No till vs min till, so far

[Anonymous-0]

Well, as ya know renter has my land enrolled in no till EQIP. Prior to knowing this I spread about 7 acres of it with 3-4 tons acre chicken poop. I hit one small part of that acreag with a feild cultivator shortly before him planting, rest was all no tilled with Kinze planter in corn. Well as of today the corn in the manure part that was tilled is about 2x taller and grener than the no tilled corn in the manure area. The no tilled corn in the manure area isnt really greener but is much taller than the area no tilled without manure. So to me, I would believe that I would be best off next year staying away from no till and spreading again and just hitting it with a feild cultivator. I am sandy loam with area of peat and black. I will be curious how it hold up when july comes. Any one else have some no till vs min or conventional tillage comparisons for this year? Doesnt the corn getting such a good start now in the tilled ground mean that it will yeild better in the fall than the no tilled which is smaller even though same planitng date?

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have done the same thing with manure and with commercial fertilizer and have had the same results as you but yield in the fall was the same. I just hated the appearance early on. Most guys here either have quit the no till because of that problem or have added starter fertilizer to correct it.My neighbor who ridge tilled for 30 years finally gave it up and bought a new disc and now discs twice before planting. He says it may sound counter to conservation thinking but he now spends less $ because of less chem and fert treatments . He has less disease issues and planter plants a better stand . And with the new genetic corn there is still plenty of residue left after 2 discings to protect the soil from erosion. Im in southeast SD.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Be careful with your chicken manure Dave, 'cause that stuff is really hot. Just hope you have plenty of moisture.

Don't want your corn ending up like my wheat. :>)

Allan

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well, the manure was pretty light compared to previous owner, he spread the whole barnfull on 1/4 of an 80 every 4 years rotating 1/4's. The trash wheels on renters planter cleaned a good 6" in the row. I really wish that was my corn rather than his. Also I noticed there are alot of area where the weeds were so thick that the corn in them weeds is real sickly looking and in some places just died off. It has since been hit with round up and I am starting to see bare spots in the feild. I am concerned about the hill along the pond, no corn, either geese ate it all or was too dry to germinate. I am tempted to see if he will let me drag some rye seed in or something. I hate to see what will happen if we get some of that rain alot of you are getting. I dug down a foot in a few places and that soil is like concrete down there. I am really contemplating ( for next spring) spread the manures, plow it in 6-8", seed it with a cover crop right away for erosion control, then plant the beans and corn right into the rye, and then spray down the rye before it hurts the corn, should help with soil compaction and weed control , as well as moisture retention, does any one agree. I'll be small time, but I want to make some money and be good to the soil.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The neighbor's zone tilled corn is just as good as our corn across the road...which was field cultivated twice..maybe better. I'm convinced he's going to win the yield comparison cause I believe he's got more moisture under that residue than we do! We've had 2 inches since May 1st! I'm in Northern IN.

 

[paul]

If a little rain comes at the wrong time, rye can get away on you before you spray it - too tall for the corn to compete. Just be aware of that, have the disk/ multcher waiting.

Down here in southern MN in my 120 foot deep clay soil from Canada we need to get rid of moisture & add heat, so no-till just doesn't work. Think I'd still be planting corn if that were the only option....

I'm hoping strip till works out, & the price of that equipment drops into my price range. (Cheap used.)

This is a real hot-topic on some discussion forums, like politics or religion. Gotta be careful what you say sometimes. Notill vs tillage, like the cattle/sheep wars of the western range.

Put 110# of starter on all my corn, 5-27-20 or whatever those last 2 are. My soils tested fair to almost fair for P & K last fall.

Most corn is on bean ground, 120# of NH3 applied in spring.

Few acres are corn on corn with close to 200# of NH3.

Few acres was an oats field, had cattle manure applied last fall, nearly headed oats regrowth plowed down in fall. NH3 this spring. Very sandy light soil, this field often looks poor with corn on it.

Few acres were 5 year old alfalfa field fall plowed, no NH3 added, just the 5lbs of starter.

A very few acres are direct seeded into a pasture I grazed early, only starter on it so far. Planted late, I'm evaluating wether to spray out the grasses & sidedress N, or let the cattle graze out the corn later.... Just a test, with everything stacked against the corn getting a chance....

So far the best looking field is the alfalfa patch, followed by the manured patch. I do not plan any extra N on the alfalfa patch, & exepect it to yield as good or better than the rest.

Planting dates & so forth play into it, so nothing scientific, but interesting to see the different situations unfold.

--->Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

I would guess that generally no-tilled crops will always look worse next to a conventional tilled crop. However, unless you are competing with the Jones' based on looks you may want to wait and see the yields before making a decision. Of course you have to know how to no-till to make it work right. Not rocket science but you have to setup correctly. Been doing it for over 15 years now. We run with the best of them on yield.

 

[Allan in NE]

The local boys here have been telling me that they run the fertilizer down underneith the row only, thereby not wasting it on the row centers.

Some kind of a knife rig setup on the planter from what I gather. Say they are getting 200+ bushel/acre with a fraction of the N costs.

Dunno, things have sure changed lately.

Allan

 

[TripleRange]

Yep, That sounds like Zone-till to me, Allen!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Just curious on what kind of rental agreement you have that lets you work the renters ground??Custom farming,,Crop Share,,Cash Rent??Which?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Allen, I started doing that with my tobacco two years ago and have saved a small fortune in fertilize cost and getting the same yield as before. I was broadcasting 2000 to 2500 lbs per acre of 8-10-15 + 500 lbs of 34-0-0 at lay by. Now I only use 500 lbs of 8-10-15 and 500 34-0-0.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cash rent, Piece with manure and and small part cultivated was supposed to be put in sweet corn by me, but being the nice guy I am.... I let him just put in feild corn and I put my sweetcorn on a small plot south of my barn.