Ploughing down snow

[Chips]

Should you or shouldn't you ?
I have some heavy wet stubble that will go into under sown arable silage. Probably plough in late March or April if I wait until dry enough to plough and then can be hard to make seed bed . Talk of good frost tonight so probably would be able to plough and let weather but unfortunately there is an inch or two of snow on it . We're organic so won't have bag fert to get us out of jail , if I wait til spring will get fym on top pre ploughing . What to do ?

 

[Sid]

No no and NO

I did it once and it took months for the ground to recover.
No idea why but I wouldn't do it again!

 

[Sid]

Never Plough Snow Under

There must be a thinking behind that, but cant for the life of me think what it is .

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[J 1177]

Did it once, never again. The field took an eternity to dry out underneath.

 

[Chae1]

Should you or shouldn't you ?
I have some heavy wet stubble that will go into under sown arable silage. Probably plough in late March or April if I wait until dry enough to plough and then can be hard to make seed bed . Talk of good frost tonight so probably would be able to plough and let weather but unfortunately there is an inch or two of snow on it . We're organic so won't have bag fert to get us out of jail , if I wait til spring will get fym on top pre ploughing . What to do ?

Jfdi. I do it all the time. Never seen any difference in following crop.

Would depend on amount. But an inch or 2 be fine. Will add some moisture when it thaws out in spring

 

[Agrivator]

Snow has a very high bacterial content. If it is ploughed, say, 8'' under, it doesn't do the soil or the existing soil life at that depth any good and it will take several years to recover.
That exhausts my total knowledge on the subject.

And it could be cruel to moles.

 

[7610 super q]

Surely it's best to no till snow ?

 

[Breakthru]

If its soft slushy snow you might get away with it but saw 3-4 inches ploughed down after hard frost, kept the ground soft underneath. SB sown in excellent conditions on medium land. Once the roots got to the snow layer, disaster!

 

[4course]

If its soft slushy snow you might get away with it but saw 3-4 inches ploughed down after hard frost, kept the ground soft underneath. SB sown in excellent conditions on medium land. Once the roots got to the snow layer, disaster!

yep,never mind ploughing snow in would not plough on frost esp in a wet year like this with soil at high moisture levels and cold, you may think youve made progress but the crop wont

 

[snarling bee]

My Dad and Grandad always said do not plough down snow. That's good enough for me. Why plough anyway?

 

[RAF]

Plough in the snow and it will never grow I was always told. Have a duvet day or Netflix and chill

 

[le bon paysan]

Dad used to say, never plough in snow, it will take 7 years to warm up again.

 

[betweenthelines]

Snow is only another form of water, would you only plough when the surface is bone dry?

 

[4course]

Snow is only another form of water, would you only plough when the surface is bone dry?

ideally

 

[yellow belly]

Never plough in snow
takes months for soil to warm up after

 

[4course]

My Dad and Grandad always said do not plough down snow. That's good enough for me. Why plough anyway?

did grandad plough?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Its sounds like a big old wife's tale to me
Until I see proven scientific evidence I will ignore it like all the other wife's tales

 

[Sid]

Its sounds like a big old wife's tale to me
Until I see proven scientific evidence I will ignore it like all the other wife's tales

We will all remember that when you put up grass seed information!

Got any scientific proof if you shoot yourself in the foot it will hurt?

 

[7610 super q]

What about rotavating fog into the ground ?

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Ploughed snow under on about 10acres of a 22ac field here about 6yrs ago, you can still see the line down the field when crop grows where it was done