We are exoeriencing consequences from all this rain. The fall tilled fields are about washed away and very few weeds. The notill fields are weedy. The taller cover crops like rye are getting out of hand and I expect they will be by planting time.
The rivers ran brown all month. I didn't even think there were that many tilled fields around this area but there must be because they have been nilk chocolate brown all spring.
These are the kinds of years that drive seed people nuts. The farmer makes a plan, it's in the shed and you can't plant the maturity you planned on in time so the seed man has to start switching maturities. I won't have any trouble in that area because I planned for this. If I had a barn full of that new 115 day hybrid with the big pearly kernals that did so well last year, it would be heading back to the warehouse. I didn't take delivery on any though I had planned to a month ago.
I tried to mow some 2 foot tall orchardgrass that is in our barnyard lawn. My little diesel mower wasn't designed for that. If you didn't have new sharp blades and and the tractor ready to go and mowed every chance little chance there was your lawn is clear out of control. Our's is and we were ready for it. It rained almost every day in April like it did in May last year but this is much worse than last year.
The tile holes I planned to repair got bigger with all the flooding. I have a big pile of soil to move on the new farm and now I have half as much to move. The windrow is half the size it was before April and probably won't get spread before planting.
"These are the times that try men's soul's" is appropriate this year. We have four dollar fuel and the only place to burn it is on a paved highway.
Life is full of consequences and this one is out of our control.
Sure makes a farmer wonder how this year is going to turn out.
We went to church grateful for what we have anyway. We can't do much about the weather, only how we react to it.
Ed
"Much worse than last year" Ed, that line of yours would apply to my part of Sask. and quite a bit more from the sound of it . A series of aerial photos of my area last week confirmed that we have more field under water than workable land. We should be starting in the fields by now but I really don't know when it is going to happen. A worrying time for some farmers .
ReplyDeleteEd, I see you are experiencing the down side of planting cover crops! When we were investigating no-till and minimum till options here in Oregon we ran into the same problems.
ReplyDeleteRye makes an excellent covercrop but if you can't get on the field until the last day of April, how do you plant corn the first of May?
I would like to get one of those special covercrop rollers the Rodale institute came up with.
I guess you are experiencing a typical Oregon spring. Tall grass you can't mow, fields too wet to plant, giant covercrops to plant through!
Good luck!
If you are strip tilling, don't round-up the cover crop and then try to strip-till through it when the plant is rubbery. Strip-till when it is still green or after it is dry and brittle. Oats and ryegrass will plug up your coulters like you would not believe. Rye will probably do the same thing!