Corn's getting close

Today I went around checking the corn, and it's getting close to being ready to chop. The cobs are around 50% dented, maybe more. Found 1 stalk with 4 cobs on it, and lots with 2 cobs. Most of our corn, while not spectacular, looks ok and should pile up somewhat decent.

One field is kinda short. We just picked it up this year and had to work it with an offset disc to cut up and work in the trash some. Dad figures all the nitrogen was tied up breaking down the organic matter.

We should be able to rent it again next year, and hopefully with some fall applied manure, fall plowing and a good wintering, next year should be better.

The people who owned it before only ever worked anything with a large disc. No plow. No cultivator. No manure. No nothing. Some of it was pretty hard... Hadn't been worked or planted the last few years so lots of weeds and grasses were on it when we worked it up.

Hoping to start in on it in 2 weeks. Also will possibly have 20 acres to sell. Last year's harvest was the first one to last all the way into the next years harvest, and this year with extra acreage, we may be able to come out a little bit ahead for once.... Things are starting to look a little better every day...

Donovan from Wisconsin

Don if you are sure you can get that ground for next year you need to deep rip it this fall. It is dry right now and the compaction shatter would be great. If you do not have a ripper then just deep chisel plowed will help. It will help more than the manure or anything else you can do.

We did pull a subsoiler behind our 1855 a few years ago. Borrowed a 7 shank from a neighbor, then dropped 2 shanks. We were able to pull it all the way down to the depth wheels and boy did that work the snot out of the tractor.

Would be possible to get it again, just need to get the corn off and then see if it's still dry. Raining now, but we probably have 4 weeks before we'll be anywhere near ready for tillage.



Donovan from Wisconsin

Compaction of the soil is beging to show up in some of myneighbours ields where they only do no till or min-tillage. Big manure spreders, and big forage trucks are doing more packing then people think. I still plough each field at least once evey 4-5 years.

Neighbor down slope from me (maybe sort of only half joking) wonders how or why I'm sending more water his way. He's parked his moldboard plow, and his chisel plow, and is going over fields multiple times with his "turbo tiller". I think he's doing more damage than good. He gets a lot of run off, especially after beans. I have found deep tillage, even with a trashy or rough looking surface, is superior to the opposite- an attractive seed bed, over compacted layers.

In sw wisc dead corn at 18% beans going out also do to last weeks wind corn is so flat an ant has to pick it up to get around.chiseling in fall is best because if winter rains come the freeze and thaw will help you out .found out the hard way dont take a tractor and spreader across a wet hay field after it was opened up.

I have been no-tilling and continuous corn for some
twenty five years. And now, we are experimenting
with tillage radishes. But, our ground has gotten
softer over the past years, primarily because we
don't till and the frost had a tendency to break the
hardpan, and we make many fewer trips across the
field during the year. After the first few years,
the ground becomes softer as time goes, and the
radishes seem to be really improving the water
capacity.