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Well, as you mention, the govt is doing it, so cost & effectiveness are not exactly an object..... ;) Multch from straw to plastic to paper is commenly used for many different operations. It is expensive, and then you need to deal with it the following year or 3 later - sometimes easy, sometimes not. Encapsulated fertilizer is also possible, but so far it costs more for general use than just applying more fert to get what you need..... There are several working projects to encapsule regular seed, like corn or soybeans, to where you can plant them any time & they weill not sprout until a certain temp or soil water content is hit. Problem is, much of the corn belt we plant corn just as soon as we can get in the fields these days - the anti-fungus coatings & hybred types allow us to plant in 40 degree soils these days, insted of 55 degree like we used to need. People in the fringe climates where corn doesn't grow well will not spend the extra $75 or so a bag for this technology, when they normally only get 80-110 bu of corn - so it just hasn't quite found it's place yet. Either needs to be cheaper, or offer garenteed profit. Scale of the operation has a lot ot do with it - you are talking of high-dollar things. Doesn't work well with 200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat. Look into raised bed, intensive gardening and you will find all the things you talk about & then some - where they can gross $50,000 an acre and gain a lot from things that take a lot of labor, initial cost.... --->Paul
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