Southern MN | I just finished planting my beans, without working the ground up, with a 5400 drill. Not a Soybean Special, but Mulch-till. I used the 5400 because that is what I have. If I was buying new, I would select something better suited. It will matter with how mellow your ground. I planted directly into last falls cover crop of annual rye grass, which only 1% survived the winter. I tried to plant directly into the cover crop a few years ago, but the ground was hard, and the mat from the cover crop was too thick. This year was my first time of not working the ground up prior to planting beans. I was a little nervous. This was into sweet corn stalks, so a lot less material than grain corn. After last fall's sweet corn harvest, I disked the field and planted a cover crop with the drill. If you have the drill already, you should give it a try and see for yourself on your fields. My neighbors fields look 'nicer' after working them, but is it necessary? We will see in a few weeks what the stand looks like.
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