First try at no-till soybean mix and brassicas into rye

[Spiider]

Pretty cool stuff, anxious to see how it works.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Another bonus to that thick thatch layer is that it will really help retain moisture. Potentially long enough for some seeds caught up in the thatch layer to germinate and the root radical to reach and penetrate the soil before it dries out and dies.

That is why we do it, but can cause some trouble at times.

One year it left the perfect environment for army worms to hatch. Picked up the dead thatch and it was crawling with Army Worms. Left unattended and it would have been a disaster.

 

[scott44]

I stuck a camera up to watch how the grasses die and see if they would use it, kinda document the prgress or lack of depending on how it goes,

 

[scott44]

It looks like a got a decent kill on this, parts of the plot are a little more sparse than others. It's been 9 days since I did this and I have stuff coming up.

What it looked like this afternoon.



Sparse.



Good mulch layer with buckwheat coming up.





Buckwheat with some beans, not sure which ones beacause there was soys and black in the mix.



Couple trail cam pics.

 

[scott44]

Checked on this plot while mowing today, found more coming up and I think the deer have found it because pics increase. I need to throw up an exclusion cage to see how it should be.





Beans and peas.

 

[scott44]

Having touble downloading pics from my phone but here are a couple trail cam pics, looks like this new plot is a nursery. This is kinda why I still plant beans, for the does/fawns.

You can see it's starting to green up and that is mostly what I planted, there is some grasses coming up but not much

 

[SD51555]

That is quite possibly the most rewarding pic a guy can ask for. We also got our first pics of twin fawns this year. That really helps lift the spirits after all we've been through up here.

 

[scott44]

We are supposed to get some rain tonight so I put down some triple 19 on this plot today, the plot is around 1/4 acre and I threw 50# down. THis plot hasn't been used in 2-3 years so I figured it needed something. Amazing how it goes from beeing too wet to almost too dry in a short period. We maybe have had a 1/2" of rain since I planted this.

Some bare spots and you can see how dry it is now.



Other places with some mulch look better.

 

[scott44]

We got 3/10" Monday night after I fertilized this plot, hoped for more but better than nothing.

 

[scott44]

We are supposed to get some rain Sat, night Sunday morning so I got my brassicas done today. Broadcast into the rye and rolled it down, heading up north fishing so I didn't have time to spray but I think I'll have time on Sunday if no rain.

I planted 2 brassica plots, one on my mom's and one on mine. The rye and hairy vetch on mine was really heavy/thick.

Planting strips, there clover on the far right, brassiccas in the rye, cereal grains in the clover where the quad is and more brassicas left of the quad.
Before





After



Clover



How I rolled it down.



Before on mine, quite a bit thicker with quite a few beds in there.





After

 

[SD51555]

That's a sweet roller.

 

[scott44]

That's a sweet roller.

Thx, we have two of them, they are pups off a larger one my dad had. Works great for the quad.

 

[SD51555]

I need to dig up a debt of some sort that my mechanical family members owe me and get one of those made.

 

[scott44]

I made it back this afterrnoon and sprayed the brassica plots I rolled down on Friday, no rain here. Sounds like I don't want what you guys in Minn. are getting, good luck there!

Checked the other plot while I was back there and it's ok, needs rain. Starting to see some of the milo/e-wheat in the mix.





Dinner time.

 

[SD51555]

Looks like the beans are coming. Nice!

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I drilled corn/soybeans into a heavy thatch of flattened sorghum sudan this spring and also drilled into a prepared soil bed. The results in the thatch were very poor and severely stunted growth compared to the prepared soil. I was always interested in this no till stuff but from what I've seen there is no comparison and honestly I feel like it's a waste of seed. I will be lucky if my corn produces ears in the thatch. I can definitely see the benefits if one has limited equiptment but I'm a bit skeptical with the approach. Not trying to piss anyone off just venting a bit on the results.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I'm very surprised with the result I saw, I thought it would be the opposite due to moisture retention. It also was the case with some sunflower/pea plantings I did. The result is quite noticeable though, not sure if there is something in the thatch causing it.

 

[scott44]

I'm not sure if this plot will amount to anything but I just wanted to try something other than rye which I did last year. I knew going into this that the soys probably wouldn't make because they never make around here because of the deer that's why I threw in some others like milo. THis was more of a test than anything, sorry to here yours didn't make it.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

It's still growing, but it's way behind the other plantings. Maybe there was a big delay in germination compared to the other. I honestly didn't pay much attention until recently cause it's so noticeable. Anyways I don't want to derail your thread cause this stuff is very interesting and some have had success with it. I think the real results to no till will be shown better with side by side comparisons. Sorry to hijack.

 

[scott44]

It's still growing, but it's way behind the other plantings. Maybe there was a big delay in germination compared to the other. I honestly didn't pay much attention until recently cause it's so noticeable. Anyways I don't want to derail your thread cause this stuff is very interesting and some have had success with it. I think the real results to no till will be shown better with side by side comparisons. Sorry to hijack.

You are not hi jacking this, it's good to hear others observations.