Posted by MFPoor on November 20, 2012 at 03:17:01 from (72.4.0.230):
In Reply to: Are plows obsolete? posted by Joe W. on November 19, 2012 at 19:34:50:
Plowing is more of a regional thing now days. No one plows here, not even chisel plowing, save for a few nostalgia buffs. With our soil structure, no till is by far the best yielding, best under drought conditions, most profitable, best use of time. A few folks are beginning to embrace the advantages of no tilling a deep rooting cover crop to help add organic matter, to help bring up nutrients that have leached their way deeper into the soil, and to help break compaction. The trick is to minimize compaction as you go along.
Most of my ground has been no tilled for near 35 years now. Where once you had a hard time shoving a soil probe more than 10" into the ground, now it's easy to go 20" or more. (Beyond that, you'll likely get into what we call "blue clay" then limestone bedrock.)
Corn tends to root deeper until it hits a change in soil density. If it finds that difference at 6", or 10" or whatever the case may be, it starts to root mostly parallel with the surface instead of going down. With no till (done properly) their is minimal change in soil density, causing healthy corn to root far deeper than in tilled soils. Not a big deal in years where we get plenty of rain throughout the growing season, but in a dry year, you see the advantages.
Ground that's been in no till (and properly done so) around these parts absorbs rain like a sponge, where it held water on the surface back in the day when we plowed everything. No tilling requires that you embrace ALL the technology and practices that make it work, or you just don't get the desired results
With the high residue left behind todays corn hybrids, some farmers are resorting to moldboard plowing to bury some of that trash. In this immediate area, a few more forward thinking no till farmers have gone to a version of vertical tillage tool that shred residue but only work the soil maybe an inch or two. Since planters place seed at or below that depth, the corn plants don't find a change in soil density.
So. Plows are for the most part parked in the fence rows in this part of the world.
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