Reflection

Thanksgiving is time for farmers to stop and reflect on the year they had. I am doing that this morning and wondering if you are, too.

Woodchuck posted this on Crop Talk this morning.

No-till vs. Conventionl Tillage

East central Iowa

In the last week I have had the pleasure of putting down NH3 on just short of 1000 acres. All with in 5 mile area. Let me just say, I didn't know I could burn 11 gallon/hour through my JD 4640 pulling 7 mole knives. Ground was mostly fall chiseled and worked ahead of planting corn or beans. Holy Crap, I could have run in the road and pulled with less effort.

My ground is long term notill and is like runnig on a pillow. This NH3 application was done for three diff. farmers all consideered to be good. I wish guys with big 4 wheel drive tractors would take a trip across thier fields with an old 2wd tractor and see what they are doing to the ground. The best conditions where on notill ground, Beans in sod of 5 years, 1.5 mph faster and sealed great in same gear.

My long term no-till is like running on a pillow. We won't even discuss all the G@#@@m gullys. I truly believe those ripper disk chisels, and big HP hooked to them, is a losing battle, those are just covering up real issues. Long term. PURE NO-TILL on continuos basis may not be the whole solution but Maybe some people in my region need to sell the chisel, buy some grass seed for buffer strips and waterways, buy some tile and learn how to work WITH the soil they have. According to some I may go broke no-tilling but atleast at my farm sale my tractors will still have a front axle.

O.K I'm done complaining now.

HAPPY THANSGIVING!

Dave

I say Voila, Eureka! He has seen the light! I have had the pleasure of digging in thousands of acres of pillow ground in southeast Iowa on farms where they have also seen the light. These farmers get good yields and refuse to farm the way the neighbors do. They are pioneers, they are innovators.

These diggings have refined my notill practices, changed my planter design and allowed me to buy a farm and expand my farming operation. I have shared the good word with as many farmers as I can from New Zealand to Maine to Russia. Literally, this message needs to be spread around the world.

To that I add, Happy Thanksgiving from me and LuAnn!

Ed Winkle