Albedo! Or, another cost of selling your straw...

[martian]

Interesting report highlighting one of the numerous ways no-till farming can help slow climate change:
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/27/9757

I was thinking about this last week as we were chopping our oat and wheat straw as it came out of the combine, covering the land with a lovely protective straw mulch. The soil is now protected from the heat of the sun and a lot of solar radiation is sent straight back to space. The tiny amount of rain we've had so far (5mm, although it's drizzling as I type) will have more chance of soaking in and doing a bit of good.

The effect of having a 'litter' cover over the soil showed up really well on our permanent pastures this summer, where we've left a bit of thatch after the mob passes (the cows only get to eat the top third or so of the standing hay and trample the rest), then we've had really pleasing regrowth and been able to keep a wedge of grass in front of the herd. The soil, and all the creatures that live in it, is protected from the extreme heat. The only cracks we've got are where the soil is bare, like along cattle tracks.

So it turns out straw isn't just a few quid of NPK and some worm food, but a biogeophysical instrument to save the planet. Thought you'd be interested.

 

[Simon C]

I was thinking exactly this when chopping straw last week with every field around is covered in big bales or straw in the swath (now wet straw). We have been experiencing the same conditions as our friends in North America and Australia where they love residue cover all year round for soil protection. In our normal maritime climate we hate cover because it stops the soil drying and when it gets wet and breaks down anaerobically, causes all sorts of problems to emerging and young plants.

We have had a little rain over the weekend, but it is going to dry up again this week so I bet there is more chance of rape or cover crops germinating under straw that in open soil.

 

[Badshot]

I was offered £9.50 for each 600kg bale of straw in the swath.
I just managed not to be very rude.
There's no way I'm baling for that, it'll cost me that to replace the nutrients removed.

 

[Ritchie]

So why dont you use stripper headers and leave the straw standing , it would make Much more sense and you could probably get Much bigger output from a smaller combine which would weigh less, reduce compaction and cost a lot less.
But what do i know, i live and work in the livestock area of the country.


Ritchie

 

[martian]

So why dont you use stripper headers and leave the straw standing , it would make Much more sense and you could probably get Much bigger output from a smaller combine which would weigh less, reduce compaction and cost a lot less.
But what do i know, i live and work in the livestock area of the country.


Ritchie

I've been thinking about this a lot this harvest, funnily enough. With a broader range of crops in the rotation, including 4 year leys, we don't need such a big combine anyway, so thinking of downsizing anyway and getting a stripper header to boot so we can go smaller again. An easy harvest like this lets you think it's always going to be a breeze. Also, waiting to see how @ajd132 gets on with his this year...

 

[ajd132]

I've been thinking about this a lot this harvest, funnily enough. With a broader range of crops in the rotation, including 4 year leys, we don't need such a big combine anyway, so thinking of downsizing anyway and getting a stripper header to boot so we can go smaller again. An easy harvest like this lets you think it's always going to be a breeze. Also, waiting to see how @ajd132 gets on with his this year...

We have done some oats with it. Chris H has done everything including wheat with it which he said went okay but probably wouldn't work in wheat on a normal year.

 

[Brisel]

So why dont you use stripper headers and leave the straw standing , it would make Much more sense and you could probably get Much bigger output from a smaller combine which would weigh less, reduce compaction and cost a lot less.
But what do i know, i live and work in the livestock area of the country.


Ritchie

Stripper headers can have much higher losses. Lots of no tillers have tried them but not all still have them. You have to have the gear to cope with the residue afterwards too.