Soil armour

[Clive]

Starting to build and keeping soil below notably more moist than in crops where I don't have this, it's wheat after spring oats, this is light land

Down side however is some evidence of the 2 Simons effect in this crop especially where combine overlapped to headland

 

[Badshot]

Starting to build and keeping soil below notably more moist than in crops where I don't have this, it's wheat after spring oats, this is light land

View attachment 52488 View attachment 52490


Down side how re is done evidence of the 2 Simons effect in this crop especially where

Where's yer worms man??????? They ought to have scoffed the lot by now, won't be long till you dish up the next helping

 

[Clive]

Where's yer worms man??????? They ought to have scoffed the lot by now, won't be long till you dish up the next helping

Worms munch residue so fast this is the first crop I've managed to keep surface mulch for ! Maybe they are starting to get full bellies now

Actually if you can zoom in the pic you can see casts in the mulch

 

[dontknowanything]

Looking good

Is the whole field like that?

 

[H.Jackson]

I was looking in the base of our direct drilled wheat after oats even the standing stubble has all but gone now.

 

[Clive]

Looking good

Is the whole field like that?

Yes pretty consistent really, pleased with it as this is the block I have mentioned being a bit concerned about after oats, I thought it would be to thin but it's turned out fine

 

[tw15]

Looking good clive , it is amazing how much moisture is kept in the soil from the layer of straw on top a few years of that will really improve the top layer of soil and worm numbers will increase with time . The only downside is it takes longer to dry out and to warm up in the spring for drilling .
The more organic matter the better you can keep on top or in that top layer the better i have found from experience and let the worms do there stuff (they don,t need lots of diesel or expensive equipment to do there stuff).

 

[yellow belly]

just beware of higher risk of slugs that are not usually a problem on dry land