Oswald No-Till Farm Cleghorn, IA | Though I have never farmed them, I understand that one of the toughest soils is the Luton gumbo type. I have an uncle who farmed in Monona county and know some other guys who farm up and down the Mo. River bottom as well. As I understand it, you are better off with some sand and a pivot than trying to farm the gumbo in dryland fashion. The workable moisture range of that soil and available soil moisture is rather narrow due to a high soil moisture wilting point of those clays.
When I sold Pioneer, some of the other guys in my sales district were from Monona county and I would hear interesting stories about how a parabolic shank ripper would start soils cracking and heaving right behind the duals of the tractor. We bought a used IHC 501 "plowing" tandem from Onawa back when we were still doing a two pass disk-rip system on our stalks. I believe the prior owner used it on everything including soybean stubble.. Guys often tell me those are "dinner bell" soils in the spring..... before the bell rings they would be too wet, after the bell stopped ringing they would be too dry.
One thing I never quite understood was the lister method of plowing out the dry soil and slicing the seed into the gumbo below. I understand it was used a lot in that area years ago. I remember my uncle having a 4 row mounted lister on an "M" Farmall with supporting equipment like a seed row roller to pack the furrow shut and a pull type "Go-Devil" cultivator for weed control. But, it seemed to work for guys as I remember. It was a controlled traffic strip system.
Surface drainage is the norm as tile performance isn't good as I understand it so draining water "through" the soil isn't a practical solution where it isn't sandy. With good drainage underneath (tile or natural), heavy soils will no-till/strip till well but you don't have that option on Luton types.
So, does that mean that I think no-till will always "fail" in your area compared to a heavy tillage system..... certainly not because tillage done wrong (and those soils are easy to do wrong) isn't successful either. I think it will take more time to find the right fit. My guess is that it will take some form of strip-till so you have the benefit of soil structure to support equipment and the benefit of a low impact tilled zone for planter operations and crop establishment. Keeping some structure in the system should be important in soils that tend to collapse and become concrete when it dries out.
I sincerely think that adapting low/no-till crop management to the soils any farmer is blessed or cursed with is doable. But, like fighting disease like cancer, figuring it out can take more than one person's lifetime in tough soils like you have there. I am thinking that some innovative cover crop strategies might benefit the soil by adding more roots to the system to keep it open as well.
I wish I could help with more and better suggestions but I only know your area by the perspective of outside looking in. As someone passionate about the fundamentals of low-no-till farming, I appreciate your willingness to try the practices and ask questions in an attempt to adapt systems to your situation.
Best of luck,
Tom |
No till troubles in heavy clay (gumbo) Solil Life and others
