Plowing field of tall grass

[POC]

I'm plowing a small patch to plant some corn. Currently this field has fescue growing in it. It is about waist high, but not real thick.
My BIL said that not cutting the grass will cause trouble when I try to disk and plant my corn.
Should I mow this field first?
Should I really cut and bale this field first? Thus getting rid of the grass, instead of just moving it from a standing to lying position?

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[sweettractors]

Getting it off would make the corn planting go a lot smoother. Maybe brush Hog it and turn it under with a moldboard plow? Ken Sweet

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Getting it off would make the corn planting go a lot smoother. Maybe brush Hog it and turn it under with a moldboard plow? Ken Sweet

That's what I was thinking...It would also add some organic matter...

 

[TripleR]

Like Ken, I would hog it then turn it under and disk it up good, it will be good for the soil too. Ideally you will work it up in the fall and again just before planting or that is what we use to do.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Or spray it with Roundup, burn it off, then plow/disc.

 

[radman1]

When we took some fields out of CRP, we would burn first, then round up and then plant Round-up ready soybeans with no-till. You could burn, the round-up and then use plow/tiller.
If burning won't work, then mow really short, round-up and then plow/tiller.

 

[POC]

The neighbor that cuts that couple of acres of grass for hay was here today cutting it. So now I'll just have to wait till the middle of the week, hopefully, he will get it baled up and moved, then I can continue my plowing.

This is a gas pipeline right of way, I think they might get irritated if I burnt it.

 

[ChuckinNH]

The Round up seems like a waste of good organic material that you have growing there. I'm with the use a rotary cutter, and plow under crowd.

 

[flusher]

I'm plowing a small patch to plant some corn. Currently this field has fescue growing in it. It is about waist high, but not real thick.
My BIL said that not cutting the grass will cause trouble when I try to disk and plant my corn.
Should I mow this field first?
Should I really cut and bale this field first? Thus getting rid of the grass, instead of just moving it from a standing to lying position?

Thanks,
Patrick

Mow it short with your brush hog or whatever, then disc (an offset disc is nice for this type of primary tillage) or plow/disc. My neighbor grows seed corn in an irrigated field. He just runs his 15-ft wheel disc over the field to bury the stubble and then seeds.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

The Round up seems like a waste of good organic material that you have growing there. I'm with the use a rotary cutter, and plow under crowd

You don't lose any organic material by killing it first.

It just helps it break down faster and keeps it from regrowing

 

[D7E]

Or spray it with Roundup, burn it off, then plow/disc.

This is the cleanest way and the normal here !

 

[santagary]

Getting it off would make the corn planting go a lot smoother. Maybe brush Hog it and turn it under with a moldboard plow? Ken Sweet

Ditto and put #9 brace wire (about 25') on each coulter shank across the face of the mold board plows and the wire will run in the bottom of the furrow and suck all trash under. Used that technique for years in plowing contests in Ohio...works even in harvested potato ground which is really trashy. :thumbsup:

 

[Reg]

Ditto and put #9 brace wire (about 25') on each coulter shank across the face of the mold board plows and the wire will run in the bottom of the furrow and suck all trash under. Used that technique for years in plowing contests in Ohio...works even in harvested potato ground which is really trashy. :thumbsup:

Not SURE that I understand that COMPLETELY....

Maybe I just have the wrong image in my mind, but I would REALLY appreciate a little more description.
{Details ?}

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Read through this old USDA instructional manual on moldboard plowing. In it, you'll find an adequate description of "covering wires" and how to install them. They work in all but the worst of conditions.

http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/33763/1/CAT87204015.pdf

 

[Luremaker]

Read through this old USDA instructional manual on moldboard plowing. In it, you'll find an adequate description of "covering wires" and how to install them. They work in all but the worst of conditions.

http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/33763/1/CAT87204015.pdf

FWJ, thanks for the link. Good read.

 

[nspec]

Bah-Humbug to the covering wires! That's cheating. Half of the fun/art of plowing is getting the plow set up just right. Jointers work great for burrying trash when set up properly. So many variables you can adjust for clean plowing. Speed is often overlooked, and can have vast differences in what the furrow looks like, too.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've never used a covering wire, although I've seen the results in someone elses field. They work quite well.

Myself? I prefer the results that can be had with a good coverboard set-up. They bury trash (ie grass, weeds, crop residue) simply by curling it into the open furrow just before the moldboard throws the next furrow slice in on top of that trash. So long as you have a plow with decent throat clearance, tall weeds aren't the end of the world. (But....Many older plows didn't have as much clearance as they often needed...)

 

[santagary]

I've never used a covering wire, although I've seen the results in someone elses field. They work quite well.

Myself? I prefer the results that can be had with a good coverboard set-up. They bury trash (ie grass, weeds, crop residue) simply by curling it into the open furrow just before the moldboard throws the next furrow slice in on top of that trash. So long as you have a plow with decent throat clearance, tall weeds aren't the end of the world. (But....Many older plows didn't have as much clearance as they often needed...)

In the levelland plowing contests, the furrows had to be dead straight and evenly conforming with zero trash showing. The covering wires running back from the shank of the coulter (#9 brace wire) worked perfectly. Never saw or participated in a plowing contest where they weren't used!

 

[randy41]

you'll probably need to add some nitrogen to that soil. organic matter uses nitrogen while its breaking down.

 

[beenthere]

Used to use the #9 wire, but not 25' long. The turning dirt would wear away the wire reasonably fast, and had to replace with more wire when it happened. Don't think the wire needs to be much longer than where the furrow is covered. But makes a neat looking plow job, even with turning over cornstalks, but mostly to tuck the long grass under.
Doing a good job of plowing is a lot of fun. I miss it.