mhagny - 11/28/2015 09:24
Boone and crockett, I dont have any advice for the op but I am in the same camp as you . I have run over some soybean fields that have been going to corn with my 15' Aerway after they were strip tilled...saw a 20 bushel increase in corn yield and roots that grew much wider and deeper. I don't believe the Aerway compacts ...at least no where near as much as a disc or cultivator. It removes the compaction as deep as you run it and really fractures the soil sideways without disturbing the top. I also use it ALOT in hay fields...we run it very slowly and just poke holes before we apply lime and litter and potash and the holes are still there the next year. I did it once on a hill field that I could never keep the waterway from washing out on...that waterway hasn't washed AT ALL in the 2 years since it was done. It really does catch and hold rain water if run slowly at a straight angle. Josh Moorefield
Interesting observations. The holes from the Aerway probably last a couple years in hay fields where the perennial roots hold the soil together better. But ultimately they will run together, and you'll have to do it again. Each time, you degrade the soil structure at the surface a little more.
I would prefer something biological that will increase infiltration while improving soil aggregation, rather than degrading it. Tap-rooted species, for instance. And nightcrawlers especially!
Aerway use in notill
