farmers use undersized disc harrows?

Duffster · May 27, 2010

TripleR said:
Do the no till farmers still run a sub soiler ever two or three years?

We used a no till planter for our food plots for years, but will be going to broad cast next year as the planter is just too big; really versatile unit though.

Many will still rip no till ground. They use rippers that disturb very little of the surface.

Egon · May 28, 2010

all disk's are not created equally and some may require a bit more HP per foot to pull than others.

34" diameter disc's, 20" spacing, 5 disc's per gang

Some specifications for the disk pictured.

Not very wide but A thirty HP tractor may have trouble moving it.

Granted, this is not the normal disk, but it does show that they come in different categories and for different uses and a general category really does not apply.

TripleR · May 28, 2010

Duffster said:
Many will still rip no till ground. They use rippers that disturb very little of the surface.

Thanks, that is what is used on our land, you can hardly tell it has even been done; looks like they are going close to three foot deep; really love the sound of a 325 horse pulling those things. In preparation for the upcoming wheat harvest, they just pulled in a John Deere no till drill for the wheat beans.

Duffster · May 28, 2010

TripleR said:
Thanks, that is what is used on our land, you can hardly tell it has even been done; looks like they are going close to three foot deep; really love the sound of a 325 horse pulling those things. In preparation for the upcoming wheat harvest, they just pulled in a John Deere no till drill for the wheat beans.

Wheat beans?

radman1 · May 28, 2010

MMagis said:
10 years ago almost every field around here was no till. The last few years a few farmers have gone back to conventional tillage. IçŸ¥ not sure why to be honest. I thought perhaps it was because of some weeds becoming gly resistant, but the farmers we rent to still no till everything and do just fine. Next time I talk to them Iå€¤l ask why some have switched. All the farmers around here know each other pretty well.
From a conservation standpoint, I see positives and negatives to both. No till retains MUCH more moisture in the soil and thereç—´ less loss from dust/loose soil, however thereç—´ a lot more run off from no till.
Over time this creates some pretty large ruts.

There is less erosion with no till. Crop residue retards the erosion. Less compaction with no till and less runoff. However, since we don't work the fields like conventional tilling, little ditches with time become bigger ditches after heavy rains. The bigger ditches are often filled in the spring before planting.

Conventional till still probably gives overall better yeilds, if the rainfall is good on the conventional till. Compaction is much less with no till. Less traveling over the fields with no till. Glycolate resistance is starting to show in some areas. In the past, some farmers used Roundup on everything each time they sprayed. Monsanto even encouraged the practice. This is creating the resistance. We don't see the problem in our crops. We spray with other chemicals before planting and now use the Roundup only later when the crops are growing. I would guess 90% of corn and beans planted now use Roundup tolerant seed.