should this be a key time in the no till calender?

[shakerator]

As crop senescence marks the prime arable farmer holiday season, is this not a time of considerable risk for no tillers looking to manage soil moisture through living roots rather than steel? With crops slowing down their wicking effect, and heavy thunderstorms imminent, is this the time to be spinning on a bit of mustard, so as to keep some living roots pumping moisture away.

Could this get us towards a situation of being able to drill in mid October (early drilling may be foolproof but is it compensating for poor nutrient cycling).

One thing I have noticed, as many others have- is that keeping a green stubble until the drilling operation does shade the soil surface and makes the openers job more difficult. However, i do feel a net benefit accrues from the living plants conditioning the soil at depth, and the benefits of this could be felt during times of drainage concern. This is at least my excuse for letting a few thistles come through some spring beans

 

[Baling Hay]

Why don't you spin on some cover on half of EACH field and leave the other half. Be good comparison for you for next season then.

 

[combineguy]

Hi

We found a similiar thing last spring. We sprayed out a paddock a month prior to drilling but we found it got quite wet when it came to drilling.


This year we are going to drill straight into grass and spray it out on the same day. So as the old plant dies the new one comes thru. The old plant provides warmth and a mulch for the new plant also.

Goes along with what Fredrick Thomas says, the soil needs to be always growing something, whether this is a cover crop or your cash crop. We just need to find ways of doing this

 

[combineguy]

Hi

Another thing is you need to find a drill which can drill into high levels of residue or mulch