No, cultivate for spring crops. No till the winter cereals. Havnt you done the same swing in thinking also?!
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- Thread starter AF Salers
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Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
I've gone there and back again, but haven't quite made it there again!
Zero tilling and then running the maschios on top doesn’t count!
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
On that framing, I've been consistent all along then!
ETA: pleased that you have adopted the term 'maschioing'. It is after all the only form of power-harrowing.
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
In the interests of debate, and because I know you like arguing, cultivating for spring crops is not no-tilling proper according to most people on this thread's understanding. Discuss.
I don’t like arguing
Feldspar
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- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
[Resists temptation to write: "Oh yes you do!"]
- Location
- Peterborough
This is where I struggle Chopped W.WW.Wheat straw creating a thick blanket that doesn't let the wind and sun in the spring. Have a lot of worms but enough to move that quantity yet. The only way around this is to may be bale the straw then sow a cover crop. I haven't got into those yet and just rely on volunteers and one very shallow pass of the Carrier with Crosscutting discs in.
Getting spring soils to warm up in a timely manner is a big challenge, and frankly I don’t have a silver bullet answer until the breeders start making winter cereals with black straw (which they can do).
Warm season crops with relatively short growing season is one idea, if it is feasible for you, where soil temps have to be warmer and you have to wait to plant. Mudding seed in with the proper drill and drill set-up can work as well.
Chopping straw is necessary if your drill has hoe type openers, but causes way too much hair pinning if you have what I think is a true no-till drill with disc openers. Not sure which type of drill you use, and if this has been a problem for you.
The problem with baling straw is that you are not only exporting nutrients that are usually more costly to replace, but you are exporting carbon that can’t be replaced. This messes up the carbon cycling of a good rotation, and makes soil organic matter gains tough to achieve.
According to one of my friends, strip till and rotational tillage is like when someone is asked if they beat their wife, and the answer is “only every other day!”
:anybody got a matchbook:
Kidding, sort of. And now we’ve strayed somewhat from the OP like good forums do.
- Location
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I don't remember that being mentioned apart from not to bail unless being replace with muck becose of O.M.
- Location
- Cambridgeshire UK
Watch out for the videos to become available.
puntabrava
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- Location
- Wiltshire
Fourty years ago the farmers were too busy with running their mixed farming systems to trott off for a few days to learn how to improve their soils.
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