[Tim Harrigan]

Do you have a bar rake?

[Tim Harrigan]

Is that a concrete roller? Nice work.

[Tim Harrigan]

Carl Russell;20525 wrote:

…..south central east west Bethel.
Carl

Thats pretty good.

[Tim Harrigan]

Sometimes you just have to get after it and see what happens. I a system like you envision the corn and clover roots would intermingle and explore the soil profile pretty effectively. It will be interesting.

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, sounds like your plans are moving in the right direction. I wonder if you will have enough time to establish and grow a clover crop that will fix a reasonable amount of nitrogen?

[Tim Harrigan]

Erika is right about that, it is not always mentioned because most newer drills have presswheels or use seeders with some type of roller or packer. That is one of the other reasons I suggested cereal rye, it is an aggressive starter and will establish many times with just a broadcast application and a little rain later in the year when it is not so hot. That is also why I suggested a higher seeding rate with broadcast and till in. I know no-tillers who broadcast wheat a few weeks before or even after corn silage harvest with no additional tillage and get pretty respectable covers.

I think you have minimalist options rather than buying a packer. Drag around a half sheet of plywood with some weight on it to firm the soil, or make a drag out of some planks. Innovation is always more interesting than getting the check book out.

[Tim Harrigan]

Don, how about a closeup view of that. Thanks.

[Tim Harrigan]

There is something to be said for keeping it simple. It helps to be nimble when ground skidding logs though.

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod;20405 wrote:

What would have more drag a stone boat or sled runners?

On hard ground the sled and stoneboat will have about the same draft. As you get into soft or muddy ground the sled will start to cut in but the stoneboat with the larger contact surface will have better flotation so less drag. The stoneboat will have more side-shift across a hillside and in snow, but that can be controlled a bit with chain brakes. Easier to load a stoneboat that lays flat on the ground.

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod, I bring in a lot of firewood in 12 ft lengths on an 8 ft stoneboat. I can roll 2 or 3 logs up and run a choker chain through the hole on the head of the stoneboat and around the log ends and choker holds the logs tight when pulling and keeps the logs off the ground in back. The forecart is a very minor component of draft, probably equivalent to 3-5% of the weight of the forecart and rider. Negligible for all practical purposes. So I suggest a forecart and a stoneboat or low riding sled.

[Tim Harrigan]

2 bu/ac oats, 2 lb/ac turnips. You may want to kick up the rate for broadcast seeding.

[Tim Harrigan]

I do not have any experience with sunflower, but it seems like the canopy is not very heavy so you may be able to seed a cover crop in at the last cultivation and have enough time for a good legume stand to develop. Crimson clover would probably work well in that situation. The more time you have for the legumes to develop an extensive root system the better. How about a soil test? pH is important for legume growth in many cases.

Also, oats will winter kill with first good freeze, but will grow quickly until then. I used a mixture of oats and forage turnip because turnip will continue to grow into December here, at your place as well. The growing crop will continue to trap N and keep a living root system for probably 2 more months in the fall. So consider cover crop mixtures when they make sense.

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, can you elaborate a little on what your longer term cropping program might be? Corn is a heavy feeder on nitrogen. Clovers have plenty of time to get started if you get them seeded in August, but they are not likely to put on much biomass or fix much N by the time you have to take them out in the spring for planting corn. You might want to consider an annual cover crop that includes a legume for corn in 2012. A possibility would be fall seeded winter wheat if you can harvest the grain, with a frost seeding of red clover at the end of March. That should give you a good stand of clover by the next fall and a good accumulation of N for the corn crop. If you can not harvest the grain, spring seeded winter wheat seeded with red clover could serve the same purpose. Spring seeded winter wheat will not head out but will provide weed suppression and a companion crop for the clover.

Why soybeans?

It looks like nitrogen management will be a big challenge so think legumes/compost/manure.

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy:
You have a series of crops with progressive planting dates so the best cover crop strategies will vary. This is a good opportunity to learn a few things. One way, if your field is rectangular, would be to plant a few different cover crop/combinations in strips lengthwise, and then plant the various crops across the strips. That will be a slight tillage problem because you will not want to till every cover crop at the same time, but will give some direct comparisons with a given crop across cover crops. The other way would be to plant a specific cover crop/combination in each 1 acre block and see how it goes.

My thought with the tillage/rye combination was that if you could exhaust the quack grass rhizomes with tillage you will still have to deal with new plants from seeds, but they are not nearly as difficult and aggressive as the rhizomes. Rye will grow agressively when planted in early october, more so than quack grass. And, I thought you planned to broadcast the seed and till it in rather than drill it in. Rye will likely give you a better stand than most other covers because it will be pretty forgiving of seeding depth. You want a good, uniform and thick stand for weed control so use at least 2 bu/acre with rye. That is probably what I would do on the corn and soybean ground (why soybeans?).

Some no-tillers report that rye and wheat will suppress corn, and as Carl mentioned it is not good to plant into green rye because of possible slugs and army worms. Rye is also a fast grower in the early spring and can dry out coarse textured soils. And, you will have to get after it early to kill it with tillage, so that is another risk issue if your soil is poorly drained and stays wet or you have an extended rainy period together with warm weather. I have not heard any complaints of suppression with rye that was killed with tillage, probably with a time gap between killing and planting.

You have more options for your later planted crops. If you seed soon red clover or sweet clover will establish well this fall and grow into the spring adding nitrogen and OM. I have done a fair amount of work with oil seed radish, tillage radish, forage turnips and forage rape. A week or so ago I drilled an oat/turnip combination in 40 acres wheat stubble and went over the top with a low disturbance application of swine manure. The cover jumped within a few days and is growing fast. The radish and turnips grow well into the fall and have big leaves that winter kill and lay flat on the ground in the spring and can provide good weed suppression. They disappear quick with shallow tillage.

You have a lot of options, it could be really interesting for all of us.

[Tim Harrigan]

What crops are you planning for next year?

[Author]

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