Waters positive effects.

[countryguy]

I don't understand why some people still can't comprehend the fact that no till actually INCREASES your internal soil drainage.We are in a very wet area (this type of year is nothing new) and all of our land is very heavy clay.We started no tilling to get the water going down instead of sitting on top.In a year like this though too much rain is just too much rain no matter what system you use.I can say though that the no till fields have less standing water on them and I can walk on them without sinking to my ankles.

[fjlip]

NOT here. No till were slimy snot and f'all were workable this spring. Fall tilled were workable for about 10 days. No till harrowed were smooth and hard so every rain has been running off into lower areas, equal huge sloughs. The hardpan makes water sit for weeks. Need to subsoil to get water to infiltrate. Every soil is different. This is record rain over last 125 years, equal to freak ice storm, tsunami, or earthquake. Not much is going to work. What if it rains all summer and fall plus record snow?

[parsley]

Wanted: Twin boats for extra large twin boys. Pars

[Hopperbin]

Our no till fields are for sure wetter, and have a ton more moisture under the surface, if water is a problem we can v'ditch, ditch in fall, heavy harrow. I would never move away from my one pass seeding because I remember the last 30 years, rain makes grain, except this year, we are most certainly too wet. I am most worried about the peas, I know peas love moisture, I also know they do not like water logged soil. Maybe I should also worry about the neighbors planting by airplane now but I have enough worries of my own. Like which lake to go to next.

[ado089]

fjlip, there is definatley benefits to subsurfacing and I have seen alot of work done showing huge benefits from that practice, mostly were solonetzic soil are present. Agroplow is a non inversion ripper that seems to do a great job. Using a presure device to determince the hardpan depth and thickness helps to make sure you're not spending anymore money on diesel then you have to. However when you till your fraced soil, you breakup the surface structure of the soil resulting in finer soil structuer that once again fills in the cracks from your subsoil tillage with clay. That means tillage begets more tillage. Obviously you know your soil better than I do but I'm willing to put money on it that if you cut out the surface tillage your need for deep ripping will be reduced to a 5-7 year rotation and your water infiltration will improve.