Snow and wheat yields

[furrowtickler]

What a huge difference here so far
Wheat on Tall canola stubble that held deep snow is yielding 15 bud/ac or better than short or harrowed canola stubble .
We only harrowed a few fields last fall to get rid of sprayer tracks on standing straight cut canola
It’s proven to be very costly now .
Booked a chopper to spray the rest of our straight cut canola a few days ago .

[goalieguy847]

What a huge difference here so far
Wheat on Tall canola stubble that held deep snow is yielding 15 bud/ac or better than short or harrowed canola stubble .
We only harrowed a few fields last fall to get rid of sprayer tracks on standing straight cut canola
It’s proven to be very costly now .
Booked a chopper to spray the rest of our straight cut canola a few days ago .

Yeah that makes sense.. its easy to see on the untouched stubble the snowcatch vs the tall stubble. Always drifts on the backsides of hills where the soil has been blackened...

I imagine you are gaining the yield from the hills and side hills where the worked fields are yielding alot less in those areas where the snow continued on and settled against the road or the low spots...

Have seen lots of farms working their canola stubble in the fall and i always think...

Uhhhhh why?
Cereal stubble a different animal to seed into...

[ajl]

Likely that the tall stubble is on areas with slightly better land to begin with. Land quality was a huge factor this year.

[furrowtickler]

Yeah that makes sense.. its easy to see on the untouched stubble the snowcatch vs the tall stubble. Always drifts on the backsides of hills where the soil has been blackened...

I imagine you are gaining the yield from the hills and side hills where the worked fields are yielding alot less in those areas where the snow continued on and settled against the road or the low spots...

Have seen lots of farms working their canola stubble in the fall and i always think...

Uhhhhh why?
Cereal stubble a different animal to seed into...

Yup , and just happened to be that our tallest canola fields last year were all swathed so had very tall stubble that we never had to harrow .
Having very good choppers and spreaders now eliminates the amount we have to harrow
So , good and bad things you see on very dry years with limited rain and no subsoil
Having no frost also helped as all the snow we did have soaked straight in with zero run off .
Just interesting to see the difference and the little things that can make a huge impact on years like this . We did just harrow and work low spots where needed , just these few fields of canola stubble with wheel tracks . Wish now I woulda just sprayed the opposite direction of seeding , big mistake looking back now .
We sprayed opposite of next years seeding direction this year so that eliminates harrowing other than a few low areas where moisture never an issue . Most years we think it’s not an issue but different story this year .
Never done learning and seeing things , I guess it helps tweaking management every year .
And ya , every Year totally different it seems

[furrowtickler]

Likely that the tall stubble is on areas with slightly better land to begin with. Land quality was a huge factor this year.

It had more to do with variety and what we sprayed for straight cutting for us . Land quality exactly the same . All these fields are side by side

But definitely see the land quality thing as well all over here this year . Our gravel ridges and lite soil have nearly nothing regardless of crop , same everywhere here

[Hamloc]

It had more to do with variety and what we sprayed for straight cutting for us . Land quality exactly the same . All these fields are side by side

But definitely see the land quality thing as well all over here this year . Our gravel ridges and lite soil have nearly nothing regardless of crop , same everywhere here

You certainly make a few interesting points Furrow. The two or three years we straight cut a lot of canola there is no doubt my stubble was shorter when I straight cut then when I swath. I always cut lower going through sprayer tracks hoping to leave less mess behind. We use Elmers 7 bar midrange harrows which I find leaves most stubble undisturbed. Had issues with straight cut canola heating in the bin, self induced from lack of patience, much better luck with swathed canola. And yes snow caught by canola stubble made a big difference, those who over harrowed or cultivated or worse yet vertical tilled ahead of wheat payed the price here with spotty germination.

[sawfly1]

Could not agree more . Snow was make or break
here this year. From ft. High canola with no snow.
To lodged anywhere near a snow bank.
I did some ridgeing and so did the RM .
You can see every one.

[furrowtickler]

Could not agree more . Snow was make or break
here this year. From ft. High canola with no snow.
To lodged anywhere near a snow bank.
I did some ridgeing and so did the RM .
You can see every one.

Lots of snow ridging NW of here around the steam plants where they spread mud all winter .
Same thing , you can see every one .

[AlbertaFarmer5]

We haven't had near the extreme drought that you have had this year.
But as of now, it is painfully obvious where the different soils types and depths are located.
Especially in the wheat. Anything with gravel, underneath turned color quite a while ago.
Anywhere with extra topsoil is still quite green and noticeably heavier. These are the areas I've remediated, hauling extra topsoil or compost onto hills, or filling in low areas. Or naturally deep soils.

Not the normal situation around here, where excess water holding capacity is usually a negative. Very rare for the low areas to outyeild the hills.

The evidence of snow is not obvious here. We had a lot of snow early, accompanied by a lot of wind.
I had straight cut canola stubble about 2 feet high, surrounded by neighbors worked up stubble. Early in the winter, I had too much snow to the top of the stubble, the black fields were essentially bare.
Which looked smart at the time. But there was very little snow the rest of the winter, and lots of warm weather which took most of the snow before spring melt. So I'm not sure we derived much benefit from it. Although as of today, my wheat is staying green much longer than all the surrounding wheat, and at least one neighbor figures it is a much better crop. So maybe some credit is due to the snow, and no spring work either.

[helmsdale]

This crop's fortune was mostly decided by snow cover, or lack thereof. Stubble height mattered most, followed by material type. Canola/Mustard>Cereals>Peas>Lentils. Anybody that pro-tilled outside edges of fields or weedy spots last fall didn't see crop emergence until July. Conventional summerfallow has a poorer crop on it than respectable cereal stubble, and certainly is poorer than canola/mustard stubble. Chemfallow on '21s VERY short stubble is worse than cereal stubble right beside it.

Guys with lentil stubble are taking a swing around rockpiles, as well as running up and down water runs... That's it!

[AlbertaFarmer5]

This crop's fortune was mostly decided by snow cover, or lack thereof. Stubble height mattered most, followed by material type. Canola/Mustard>Cereals>Peas>Lentils. Anybody that pro-tilled outside edges of fields or weedy spots last fall didn't see crop emergence until July. Conventional summerfallow has a poorer crop on it than respectable cereal stubble, and certainly is poorer than canola/mustard stubble. Chemfallow on '21s VERY short stubble is worse than cereal stubble right beside it.

Guys with lentil stubble are taking a swing around rockpiles, as well as running up and down water runs... That's it!

That's interesting. Around here, canola stubble is by far the driest. Canola will keep sucking moisture out well into September, even beyond some years. And grows the most biomass of any annual crop we can grow.

When we toured the dry areas in the middle of july, I noticed the only green crops were lentils and flax. Is that because they are the most efficient at using water, or because they suck everything out long after other crops would have given up? Your post would indicate the latter.

[helmsdale]

That's interesting. Around here, canola stubble is by far the driest. Canola will keep sucking moisture out well into September, even beyond some years. And grows the most biomass of any annual crop we can grow.

When we toured the dry areas in the middle of july, I noticed the only green crops were lentils and flax. Is that because they are the most efficient at using water, or because they suck everything out long after other crops would have given up? Your post would indicate the latter.

Performance here generally relates to water use efficiency.

Lentils/Chickpeas>Peas>Mustard(has to get established)>CWRS>CWAD>flax>Barley(can look phenomenal at start but usually gets its ass handed to it as there's too much plant mass to support)>Canola

If there's subsoil moisture, Canola will certainly dig for it so long as it can get established. No matter the variety though Canola might draw past August moisture wise only 1 out of 5 years here. July and August usually scorch it! While straight cutting was a novelty to the more traditional canola growing areas, guys here have straight cut canola virtually since its inception. Only on the wettest of years was there ever enough biomass to swath and roll it into anything, so it was generally thought better to chance shelling out in a wind, than having it all blow away in a wind.

Canola on at least 3 out of 5 years will not outproduce cereals in the biomass department. 1 out of 5 it might be even, and that 1 out of 5 that the stars get semi inline, it'll choke your combine.

Typically every drop of rain that falls after about the 15th of August is either consumed by weeds, or held into next year. With no subsoil moisture crops are generally hand to mouth here. There's nothing to go looking for, so you have to use what is in that top 6" as efficiently as possible.

[furrowtickler]

Performance here generally relates to water use efficiency.

Lentils/Chickpeas>Peas>Mustard(has to get established)>CWRS>CWAD>flax>Barley(can look phenomenal at start but usually gets its ass handed to it as there's too much plant mass to support)>Canola

If there's subsoil moisture, Canola will certainly dig for it so long as it can get established. No matter the variety though Canola might draw past August moisture wise only 1 out of 5 years here. July and August usually scorch it! While straight cutting was a novelty to the more traditional canola growing areas, guys here have straight cut canola virtually since its inception. Only on the wettest of years was there ever enough biomass to swath and roll it into anything, so it was generally thought better to chance shelling out in a wind, than having it all blow away in a wind.

Canola on at least 3 out of 5 years will not outproduce cereals in the biomass department. 1 out of 5 it might be even, and that 1 out of 5 that the stars get semi inline, it'll choke your combine.

Typically every drop of rain that falls after about the 15th of August is either consumed by weeds, or held into next year. With no subsoil moisture crops are generally hand to mouth here. There's nothing to go looking for, so you have to use what is in that top 6" as efficiently as possible.

Excellent post

[TASFarms]

Tall stubble has more benefits than just snow catch. Keeps the wind off the soil at ground level,less evaporation, better microclimate. Keeps the sun off the soil, lower soil temps ,less evaporation and good for biology.

[furrowtickler]

Tall stubble has more benefits than just snow catch. Keeps the wind off the soil at ground level,less evaporation, better microclimate. Keeps the sun off the soil, lower soil temps ,less evaporation and good for biology.

If you have a good enough crop for tall stubble ….. there in lies the issue
North of hiway 16 , tall stubble can be a curse as well in wet , cold springs