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Aberdeen MS | With a knife/shank type strip tiller, spring get really "dicey" for using it.
It GREATLY depends on the type of soils you have, namely.... how good of drainage do you have.
What may happen (and usually does) in wetter soils, the knife/shank will create a slot that is sealed on both sides down the depth of tilling. If the slot is deeper than you will plant .... obviously........ there MAY remain an open slot under the planting zone, for worst case scenario, the seed to fall to bottom.
Generally what happens tho is the closing disks will fill the slot partially giving you a "bed" of sort to plant into, but the bottom of the slot is still a void that may be partially filled with soil. There is no structure to that at all.
If you are putting N down with other nutrients, the sealed slot will leave a super concentrated band of nutrients at the bottom. When the corn plant sends the roots out, they follow the path of least resistance, follow the sealed slot down to the concentrated band, and most likely will burn off the tender ends of the roots, there by stunting the plant at that time.
Neither of those scenarios are conducive to achieving maximum growth/yield potential.
Yes, you may get by, but the odds are stacked very highly against you at this point with the spring conditions that are reported around the belt.
If it was mine, I'd be thanking the dealer for the opportunity to demo the unit, tell him that you'd like a shot at using it in the fall when field conditions will be better to let his unit do it's best. Wet springs will more than likely let his unit fall flat on it's face, neighbors will ask you what happened with your crop (high % of probability it will), then blame it all on the unit. It would be the fault of the unit, that is how it is designed, but it would be more fault of mismanaging the practice.
With todays crop prices, I would venture a guess that you MAY even get to the point of breakeven on the crop, especially if it turns dry for an extended period later in the growing season.
I won't tell you not to do it, but I would highly advice you not to. Just beware of what may happen if you do.
My .02 worth of recommendation. | |
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Spring strip tilling
