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NE Indiana | We've been doing continuous no-till on Houghton mucks for over 15 years. I like it, I'd sure never go back to trying to till it. We're 'true' no-till, the only equipment in the field is a fertilizer spreader, a sprayer, a planter, and a combine.
I've been running a corn-corn-beans rotation recently. In the second year of corn I drive on the old rows and plant in the middles. In wet years the root balls really help keep you afloat. In general, regardless of the rotation, having that residue on top and not working the muck and fluffing it up really helps keeping you on top. Getting buried in the muck was a regular occurrence when we tilled, but now it's a rare event in no-till.
We drill beans with a JD 750. Sometimes we plant beans in 30 inch rows too. In this sort of high fertility environment where you get lots of foliage, the 30 inch rows have yielded about the same, and are a lot easier to combine. Less mold problems in the 30's too.
The biggest challenge for us is cutting through residue in these very soft soils. There's nothing firm for coulters, row cleaners, etc to push against and the residue will just bunch up in front of them. Attachments that work in the high ground plug in a few feet in the muck. We've found what works for us over the years, and if we wait until the residue is fairly dry on top, we get along without too much plugging. | |
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No Till on peat marsh?
