Advice and thoughts.

[Sheepwheat]

So I mentioned briefly before that I have a real wild mess on one quarter. It is pasted down oats from last falls snowfall.

I hate burning.

I do not look forward to the flood of volunteers.

So I am trying to think outside the box. I would not die or cry if it wasn’t seeded, I want to do the best job I can. But I feel that will not be possible.

I am wondering about broadcasting a cover crop ****tail, and then harrowing it. Leaving it, spraying it out then seeding winter wheat into it in fall. By then the straw should be brittle and another harrowing should shatter it better.

Is this a stupid idea? It is not fenced, otherwise I would send the animals out there when growth starts.
Just running the idea by you folks...

I mean it is a mess. An absolute mess. A disc drill would work, but there ain’t any around for hundreds of miles. Lol

[seldomseen]

If you want to seed something this spring it would be burn for me. I really dislike burning but there are times when it is the only way. I don't think one year of burning will cause any issues as long as the fire is controlled. Something like a Salford would fix it. I am not sure if anyone would rent one in your area.

If you leave it till later you will have some costs before you can plant to winter wheat and would there be flooding losses to your wheat next spring?

[burnt]

I have very little idea of what you are dealing with, but when you mention the flood of volunteers, my idea of broadcasting and harrowing in a suitable cover crop would include peas and barley. The goal would be to cut it for green feed and baling/wrapping it, unless your climate would allow you to dry it - our usually won't.

That would still allow you to sow winter wheat even after a tillage pass for weed control, at least here it would. I have no idea what you're looking at for dates and weather in your part of the land.

Oats, barley and peas balage are currently the cows' delight here as we speak. And they do milk well on it, going by how our calves are looking.

[MBgrower]

VT it, then herbicide tolerate canola. round and liberty pretty cheap for second pass to clean up vol oats

[Blaithin]

Is it fenced? If so do you have the stock, or know somebody with the stock, that can run a round of high density strip or cell grazing on it. That’ll help clean it up and mash it in. Could even broadcast the seed in front of them if you still want.

Residue, fertilizer and feed in one.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

My experience with something similar tells me that nothing is going to grow through that mat of crop. Even if you broadcast and harrow.

Had a very heavy barley crop hailed after going flat. It was underseeded to hay, and the ground was too wet all fall, and all spring to do anything with it without making ruts from end to end. The barely didn't grow, the hay was choked right out, even the weeds couldn't grow through the mat of crop. that was in fall of 2016. It improved enough to hay in 2018, and 2019, but there are still bald spots where the barley straw is so thick that nothing has grown through it. And that was after letting the cows graze it during the winter.

The theory behind organic no till is to create a mat such as this to choke out the weeds, then seed into it with a disc drill. It would work apparently. But I don't have a disc drill either.

[farmaholic]

How about a basic tandem disc if you can't get your hands on V-till of some sort. Pay someone to run over it with a ProTill?
I hate burning too, even hate burning flax straw.

Send the apprentice out to work it. Might get very loose trying to bury that much trash. Might even drag if you don't get enough ground mixed in.

I don't know...

[blackpowder]

Have to deal with straw somehow.
Don't know your area or numbers.
If already resigned to a fall seeded crop, then you have time to fix properly.
Oh and pick the rocks lol

[Sheepwheat]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I will for sure let u know what I end up doing.