So much for perfection....
During the off-season when we’re making crop management plans, we start with the assumption that the weather will be something close to normal. With reasonable weather, our plans enable optimal planting dates, planting conditions, crop emergence and weed control. But as many of us have experienced this spring, while we start with perfection as the goal, compromises and re-working the plan occurs as weather dictates. Perfection goes out the window.
Cool wet weather has challenged many producers this spring, resulting in late planting dates and/or crops seeded into soil conditions that may challenge the performance of the crop through the rest of the growing season. Perfect conditions from here on out can limit the impact of late planting and tough soil conditions, but we’re certainly vulnerable to a scenario where a cool wet spring is followed by a hot dry summer.
On our farm, we faced clay soils that just wouldn’t dry out. Some neighbors who worked ground during a short window around April 20th had excellent results. Heavy rains after this seemed to consolidate the soil and make for tough tillage conditions for the rest of the spring, regardless of how patient you were. You can see what I mean if you check out my “From the Field” videos at: http://www.eharvest.com
Working and planting into tacky ground was followed by more pounding rains, which created a hard crust. This year we used a vertical tillage tool to break the crust – it worked great, but it’s not a scenario that any farmer looks forward to. It challenges the vigor of those little seedlings, costs money, and thins population.
Once the field cultivator was parked, things progressed much better as we no-tilled most of our soybeans. We were able to get the seed placed nicely into moisture without the ongoing tillage challenges.
Share your experiences. Did the conditions this spring have you rethinking your tillage/seeding strategy? I’d be interested to hear from strip tillers – I had the thought a number of times this spring that fall strip tillage would have been a good program for this year. What about no-till – are there others who share my view that it was a good way to go for soys this spring? Click on “Reply to This Topic” at the top of this page to join the discussion.
Follow my progress this growing season on Twitter. I am Agwag!
Peter Gredig
Peter.Gredig@Farms.com
During the off-season when we’re making crop management plans, we start with the assumption that the weather will be something close to normal. With reasonable weather, our plans enable optimal planting dates, planting conditions, crop emergence and weed control. But as many of us have experienced this spring, while we start with perfection as the goal, compromises and re-working the plan occurs as weather dictates. Perfection goes out the window.
Cool wet weather has challenged many producers this spring, resulting in late planting dates and/or crops seeded into soil conditions that may challenge the performance of the crop through the rest of the growing season. Perfect conditions from here on out can limit the impact of late planting and tough soil conditions, but we’re certainly vulnerable to a scenario where a cool wet spring is followed by a hot dry summer.
On our farm, we faced clay soils that just wouldn’t dry out. Some neighbors who worked ground during a short window around April 20th had excellent results. Heavy rains after this seemed to consolidate the soil and make for tough tillage conditions for the rest of the spring, regardless of how patient you were. You can see what I mean if you check out my “From the Field” videos at: http://www.eharvest.com
Working and planting into tacky ground was followed by more pounding rains, which created a hard crust. This year we used a vertical tillage tool to break the crust – it worked great, but it’s not a scenario that any farmer looks forward to. It challenges the vigor of those little seedlings, costs money, and thins population.
Once the field cultivator was parked, things progressed much better as we no-tilled most of our soybeans. We were able to get the seed placed nicely into moisture without the ongoing tillage challenges.
Share your experiences. Did the conditions this spring have you rethinking your tillage/seeding strategy? I’d be interested to hear from strip tillers – I had the thought a number of times this spring that fall strip tillage would have been a good program for this year. What about no-till – are there others who share my view that it was a good way to go for soys this spring? Click on “Reply to This Topic” at the top of this page to join the discussion.
Follow my progress this growing season on Twitter. I am Agwag!
Peter Gredig
Peter.Gredig@Farms.com