Ferrie: Rushing To Plant Early Soybeans Could Cost You 30 Bu/A Of Corn Yield Next Year

How do you know when fields are dry enough that you’ll be able to avoid putting in a compaction layer at planting?

Ken Ferrie says some farmers use the “dust is flying in fields, so we’re good to go” approach. Others watch what the neighbors do and take their planting cues from them.

The best decision-making option is to use the ribbon test in your own fields, says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

The simple test involves digging down about 1” to 2” below the tillage depth and getting a small handful of dirt. Then ball up the soil in your hand and see whether it’s moist enough to ribbon between your thumb and forefinger as you release it. If a short ribbon forms, you are going to put a compaction layer in that area of the field you checked. If it’s dry enough that you can’t make a ribbon, you’re only going to put in a density layer which is what you want to achieve, Ferrie says.

The ribbon test is always a good practice for evaluating soil moisture. It’s most important when you use horizontal tillage and work the soils 4” to 5” prior to planting.

“Ninety percent of the compaction issues I deal with in July service calls come from this first pass made in the spring,” he says. “Yes, the one you’re about ready to make.”

Such calls most often come into Ferrie from farmers who see compaction impacting the development of their corn crop.

“Finding a compaction layer is sometimes baffling to growers when they didn't work the ground before planting corn, but the problem was created last year in soybeans,” explains Ferrie, owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill. “It may not have been a problem in the beans, but it’ll bite you in corn.”

It's a cautionary tale for farmers anxious to get into the field now and plant. If you rush to fields and put in a compaction layer this spring, Ferrie says it will need to be dealt with before next season.

Chiseling that gives you full-width shatter on the chisel can remove a compaction layer. “But you’ve got to be careful not to put it right back in the field next spring,” he says.

Practices that won’t take out a compaction layer include:
•    One pass and plant with a soil finisher or vertical harrow or no-till won’t remove compaction layers.
•    Strip-till with a knife can give corn roots a route to travel through a layer, but the layer will still exist between the rows and cause some water flow and root interruption.

If you’re rushing to the field this season to plant soybeans early, you could achieve a yield boost but the costs you incur from creating a compaction layer may outweigh the yield benefits.

“If your plan for next year is to go no-till or one pass and plant in corn or bean stubble, you now must add the cost of chiseling and leveling for planting to the cost of those early beans,” Ferrie contends. “If you ignore it – and many of you will – and plant on that compaction layer, you could give up 25 or 30 bushel per acre in corn yields, and that needs to be charged against your early planted beans this year.”

Ferrie: 5 Reasons To Not Apply All Your Nitrogen Upfront

Ken Ferrie: Go Vertical For High Corn Yields

Fertilizer Shortage? Ken Ferrie Weighs In on Fertilizer Issues This Spring

Ferrie: Planting Soybeans Early? Go With This Maturity Group First.

Ferrie: Corn Plots Show 75-Bu. Yield Swing Based on Nitrogen Rates, Timing

More of Ferrie’s tillage and planting recommendations are available in this week’s Boots In The Field podcast here: