Thompsontown, Pennsylvania | I am transitioning to continuous notill using dairy manure as well. Most of mine is "slop" coming out of a sand bedded freestall barn daily hauled. But all heifers and dry cows are on bed packs. That manure i plan on composting to partially break down the straw and fodder in the manure and apply with a box spreader to my lower residue fields. Fall oats stubbles, soybean stubble that didn't get a cover crop etc. Its something to think about....i try to hit my oats stubbles that are going to soybeans first as that composted manure ive been told has lost a little bit of the nitrogen so figuring its higher in p and k would work better for a bean crop. The other suggestion i have is planting a cover crop on your notill ground....grow out some of that moisture in the spring......not sure if you guys have the weather to get rye in after grain harvest (doubtful the way it sounds) but make sure you get rye or wheat or something in your silage ground. Notill can work for everybody. Its a mindset....sometimes you have to think alittle out of the box and out of your comfort zone to make it work but generally with patience i've been told and shown the end results are more profitable and will give you more time with the cows.... Kyle |
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