boostmg
Silver Member
Ok so quick backstory. We bought property. Was basically abandoned for 100 years. Over that time the state put culverts under the road nearby and diverted stormwater onto the field. So right now the field receives stormwater runoff, but also a constant trickle of water diversion from 2-3+ spring fed ponds throughout the area. Luckily the way the field is pitched eventually takes all that water and drains it into a creek. My job for the past few years has been digging trenches first by hand, now i have my branson with backhoe doing bigger better trenching. My goal is to get all the stormwater runoff diverted properly which i'm close to completing.
The fields used to be cow pasture by the next door farmer for a long time. Probably 80 years. When digging my trenches and in general i know the field could drain better. When i dig with the hoe there is usually a layer of clay anywhere from 8-12" down. I have been trying to figure out what to do about that "hard pan" layer and it seems like subsoiling is my best bet.
I wanted to see if others have done subsoiling on wetter fields and if you have actually noticed a difference after subsoiling?
For example i've noticed when trenching that if there was standing water .. it was likely b/c there was clay underneath or rock.
The other "options" i have considered was something like tillage radishes, i thought about digging up wet spots then putting them back mixed with hay, and even though of using haybal spears to "aerate" poke holes in the ground. But the subsoiler method seems like its the most common and straightforward and time efficient.
Thank you!
The fields used to be cow pasture by the next door farmer for a long time. Probably 80 years. When digging my trenches and in general i know the field could drain better. When i dig with the hoe there is usually a layer of clay anywhere from 8-12" down. I have been trying to figure out what to do about that "hard pan" layer and it seems like subsoiling is my best bet.
I wanted to see if others have done subsoiling on wetter fields and if you have actually noticed a difference after subsoiling?
For example i've noticed when trenching that if there was standing water .. it was likely b/c there was clay underneath or rock.
The other "options" i have considered was something like tillage radishes, i thought about digging up wet spots then putting them back mixed with hay, and even though of using haybal spears to "aerate" poke holes in the ground. But the subsoiler method seems like its the most common and straightforward and time efficient.
Thank you!
