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Central NE | Ed: I'm 35, Thanks for the "A"
VirginiaVeg: quote:"I don't think what you "learned" would hold true a lot of places. Especially #2, #7 and #9. Probably would have been better if you left #8 out."
Thanks for reminding me I left out #12: I learned on NAT what works "here" can't be expected to work "there".
#8 is from all the pictures and posts on NAT. Reminds me things could be worse and I don't have it so bad after all.
#2 I have never used nitrogen fertilizer on the 1600 acres I farm. I'm not advocating, I'm just learning and it will teach you alot!
#7 is more complex than meets the eye. I definitely should not have said overrated, just overused. I will have to collect my thoughts on this and post later, but here are a few things I witnessed: 3" of timely Irrigation raised yields on one pivot 130 bu higher vs the dryland corner on one field following alfalfa, but LOWERED yields by 25 bushel NT corn on corn (some dry corner corn on corn yielded 25bu more than under the pivot. I attribute this to less oxygen, keeping soil colder, therefore less microbial activity fixing N as well as N leaching and anerobic activity). Nearly 100% residue on the NT corn on corn to preserve the moisture has saved me a lot of pumping $. Irrigated NT corn on corn has me thinking more about tile than Irrigation.
#9 Who can argue with farming for profit?
Ehoff: Beef feedlot manure has been the primary source of OM for my one time applications. I have also used urea soaked cornstalk bedding, dredgings from drainage ditches, and lots of alfalfa roots and corn stalk cover.
It would be very interesting to take some of my high calcium, high PH Loess type soil and blend it with some of the very high OM low PH soil from other areas and see what it would grow in both places. anybody interested?
My FIL had a pigeon loft and when he moved it, the ground underneath wouldn't grow a thing, anything planted would burn up. I saved some sawdust when cutting firewood and mixed it in that ground and look out, the pumkin vines grew like they were in alice in wonderland. That was my first experience balancing the C:N ratio. Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen is a very powerful combination. Now I see what the Atkins diet, Nitrates for Chest pain, the Oklah_ma City Bom_ing, and my field of corn all have in common. I better go before the black helicopters start circling.
Edited by Hayinhere 12/13/2009 14:16
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Some things I learned this year
