trouble with fallow

[dominiquer60]

A brillion cultipacker is a nice tool to own, but you can make due with a couple weighted 55 gallon drums in a pinch.

[Tim Harrigan]

Erika is right about that, it is not always mentioned because most newer drills have presswheels or use seeders with some type of roller or packer. That is one of the other reasons I suggested cereal rye, it is an aggressive starter and will establish many times with just a broadcast application and a little rain later in the year when it is not so hot. That is also why I suggested a higher seeding rate with broadcast and till in. I know no-tillers who broadcast wheat a few weeks before or even after corn silage harvest with no additional tillage and get pretty respectable covers.

I think you have minimalist options rather than buying a packer. Drag around a half sheet of plywood with some weight on it to firm the soil, or make a drag out of some planks. Innovation is always more interesting than getting the check book out.

[Andy Carson]

I think I’ll get a little creative and see what I can get going as far as a roller. I have a couple ideas. By the way, I have been reading a little more about cover crops and I think I’m going to skip the wheat before the soybeans and try a rye/vetch mix before the pumpkin. So the covers and following crops will be 1. Oats to Peas 2. Oats/Turnip to Sunflower 3. Clover to Corn 4. Rye to Soybeans 5. Rye/Vetch to Pumpkin. Any thoughts are, as always, appreciated. I think the field will be ready this weekend, but I have thought that before…

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, sounds like your plans are moving in the right direction. I wonder if you will have enough time to establish and grow a clover crop that will fix a reasonable amount of nitrogen?

[Andy Carson]

Maybe this sounds crazy, but what if chose a winter hardy clover and till strips in it to plant the corn in (rather than work the whole field). The rest of the clover would be left to grow as sort of an intercropping system… It might make cultivating the corn hard (although there might not be as much of a need for it), but would allow the clover to continue growing and fixing nitrogen while the corn gets established. I suppose management of a system like this might be a headache on a large scale, but I would only be doing an acre. Question: How far does N migrate in soil? It might be that it’s mostly trapped… If the clover is several inches away from the corn, can it still make a sizeable contribution?

Maybe the roots of the legume would spread underground to the roots of the corn… Maybe that would help fix N or maybe it would compete with the corn for water or nutrients… Alternatively, if the clover is mowed and the residue deposited on the corn, that would seem to deposit the nitrogen. Again, I’m not sure if this is an isue in the first place.

[Tim Harrigan]

Sometimes you just have to get after it and see what happens. I a system like you envision the corn and clover roots would intermingle and explore the soil profile pretty effectively. It will be interesting.

[Joshua Kingsley]

Corn planted in a clover bed does well if the clover has had time to be established. The best types are the low growing clovers for that type of application. Dutch white will fix N while only growing about 6 inches high. I would suggest that you should mow off the stand of clover prior to planting, then either zone till the area that you want to plant in or set up a way of no tilling in the corn. If the stand of clover is good there will be no need to cultivate as the clover acts as a nurse crop, and weed suppressant.
If you need more information my father has been doing this for the last several years here and is always happy to talk about it.

Joshua

[Tim Harrigan]

Countymouse;20502 wrote:

…..Question: How far does N migrate in soil? It might be that it’s mostly trapped… If the clover is several inches away from the corn, can it still make a sizeable contribution?

Maybe the roots of the legume would spread underground to the roots of the corn… Maybe that would help fix N or maybe it would compete with the corn for water or nutrients… Alternatively, if the clover is mowed and the residue deposited on the corn, that would seem to deposit the nitrogen….

Slow response, I needed a reference book for this. Chap 9 in: Forages, the science of grassland agriculture. Vol II. Barnes et al., Eds.

A plow down legume cover crop would be a little different than what you are describing, I think a perennial legume grass mixture in a pasture or hay field might be a better fit. 3 conditions are needed for high N2 fixation in mixed forage stands: 1) high forage yield, 2) > 50% legume in the mixture, and 3) high reliance of the legume on N2 fixation.

N is transferred from legumes by 1) exudation and leakage of N from roots and nodules, 2) senescence and degradation of nodules or roots, 3) direct transfer from legume roots through connections made by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal hyphae, 4) ammonia loss from legume herbage and reabsorbtion by grass herbage, 5) movement of N from legume herbage to the soil by leaching or decomposition of surface litter, 6) manure. The two most important are the decomposition of above and below ground plant material and livestock manure cycling.

Transfer of N increases with stand age in perennial forage mixtures because of the greater reliance of the legume on N2 fixation and the cumulative decomposition of plant tissue. Maximum N transfer from alfalfa to bromegrass was about 60 lb N/acre-year and from white clover to perennial ryegrass was about 50 lb N/acre-year.

Plow down legume cover crops can provide more N because of the rapid decomposition of the entire plant.

[Author]

Posts