Vertical Tillage

[freewheat]

Regarding soil temperature, and waiting for it to warm up. For us over here, actually waiting for the soil to warm up is not ever an issue. You seed when the field will support you, you do not take soil temperatures.

I remember when I and my wife first married. Her grandpa had died, and seeing as I was the only farmer in either side of the family, I "inherited" and interesting contraption. In laws, with much pride and assumption, handed me little probe like object. They obviously thought I could put the thing to good use.

BUT......

I looked at it and had no idea what it was. They told me it was a soil thermometer. Upon hearing this, I still had no idea what to do with the thing, because waiting around for the soil to warm up was such a foreign concept to me!

To have the luxury to actually wait for the soil to warm up, must be like sitting on a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

This kind of shows what I am saying about soil warm up with tillage: In an anomoly area like this area is, ( I mean, who else has 5 or more inches of snow right now as an example!), it doesn't much matter what you do. The soil when it offers support for machinery, is the sign to go. Not soil temp.

This usually occurs when the last bit of snow is almost gone from the treelines. I have no idea what the soil temp is, but it simply must be pretty cold...

We truly are in a micro-climate here. We always get more rain, more snow, and cooler daytime temperatures than pretty much anywhere around. Wadena, 20 minutes west, is always dryer. Fjlip and Partners are only probably 25 miles northwest of me, but they have their own climate. Preeceville, 35 miles east, is always dryer too.

Thankfully, for whatever reason, we have a bit longer growing season, which is bizarre. But we are in a truly cursed cool, damp area for whatever reason. Sorry, went on a tangent, but I have not much else to do. I am not really that into making snowmen, and refuse to put the blade on the tractor before Halloween! lol!

[furrowtickler]

Same goes for micro climate here , huge changes 20 miles north and south , fairly consistant east to west . Mostly b/c the lay of the land and a general west to east rainfall pattern - well used to be lol

[freewheat]

Yeah we used to have the advantage of never being short of rain while the other areas were dry. Not so anymore. grrr. Historically our best years were the dry ones, the thirties, 1988, 2001-2003, etc., because we caught the rains.

I thought of one other thing on the tillage front I also have noticed, regarding tall stubble, vs. tilled land.

First, once the tall stubble is poking through the snow in the spring, the snow melts rapidly because the stubble warms up quick.

Second, because of less snow drifts forming in the tall stubble in a typical snowfall year, the snow melts more evenly, where as with tilled land, you have bare hills, and then you have hollows with 7 feet of snow. So the snow not only melts unevenly, but sloughs fill up more readily from what I have seen, from all that deep, drifted snowpack, which is already in a lower slope position, ready to fill the sloughs...

It does have a lot to do with the lay of the land, for sure...

[TOM4CWB]

All seeds germinate the best... just on top of the ground just under the straw. The sun breaks down seeds that are exposed... cold warm wet dry cycles break down seeds... and make them inert and die. Mix in weeds and oilseeds... and they can last for 30 years...when harrowed or tilled into the top inch. The deeper the mix... the longer they last.

We need every last drop of water on our hill tops... with crop residue to hold it where it falls... the less evaporation and more percolation the better the crops.

Our seeder leaves a 2-3 inch black strip/grove for the seeds to emerge from... and this protects them from frost when small. The less sunlight that hits the soil between the rows... the fewer the weeds and better moisture retention.

So...My vertical tillage happens when I seed the crop. Straw management needs to happen with the combine or a shredder/mower.... or planning ahead and baling if the straw load is too much and needs to be lowered. Chaff is not moved significantly by tillage in an event... and other than breaking off the stubble... to reduce snow catch on the high areas as has been mentioned...

Burning $5/gal diesel... and spending $250/hr... to impress your city cousin with your tractor... is for those who want to watch 'Top Gear'... not for our farm where we are.

[ado089]

Tom, I think you and I will agree on this one. Better to spend money on a good chopper and spreader and do it right the first time.

[farmaholic]

I don't like the idea of burning residue or intensive tillage but its hard to ignore some of the drawbacks(cold soils, disease harbouring environment, lack of needed soil drying at times) of a heavy thatch of straw on the surface. Yet the points Tom brought up are also real. Flexibility is the key--conditions change.

[furrowtickler]

Had the best choppers - MAV's, and cut short, been ther done that long ago, tried to do it perfect the first time. It may work for some but definitely not for all - that's the great thing about farming.

[Mjolnir]

How about something like an Agrowplow? Doesn't disturb the top but cracks the hard pan, done on contour it should help getting the run off into the ground where it belongs instead of pooling on the surface. The only downside is the time needed, they don't move real fast, apparently they only recomend that it be done once every five years or so though.

[freewheat]

My roots and earthworms already are doing that for me. Why use expensive steel and fuel, when the soil life does the subsoiling/compaction busting for me?

[blackpowder]

All well and good everyone. Specialized tools for specific situations. I rented a Joker this spring for pea stubble because there was no other way.
Neighbours buying VT for similar reasons.
Lesson is never say never.