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Iowa | Has anyone worked on strip farming - like 6 rows of corn and 6 of soybeans - I've talked to a couple guys that have tried it on a small scale and they're seeing 30-40 bushel corn yield increase over whole fields. If so what is the optimum split - I've got a 12 row so it'd work better for a 12 / 12 split. There was a guy doing it in my area a couple years ago but he quit so he must not have seen anything. So to further clarify on a 160 ac field there would stil be 80 a of each crop just instead of 80 ac blocks 6-12 rows of corn then beans (would probably split planter by the according to row unit drive). |
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Flandreau, SD | Oh, I have a little bit of knowledge about it.
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Iowa | always thought it looked nice - what kinda results have you seen - is 6 rows the sweet spot? - If so I'd have to get a smaller bean head - I'm seriously considering trying some - would obviously have to put all N down with the planter and chose herbicide program accordingly. |
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French / German Border | Very interesting.
I assume that soybean yield is equal or possibly slightly less than normal ??? (due to shade, light interception from corn) |
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Central Iowa | file img 1542
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Central Iowa | I have some experience in this practice also, 6rows would seem to be the "sweet spot", although most farmers want to use larger equipment (I use 12 row, which seems small by today's standards). Weed control was always the biggest challenge before RR technology.
I have not seed much of a yeild increase on corn nor a yield reduction in beans. I have used this practice mainly for soil conservation. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted. |
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Central Iowa | I have some experience in this practice also, 6rows would seem to be the "sweet spot", although most farmers want to use larger equipment (I use 12 row, which seems small by today's standards). Weed control was always the biggest challenge before RR technology.
I have not seed much of a yeild increase on corn nor a yield reduction in beans. I have used this practice mainly for soil conservation. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted. |
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Central Iowa | file image 5275
file image 5287 |
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| WOW! Amazing crops. Thanks for posting this. |
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SCMN | I find this concept quite intriguing however I have a few questions? What if you have a year where the beans are not ready and you want to pick corn? Bite the bullet and harvest some green or pumpkin beans to get the headlands off? I take it using a grain cart in soys is not an option? If nothing else it looks really cool... |
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Central Iowa | Normally, I take the soybeans out first so it's not a problem. I do recall one year however we had to take the corn out first. I would come clear to end of a cornstrip (12 row strips, 6 row CH) back up about 30 feet and then slide into the unharvested corn at a steep angle like I do headlands till I would be straight with the rows and then back out, turn around and head back the other way. This particular farm happened to have waterways right in the center so that I could unload, It was a real pain. Grass headlands would be nice.
Using a cart in the beans would be a real challenge. It could be done in corn.
Sorry for all the extra posts.
Edited by Cardinal_Farms 7/26/2011 15:17
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Flandreau, SD | 6 rows is the best, even 4 would be better for corn but don't match what I got. 6 rows +25 bu 12 rows +12 bu 24 rows +6-8bu Beans maybe lost 1 bu one year then lost 6 bu last years, don't know why, will see what this years beans do. The boost in corn has been very consistent. I have been broadcast litter, ripped or disked in, then sidedress rest of N on corn. This year I striptilled it all with dry fert on corn and nothing on beans, sidedress balance of N on corn. Looks like this year I will take the endrow beans off, take corn out, then take bean strips. This is because we had 70 to 100 mph winds with really wet ground and maybe 15% of the outside rows pulled the roots up and are leaning into the beans. I guess will have to see this fall, but that is the plan as of now. I didn't get a 15 ft bean head until 2 weeks before harvest last year! LOL |
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Flandreau, SD | I suppose that could happen but I don't think I will have a problem with the beans not being ready before corn. I have been thinking of 30-40ft grass headlands. But the cars on the highway get pretty nervous when I hang the 120ft boom in the ditch with a 90 ft headland now!!! LOL :) Until I see a big hit with beans on the headlands every year, I don't think I will change away from them. |
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Hendricks MN | What kind of herbicide program do you use in the strips? |
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Sucker brook, NY | sorry to get off topic, but are grass headlands a common practice in your area? id like to try some |
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central - east central Minnesota - | agboy - 7/26/2011 17:24 I suppose that could happen but I don't think I will have a problem with the beans not being ready before corn. I have been thinking of 30-40ft grass headlands. But the cars on the highway get pretty nervous when I hang the 120ft boom in the ditch with a 90 ft headland now!!! LOL :) Until I see a big hit with beans on the headlands every year, I don't think I will change away from them.
You could consider wheat on the headlands ? The price comparison of wheat returns is pretty close to beans .. that could give you a good headland rotation. |
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Flandreau, SD | was RR the first couple years, LL this year, back to RR next year. |
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EC MN - Hour North of 'The Cities' | Did you try different combinations of strip widths that weren't equal?
Ex: 6 Rows Corn, 12 Rows Beans or 12 Rows Corn, 24 Rows Beans
Did you do any yield checks comparing the differences between 6, 12, and 24 of your bean yields?
Lance |
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Monticello IL | what maturity of corn and beans do you plant together in the same field? I wonder if there would be a difference between planting north south verse east -west |
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Iowa | My FIL's....
4x36" corn adjacent to 12' of fallow ground. "Abnormally" high population. I'll quote agboy when he walked some of the strips with me a couple weeks ago: "that looks like a soybean population."
This is the consultant that we work with:
http://www.cedarvalleyinnovation.com/
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Blue Earth, MN | We've done 30' swaths of corn and soybeans. Second year doing such. Last year we had a large bushel gain on the corn compared to our normal corn on corn. BUT, the corn we had in the strip intercrop had some abnormal treatments that the other fields didn't get...thus we aren't certain how much we can attribute the yield gain to the sunlight interception effect. Soybeans were right with our farm average so we feel we didn't loose any yield, maybe a bushel at the most. Rows were N-S orientation.
We did more this year. We are treating the corn more like our normal corn on corn system. The one treatment that the corn may benefit from is the insecticide that will be applied to the beans. The corn is triple stacked corn but...
15' would be ideal from the yield standpoint but not very practical on a larger scale. 30' works pretty nice with all implements.
Considering current economics, it makes very little sense to raise soybeans. Thus doing the strip intercrop does show an economic advantage over solid soybeans but only a slight advantage over continuous corn.
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Aberdeen MS | on the headlands very well.
Did that last year. Major week infestation and about 35% of yield compared to the 80 right along side it seeded at the same time. |
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Aberdeen MS | just depends on how you set everything up.
I do 60' strips (24 rows). 8 row equipment except for corn head, 6 row. The 24 rows works well for that. Sprayer is 60'.
I side dress 8 rows on 60" centers ( 4 coulters). Or use drops on the sprayer on 60" centers. If I can time the weather, use the sprayer to save time and fuel. 20 gal/ac of 28% per application. If time is really short, move over one row and apply again same day. Gives a person quite a few options for side dressing.
But that is for "me" "here", others mileage may vary. |
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Aberdeen MS | showed no statistical difference in yield E/W vs N/S row orientation. South rows equaled the west rows in yield, and the remaining 18 rows of 24 row strips also equaled yield in both orientations.
U of MN has done some research, an advantage is seen on harvest moisture but not yield. I haven't seen the data, have just had it referred to me by a U researcher and they couldn't recall the favorable orientation. |
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Aberdeen MS | in the strips were my best yielders on the farm.
With the 6" rain event end of June, I'm of the belief the corn pulled more moisture out leaving the beans with not as much of "wet feet" my other fields experienced.
The strips were the only field that did not have a complete drowned out spot in them after a 6" one night rain event. |
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Central Iowa | No, they are not a common practice, everyboday plants corn and soybeans fencerow to fencerow. |
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Flandreau, SD | I had 12 and 24 beans the first year, same yield. 12 and 6 last year. I combined the middle 6 on the 12 and then the 3 on the edges. The edges had a yield drag to them. The 6 over all was less than the 12 yield for beans. Maybe a 6 corn, 12 beans? maybe. |
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Flandreau, SD | I have a 2.3 bean and a 101 day corn. In the valley holds the heat so it is pretty fast ground. Never had east/west. |
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strip farming
