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Texas | Thanks for your reply. I have been no-tilling into a wheat cover crop for almost 10 years. During this time I have found that wheat or rye planted solid as a cover with maybe one or two drill stopped where the cotton was planted has yielded some good results. I think the rain that we get in the spring usually more than offsets the irrigation water it takes to get the cover started. You are right about the water savings and changing the water efficiency by planting the wheat. However, I do believe the cover on the ground and the micro environment it creates coupled with the decomposition of the crop stubble adds necessary fertility to our soils. One of the reasons I went to no till was due to the overall health of ours soils. We didn't have the micro organisms or the earth worms in our soils. We have seen that change drastically with no till.
If I plant something for rotation, I don't want to take anything but seed off of it. Sudan will not be baled and will only be grazed or shredded. Sesame will be planted with a drill into the terminated wheat stubble. I have been watching some research where the sesame is planted broadcast under a pivot. Pivot is used for emergence only and the stubble coupled with the terminated cover of wheat or rye has held up good until the next year. Sesame has become higher on my list as a rotation for cotton as it is a natural nematicide. Deer and wild hogs won't bother it either. Since we lost Temik, many alternative methods are being looked at for nematode control. | |
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Fertility
