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Trenton, KY | I have been pondering the use of a residue digester in our no-till system for some time myself because of an article I read in No-Till Farmer probably close to 2 years ago. The article was a recommendation from Dr. Dan Skow and the recommendations that follow I copied and pasted directly from the article.
1. Use 5 to 6 gallons of 28% nitrogen. “This can be a variable dependent upon your soil conditions, past history and even based on a soil test,” Skow says.
2. Add Thio-Sul, a 12-0-0-26S solution known as liquid sulfur. He says Mid-western soils are commonly short on sulfur.
“Sulfur is very critical in basic vitamin production of plants and very critical for a certain species of bacteria that’s important for the recycling of residue,” he says. “When these bacteria don’t get adequate sulfur, they basically die off and then we don’t get the crop residue to break down.”
3. Add a humate product containing the bacteria Pseudomonas flourescens, along with sugars. “This is a critical bacteria for helping make phosphorus available to the plant,” Skow says. “We need these species in the soil, along with sulfur, nitrogen and sugars. We suggest adding 2 pounds of dextrose or consider molasses.”
4. Add water for a 20-gallon formulation. “Water enhances the whole picture. I recommend you look at reverse-osmosis water for any spraying you do, especially if you are applying trace minerals,” Skow says. “You need good, pure water to mix with your sprays because they will be far more effective, hands down.”
Apply Early
The sooner you can make an application of this residue digester, the better, Skow adds.
“The bacteria we are using are used in bio-remediation and toxic waste dumps, and they have an attitude,” he says. “If they get near the residue, they will chomp, chomp, chomp.
“If it freezes up during the winter, they have a way of continuing to chomp, especially if you have snow cover. They function in all kinds of weather and conditions.”
Good For Beans
While many farmers see this as an aid for continuous corn, Skow says it’s beneficial when following corn with soybeans.
“A lot of people don’t know that if you want to raise 70- to 80-bushel soybeans, it takes as much nutrients, if not more, to raise them as a 200-bushel corn crop,” he claims. “It takes approximately 6 pounds of actual nitrogen to produce a bushel of beans.
“If you multiply 6 times 40 bushels, that tells you how much nitrogen you need released from the soil. If you want to raise 100-bushel beans, you need that soil to release 600 pounds of nitrogen."
I believe one of the single biggest impact to residue decomposition is the size of pieces that are out there from the previous crop, currently we run a Case IH 3408 corn head and while its a mowing machine for taking trash you can go out right now and with no trobule start finding alot of 2-5 ft. long stalks on the ground with lacerations from the knife to knife rollers yet the pith inside is still really bright and sound. | |
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Residue Management
