SD | 4166 - 1/16/2019 15:09
im a soon to be former dairy farmer and will be heading to town for extra income, and one way to cut expense but more importantly time on cropping is to reduce tillage. have been thinking about no tilling for a couple yrs but i have lots of questions. 1. i still will have cattle i will feed so i will have lots of bed pack manure and we only have a box spreader can i plant thru that or do i have to incorporate some how? 2. i live in NEIA in the hills and we have lots of clay how does no till work in clay? 3. how do you survive the first couple of yrs with the yield drag that comes with no till? 4. i have an older case ih 1200 for a planter that is completely stock no add ons except for row cleaners will it do the job?
I would make sure you have disk openers in good shape or even brand new ones to cut through the residue. You should be able to plant right through the manure. There shouldnt be a yield drag, but if you have certain types of clay it may be more challenging the first 2-3 years until you get a decent humus layer established. Some people run without row cleaners, but I havent gone that extreme yet. I like having row cleaners to move some of the rocks out of the way, but they will eventually get packed down and you wont have to worry about them much in the future.
If you can afford to put small grains and cover crops into the rotation they will help the no till process along.
Email me for more info. I can let you know what worked and what didnt for us.
Edited by chadlit 1/16/2019 19:12
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thinking about no tilling...
