breaking land

[dfarms11]

Anyone have any experience breaking land and seeding canola the same year? Just wondering if canola will grow ok the first year or if a guy should consider still planting barley or oats on it?

[makar]

New land here is n short, may answer part of your question. Broke lots of land, how are you planning to do it in one season?

[per]

Is it tame or native? How much stubble is on top?

[dfarms11]

it is tame hay, in for about 15 years, was cut for hay late so not much stubble. I am wanting to break it this spring and seed it right after. That is why I am wondering if I can get a canola crop off of it this year or if Iam better off with a cereal.

[per]

Moisture is the big issue as hay grows all season long it uses more than grain. I would be temped (although haven't yet tried) to direct seed into the sod. The idea might be folly but with a RR variety, the right opener and packer and lots of rain it very well could work. Just a suggestion and by no means am I trying to convince you to try this but I have been thinking of doing this myself and thought I would throw it out for the consideration of others on this site.

[countryguy]

I have done this in the past.Hammer it with roundup hard before seeding.Canola is your best bet to seed because you can skim it in and not make the field too cloddy and you have more herbicides to work with.Seed a cheaper rr variety and seed at 8 or 10 pds per acre.Then spray with roundup as needed as long as you can.What I also did was applied only the starter fert at seeding and waited to see what kind of catch I would get and then dribble banded the n later on.Good luck.

[countryguy]

I forgot to add that in the fall when and if you decide to work it most of the plant material and roots have rotted and the field will work up really nice and be clod free.

[rook]

Have done this last two years, both sprayed and unsprayed. Fortunately, both years with enough moisture which is the key. Plan on doing it again this spring. 2X with Wishek disk and then Roundup Ready canola. You may have to work the canola stubble in the fall as it still might be too rough for a long-term direct seed field. Emergence is more spotty than regular field but produces good crops, interestingly most common weed is stinkweed.

This spring will be another challenge as newly rented field is old, worn out, sodbound hay and its dry around here but $13 canola makes it worth the risk.

[dfarms11]

Rook, how much difference was there with the field between spraying or not? The problem with spraying and working it, I cant work it untill I am basically ready to seed. Don't want to stop seeding! Now if I work it up late April before seeding, I can have it ready to seed for seeding time and just do a preseed burn to clip off any new growth!

[rook]

In 2006 it was sprayed the prior year after first cut and worked in fall 05. Emergence was better than 2007 although surprisingly just as much volunteer alfalfa, even with 2litre/acre rate. That year was Invigor canola with good stand and clean, alfalfa came back after good action by Liberty in spring.

In 2007 it was worked in April, no spraying. Very wet and worked up well, which lead to pretty good seedbed. Emergence not as good as prior year, but also was open pollinated roudup ready variety. Only sprayed once incrop at 1 litre/acre and was clean. For the hayland not being sprayed out, it was about as much volunteer alfalfa as the other year. It will be a multi-year project to get rid of the alfalfa, but that is always the case.

I would prefer to always spray the hay as it works up so much better, but with canola prices as they are I'll take a risk.

I've also tried seeding direct but didn't have luck. That year was oats and due to grasshoppers, so not comparable. However, I wouldn't consider direct seeding into sod unless sprayed the prior fall.

Hope that helps.

[just_wondering]

With Canola I would be carfull about seeding depth but you could possiblly broadcast and harrow.
I would go with a cereal.
We generally seed fall rye on breaking land. if seeded early you can't screw it up.

[ado089]

Hammer it hard with 1.5 L plus of roundup in the spring and dirrect seed it with the smallest oppener possible. Sod lumps will be your biggest problem but if you can minimize disturbance that issue should be mittigated. Also plan on using some lontrel to take care of any alfalfa outbreaks ...eclipse is a cheap source of a healthy dose of lontrel. This will also take care of buckwheat which can also be a problem once you get rid of the competition that hay provides.

[BreadWinner]

Dont seed canola! you cant get a good seed bed because it will be all clumps and no loose dirt. Even if you get it seeded there is usually a wireworm problem and your crop starts to die when podding.I have seeded barley into it only when sprayed with 2L the previous July and 1L in Sept. It will only Yeild about 30bus/ac and that was on a wet year. If you havent sprayed it yet dont waist your time. With inputs at record levels it isnt worth the risk.