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Aberdeen MS | The structure of the soil underneath is what the difference is Mike.
In your situation, the situation/practice I was working with for about 12 years, has the soil loosened underneath both laterally and vertically. Both in the fall and in the spring. Wiping the residue away just prior to the planter is leaving a similar condition. The bigger pieces of residue are brought back to the surface leaving the leaves/husk behind for what residue is still under. That "softer" residue after wintering is relatively fragile and doesn't offer as much of a detriment to planting as actually hairpinning the stalk itself with a more solid soil structure underneath.
The husk/leaf/softer residue that is not brought up in spring tillage is water logged or at least moisture laden and when the "hairpinning" in that situation occurs, there is at least moisture along side the seed rather than dry residue making seed contact. In that situation, the residue then robs the seed from getting the moisture next to the seed to swell and germinate.
History around "here" as you well know Mike isn't dictating you are doing anything wrong. 50+ years of consistent above national average yields says it works well. I will say it offers a much less headache ridden spring when trying to go from freeze up to good planting conditions in 2 weeks.
For the 3 of us that strip till here in my 5 mile radius, we haven't come up with the "perfect solution" yet. But we are trying. All 3 of us run different systems and we all encounter the same headaches, so it isn't one machine better than the next. It's the conditions we are going into that a manufacturer hasn't engineered a piece of equipment to work perfect in yet.
For myself and others that are stripping "here", the other benefits we see and experience outweigh the detriments we put up with. 2 of the 3 of us are right on heavily traveled roadways. We are under a very big and strong microscope. We get complimented on how our crops look and they nod "not bad/good" when yields are discussed.
Everyone does what works for themselves. Some of us are just a bit more receptive to being "gluttons for punishment" sometimes......LOL. | |
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Nitrogen from decaying cornstalks
