Plowing/Disking in the Fall

[Victor Van Meter]

I think I may have posted this before, but I couldn't find it, but why do many farmers plow and or disk their fields in the fall and leave the dirt exposed all winter?

VV

 

[j-bird]

It's mostly done to simply work the harvest debris into the soil for the OM. The increased soil contact helps the material breakdown faster vs just laying on the surface and requires less work come spring to address prior to planting if needed as well.

 

[Tree Spud]

^^^^ Yep! And in spring, soil conditions can be very wet which can delay planting. If they also have to disk under last years OM, could delay planting.

 

[MATT]

In colder climates, it's generally done so the soil warms up quicker in the spring.

 

[Barndog56]

It's done that way because it's always been done that way.

Discing harvest debris into the soil kills the organisms responsible for breaking down that debris. Soil with healthy biology will have no trouble breaking down that debris when left on the surface.

Healthy soil rebuilds organic matter, and absorbs and holds large amounts of water, negating any wet soil problems.

Soil with healthy biology is warmer than tilled, lifeless soil.

There is no excuse for farming the same way we farmed 50 years ago, just because that's how it's always been done.

Information on regenerative agriculture practices and results can be easily found by anyone looking for them.

 

[j-bird]

Sometimes it's difficult teaching an old dog a new trick..... Remember how long it took to get people to shoot does?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Sometimes it's difficult teaching an old dog a new trick..... Remember how long it took to get people to shoot does?

I've been hunting with my uncle for 22 years and he still can't/wont pass up a 2 year old buck unless its a below average rack.

 

[Mortenson]

Lotta guys gave no-till a try, for a lot of years, and it couldn't pay the bills. Especially in the North. Many of the no-tillers have reversed back partway to strip-tilling. Some guys have it figured out. Works for some, not all. Flat ground around here isn't at much risk if you do smart tillage. We till the majority of our ground and still have thriving organisms. I like that in America people can do things different ways. I do think if the world no-tilled 100% the cost of food would skyrocket like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Barndog56]

No-till is just a part of regenerative ag. If you leave out cover crops, diverse crop rotation, composting, high intensity grazing, and other facets you won't get the full benefits.

The key benefit to regenerative ag is the cost savings from not using the expensive inputs of conventional ag. Don't know how lower production costs would result in more expensive food.

 

[Mortenson]

Is there enough cover crop seed to put on hundreds of millions of acres?

 

[Mortenson]

Lower yields is what would cause more expensive food. From my observations, organic farmers using many of the methods you mentioned have yields far lower than more conventional farming.

 

[Barndog56]

Then there is an opportunity to produce cover crop seed instead of corn, right?

Seriously, there are tons of youtube videos showing farmers producing just as much, if not more, bushels per acre using regenerative principles.

Organic is not the same as regenerative........

 

[FarmerDan]

Then there is an opportunity to produce cover crop seed instead of corn, right?

......

And, if it were more profitable to produce cover crop seed instead of corn, we would do it. But, if we stopped growing corn there might not be a need for so much cover crop seed. It's quite the conundrum.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Seems good in principal, but if the regenerative farmers could produce equal yields without the added costs associated with fertilizer, sprays and diesel fuel wouldn't they be making far more profits? Then since they have more profits to spend they should slowly start purchasing up farms from the conventional guys who have those added costs?

I haven't noticed any change in that direction in the areas I drive through, so I question whether the cost savings are as real as advertised for that system.

 

[Barndog56]

You might want to give them a few years to actually make some profits and erase their own debts before expecting a buying run on conventional farms. Lol

 

[Catscratch]

Some of the local guys are going back to tillage to battle herbicide resistant weeds. Spray is expensive, especially if it doesn't work. Not trying to argue either side, just giving one of the reasons.

 

[homerj]

You might want to give them a few years to actually make some profits and erase their own debts before expecting a buying run on conventional farms. Lol

How many acres are you farming?

 

[FarmerDan]

Look, there's really no argument to be made. Generalizations are rarely true and that's all we have here. There are many production systems being used, and, so far as systems are concerned, in the long run they all must be profitable. System changes do occur, but slowly. That's not necessarily because of resistance to change, but primarily because of the large fixed investments required. Once I decide to buy a no-till drill I'm not changing my mind about it next year because you say I can produce more bushels at a lower cost. I'm listening, but it takes a long time to change course. Yes, in many circles here in my state, the mindset is changing. Cover crops are nearly everywhere for any number of reasons, including but not exclusively because of the benefits of "regenerative" agriculture.

In the midwest this year, crops got planted late and now it's freezing and snowing as harvest continues. I doubt there will be much attention paid to planting cover crops...let alone figuring out which production systems produce the most product at the least cost. That's to be left to the academicians. I'm not disparaging it. I used to be one. Point is, there's theory and the real world, and the best of us do our best to implement theory when it makes sense. It takes time, sometimes a lifetime.

 

[rocksnstumps]

^^^^ No cover crop going in the field behind my house. Literally 10 mins ago the dog is barking as the combine is going at the outer rows of corn being harvested in the field of corn. High temp today is 26F, which is right now since we started the day at 11F. As astutely noted, generalities in which farming practice is "best" just don't hold up across your own state much less across the country.

 

[rocksnstumps]

In my immediate area the first several posts about why fall plowing is done seem to be spot on. We have heavy clay around here, typically decent rain in summer (holding moisture in summer not a problem) and fall plowed fields are first to melt in spring and start to dry out at least a couple weeks before hay fields and such. Must be why the mega farm (worth hundreds of $$millions, properties across three separate states but headquarters here) tend to do this practice like others in this area. Don't think they are soil idiots, all three owners are graduates of UW Madison and partner with the University in their business. They milk over 30,000 cows a day. From their web page..

named Dairy Today’s Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year for 2014, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce’s 2014 Business Friend of the Environment, Wisconsin Family Business Council’s 2015 “Innovation & Sustainability” Award winner, the 2015 Zoetis Diversity and Inclusion Award winner, a 2016 Wisconsin Top Rural Development Initiative Award winner and one of three finalists for the 2014 and 2015 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Awards

They have even purchased their own corporate jet to visit their properties (know guys who have been on it) and must be soooo stoopid to farm the way they do and give up all those profits that barndog mentions. The stuff he mentions probably work really well in some situations....some situations not or otherwise these guys would do different and they probably do but not in this county.....