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Central NY | We have a few farms that are in some really gumbo type clay from 0-30” deep. They’re really tough to get right and get a good stand on every year. They’re at the bottom of the drainage district and suffered from years of heavy tillage and plowing. Our first step was pattern tile. Since then we have minimized tillage as much as possible, but if we get a tough fall of wet harvest the only way to get the soil working again is the in line ripper to get channels opened back up. We have been able to no till them a couple times, but there’s a 48 hour window for no till and min till farming on these fields and if you miss it your chances of a good stand are very low. Also keep our hybrid selection shorter so I know it can be harvested timely, and always prioritize getting those acres off first. No doubt the tile, and then cover crops and min till practices are helping us build a better structure for water management and these soils get easier to manage over time for us. But I know other people across the ditch from us swear full tillage is the only way and it works for them | |
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Compaction
