What Options

[Rit]

I have a 1.2 acre plot that I plan to seed into Buckwheat around June 5th. I will probably spray the plot next good weather day. I TNM everything but this plot is not without issues. Years ago I disced and drug the plot and planted. The plot is uneven and I did a rather poor job of discing. The following year I started TNM and thought eventually the unevenness would level out but it has not. I have some clay in this soil and we are rather dry. It’s crusted in some spots and I think there is some compaction issues. I have 3 different areas in this plot. Dry cracked soil with almost no vegetation, a sparse area of WR, and a healthy portion of clover.

I really need this rotation of BW to be successful because I plan to TNM a fall plot. I feel like if the current conditions don’t change that TNM on some of the plot will just be a waste of time. I’d also like to level the plot out.

1. I have a disc but for the life of me I cannot get this thing to operate without digging in deeper on one side of the soil and creating a very uneven surface. I have tried about every adjustment I can think of and it’s just not discing correctly. But I have the disc.

2. I could rent a tiller and till 2-3 inches of the plot then cultipack, broadcast, and cultipack buckwheat.

3. I could nothing and just broadcast BW into dead vegetation and hope for the best. I know soil disturbance is not my friend but this is the only time I can fix the edge of this plot. There are newly planted fruit around the edges.

I also have a box blade with scarifier teeth that I could use to rip up the uneven sections.

Or maybe there is something I haven’t thought of yet.

 

[Catscratch]

Rit, I have a plot that is similar to your's in that it's rough as all getout to mow and it has low spots that holds water. I finally broke down and hit it with a speed mover early this spring (before green-up). It scalped some spots and deposited loose soil in other spots. I suspect it's not right yet but it's a lot closer. I've been getting lots of rain the last couple of days and the puddles are smaller than usual and it seems to be shedding water better. Get a good root system in there and it will absorb that water without problem spots.

I hated to disturb the soil but something needed done. The issue I'm having now is getting something to grow in the scalped spots that are bald. I'm letting it go fallow right now. Weeds and grasses are just starting to present themselves. I'm going to throw-n-mow radishes, millet, chicory, and sunhemp late spring. There should be enough weeds and grasses by then to have some thatch. There should be enough thatch by fall to do something else with it.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I watched a video a year or so ago. The guy had a saying he used. He said, "no till, until, you must till, so you can no till."

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Can you grow millet up there? If so then I'd start broadcasting millet.....Its a really small seed and not very expensive. Its a "grass" too....If it doesn't all take at first then broadcast some more....You're wanting root growth to get established as well as the above ground biomass....I'd go with millet instead buckwheat.

 

[Rit]

I watched a video a year or so ago. The guy had a saying he used. He said, "no till, until, you must till, so you can no till."

I think I might just be there

 

[Rit]

Can you grow millet up there? If so then I'd start broadcasting millet.....Its a really small seed and not very expensive. Its a "grass" too....If it doesn't all take at first then broadcast some more....You're wanting root growth to get established as well as the above ground biomass....I'd go with millet instead buckwheat.

This is an option that I didn’t consider and probably the easiest of all the options. Although it won’t fix my discing mistake. I am not familiar with the growth characteristics of millet but I am sure it would grow here. With that said I have a few beefs with broadcasting into last years WR that depending on how millet grows would also apply in this situation.

When I mow, I mow with a 6’ rotary cutter. Seems no matter how many times I mow in multiple directions I still get some windrows going on. These areas the growth is very little or not at all.

Second the windrows also create a challenge when spraying after mowing. I have found that spraying is usually necessary because after the WR matures it tends to fall over and bunch up. This creates the opportunity for some weeds to get in. Those weeds tend to be an issue when not sprayed.

Another issue is planting an N seeking crop in half of the area when most of the N is tied up breaking down all the decomposing grass. Brassicas into a heavy C:N biomass struggle for me without adding inputs.

One other variable that I didn’t add was the next crop. That will more than likely be winter peas, soy beans, sunflowers, with a later broadcast of more WR. I think WR is a fine crop but it’s not the attractant I need and that’s where the buckwheat may make more sense. Although I have a fair amount of clover that could be terminated late July or August and I could put Brassicas there with the other half I could sew the peas, beans, and sunflowers if I could get millet established and then fill in an bare spots by top dressing more WR. A lot to figure out in the next few days. Thanks for the input.