How to prep old crp for planting

DPx2

5 year old buck +
I have a 2 acre field in crp that has expired and am planning to plant to soybeans.

What's the best way to prep the ground for planting?

I have a disk, tiller, sprayer, 7 shank ripper, spiked harrow and matches (burn it) available to prep the ground.

I have an old AC 8 row planter, or can broadcast beans to plant.

Thoughts on how to prep the ground to plant?
 
Let the field start growing this spring and spray it with round-up and maybe 24D when the growth is 4-6" tall. Your spray coverage may be better if you mow it all down now before it starts growing though. You might need to do a second spraying in a few weeks when new seeds germinate, but that should take care of most of the weeds. I know you can plant right after a round-up spraying, but I'm not sure about 24D, so you might want to see if there is a planting delay requirement if you choose to use that herbicide.

Give the dead field 2 weeks to hopefully start to break down a small amount and then run the ripper through it. You could follow up with a pass with the disk and then plant the soybeans. You will likely have a lot of weed seeds waiting to grow with your soybeans, so you'll need to spray your soybean field with whatever herbicide your soybean seeds are designed for.
 
They are Enlist E3 beans, Roundup ready. Thanks for the input, similar to what I was thinking but wanted to bounce it off others.
 
They are Enlist E3 beans, Roundup ready. Thanks for the input, similar to what I was thinking but wanted to bounce it off others.
Would wait 2-3 weeks after spraying 2-4d and gly. Plant and do second gly only spraying at time of planting.

Can also use gly plus glufonisate (Liberty) for your burndown. Not really a plant back interval then. Then spray with gly a second time at appropriate growth phase of soybeans
 
Would wait 2-3 weeks after spraying 2-4d and gly. Plant and do second gly only spraying at time of planting.

Can also use gly plus glufonisate (Liberty) for your burndown. Not really a plant back interval then. Then spray with gly a second time at appropriate growth phase of soybeans
Mow first or not? Curently about 4' high...
 
Mow first or not? Curently about 4' high...
Mowing makes herbicide uptake worse. However, at 4’ tall you’ll miss a lot of stuff with spraying.

I would probably spray, wait 2-3 days then mow. Then spray again in 2-4 weeks.

In general don’t mow before spraying. If you have to mow, wait several weeks before spraying again.
 
Mowing makes herbicide uptake worse. However, at 4’ tall you’ll miss a lot of stuff with spraying.

I would probably spray, wait 2-3 days then mow. Then spray again in 2-4 weeks.

In general don’t mow before spraying. If you have to mow, wait several weeks before spraying again.
I can do that. It's only 2a right out front of the homestead so I can spray it "thick" as well. Thinking 2qts per 10 gallons ought to be enough? 51% gly.
 
So I like 2quarts per acre, whatever volume it takes to spray one acre, usually about 20 gallons for me. I would add 2pints/acre 2-4d with first spraying, and do just gly for second spraying at planting.

Don’t forget AMS and surfactant.
 
Yep, sorry, I meant 10 gallons per acre volume. That's what I usually use and normally get a decent kill. Surfactant for sure, but what's AMS and how much?
 
Ok, read up on AMS - never used it before, thought it was just a fertilizer...
 
Ok, read up on AMS - never used it before, thought it was just a fertilizer...
Helps with uptake and improves herbicide efficacy.
 
I’d hay it to get rid of the residue and then no till right into it. Then spray it. That’s pretty standard practice here.
 
I’d hay it to get rid of the residue and then no till right into it. Then spray it. That’s pretty standard practice here.
You know I thought about that. I worry a little bit about deep rooted NWSG and exotics and how it can be hard to kill them.

That said, with Gly tolerant soybeans he could spray it multiple times after planting.

Another option is to plant liberty beans and be able to spray Gly and liberty at/after planting.
 
Haying equipment not one of the items I have available, neither is a no-till drill, But thanks
 
Traditional planter will get loaded up with thatch and will have problems. When you turn the soil, you turn up dormant seeds to the top. I'd spray, then mow, then disc and wait for weeds to emerge, then spray again. 2,4D is for broadleaf weeds. A combination of 2,4D and gly is nuking it. I beleive 2,4D has about a 2 week residual, it could be a bit less though.

AMS, ammonium sulfate is a fertilizer. What it does is it wakes up the weeds and allows them to intake nutrients and the herbicide faster. They say use when you start having 65 deg F days and you have some recent rain, Weed and grasses go dormant when things are dry. Also with AMS, it can open up weeds that normally block gly. Pigweed is one of them I believe.

Burning is something that is quite difficult if not impossible to do in NY. But, it'll take care of all that thatch and help with the weeds too.

Adjusting your disc depth to something on the shallow side might help the dormant weeds seeds from going too nuts. Discs with chop that thatch down too.

When stuff is really thick, mowing high, then mowing low can chop that up a bit better.

You may want to adjust that 8 row planter and/or your tractor track width so you can grow beans and have tire room to spray. I've never toyed with soybeans, but you may be able to spray them with clethodim to curb grasses down.

Whaetver weed your fighting, ID it well. Take a few pics of what you have there before you do anthing.
 
Good info. I looked what's growing in that 2a and it's Kentucky Bluegrass, Orchard Grass and Timothy grass. Also saw some giant ragweed in it.

Where I am at, burning isn't an issue, it just scares the heck out of me - but I think I'm going to try it. Have to find the right day which may be hard as the next 30 days calls for a lot of rain. By then, it'll have started to green up.

Thanks for the info.
 
Good info. I looked what's growing in that 2a and it's Kentucky Bluegrass, Orchard Grass and Timothy grass. Also saw some giant ragweed in it.

Where I am at, burning isn't an issue, it just scares the heck out of me - but I think I'm going to try it. Have to find the right day which may be hard as the next 30 days calls for a lot of rain. By then, it'll have started to green up.

Thanks for the info.
If you’re gonna burn it, go ahead and spray it first. Then burn it 2-3 weeks after spraying. Then plant and spray again after
 
If you’re gonna burn it, go ahead and spray it first. Then burn it 2-3 weeks after spraying. Then plant and spray again after
I agree with burning it and spraying first. For safety's sake, you could disk a perimeter firebreak prior to lighting it up, 4 feet tall dead grass might produce a pretty hot fire.
 
Do you have any natural or man made firebreaks already? That is key with burning. Plus more water than you think you will need.


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