Ben D, N CA - 7/24/2016 21:05

I plowed out an alfalfa field last fall, and I could still pick out where we had played around with a deep ripper in one corner. The entire field was done at an angle about 10 years ago, but only 24" or so deep. You could still pick out those ripper marks as well, although very faint. The alfalfa grew noticeably better around the deep ripper passes than even the 24" stuff. Was interesting to me as it was the first time we'd ever tried to go deeper here. So much for the idea that alfalfa will penetrate and loosen tight ground.

Now I've also trenched in pipe on about every place I farm. Seems like those marks go away pretty rapidly after a few years of tillage. Maybe because it is a wider (burying 8-12" pipe) trench it will get compacted back as opposed to a ripper slot that stays fractured.

Most of my mainlines are 12", and I've had to locate them before. Pretty easy with a 3/8" steel rod, but trying to visually find where they are can be tough on ones that were only buried a few years ago.