Crop rotation

[Bruce14]

We have been continuous cropping with a Pea/Wheat/Canola/Barley rotation and are tired of chemical and fertilizer bills increasing especially with HT canolas. What suggestions due you have for alternate rotations that are also tied to beef production (clovers or whatever).

[ALLFARMER]

I know of a farmer here who has planted canola on canola for about 8 yrs now and seems to have as good of crop as anyone. Also I wonder if anyone has heard of RR canola fields planted illegally. 160 acres seeded at 200 bu/quarter @ $10/bu = one quarter section canola seeded for $2000 then chemical for $1250 ($7.90/acre) skipping the $15/ac teck agreement. Imput costs $4000/$5000 yield 28bu/ac x $9= $40,000 Someone must have gotten caught & sued already?

[Bruce14]

Allfarmer. You can do pretty well anything if you don't get caught but sooner or later you will probably will. As far as getting sued maybe you have heard of Percy Schmeiser (spelling?) and his ongoing saga with Monsanto?

If you are going to try it maybe lighten your seeding rate a touch. 200 bu. will seed 1000 acres at about double the normal rate.

[ALLFARMER]

I remembered Percy's name but forgot about his fight. I found his website http://www.percyschmeiser.com Maybe when they have Round up rezistant oats I will plant some Illegally. Where I live if you plant oats you have bears. This summer I shot a timber wolfe while raking greenfeed. I had never seen one before & was he ever huge...he makes a coyote look like a puppy. Happy to have moved north!

[emiled]

Bruce,
The crop rotation you outlined is a common one. Not sure which part of the country you're in? so I'm not sure all ideas are appropriate... From a beef point of view, many growers are using fall rye and triticale for pasture or silage, some corn being attempted and various pasture and hay mixes.... I've sat through presentations where speakers have suggested we are not including enough crops in rotation and thereby not extracting the full value of crop rotation benefits. Easier said than done as we can only grow what fits our climatic conditions.

[get]

Your rotation is the most common in this part of the country. Consider sweet clover or alfalfa into the rotation. The improvement in soil tilth and nutrient content can make it well worth the change. Also helps the weed control.