seed corn production, that was disked shortly after harvest, we intend to moldboard plow tomorrow.  The rest of the seed corn production was planted to wheat with the intention of double cropping it.  But this 80 we felt needed plowed.  Sometimes you just need to stir the dirt around a bit.

Our theory is we are doing fall tillage for next year's crops.  The deep tillage in the bean stubble is in fields we felt were showing some compaction anticipating planting corn next year. We feel our irrigated ground benefits gretly from the deeper tillage.  It seems to develop a compaction layer of sorts near the surface.  I think it is the water moving the smaller sand particles through the profile.  Anyway, the irrigated ground all got deep tillage.

You could tell where the June flooding got to by the feel of the tractor when chiseling.  It was almost unreal.  You would be running along singing to yourself and the tractor would almost stop.  I think the flooded ground will benefit from the tillage.

Anyway, as for the tillage being recreational, we find in our environment if we do not do something in the fall, either tillage or herbicide, the winter annuals get almost unmanageable next spring.

We are looking at, if the ground dries out some, doing some finishing tillage this fall on our heavier ground.  Neighbors have been doing something like that and it is working well.  Some of our ground, if you work it in the spring  becomes a race to make brick bats into softballs into baseballs into tennis balls into marbles until you finally work it down to a point you can plant it.  If we can get it the way we want this fall we will plant directly into a stale seedbed next spring.

I told you all that to illustrate this:  One system does not work, at least not in SE Illinois.  You have to adapt your tillage plans and system to match the soil and the conditions.  What may be recreational tillage to you is vital to us.