With the end of one season, you beckon in a new one based on how you treat the soil and prepare it for spring planting that’s just a few months away.
It’s vital to protect the soil while also creating a suitable environment for seeds next year. This includes managing residue, breaking up compaction and incorporating soil amendments such as manure, fertilizer and even cover crop seed.
Match Pass to Problem
Do you have ruts? Compaction? Fertility issues? Cold soils? Weeds? Whatever the issue in your soil, match tillage practices to the goal.
“For example, if you’re going from one high carbon crop to another high carbon crop like in corn-on-corn, you need to break down that residue,” explains Justin Render, Kinze tillage product specialist.
“For that and weed management you probably want to look at a hybrid horizontal tillage.”
If residue management is your goal, you’ll need to bring in muscle.
“For example, if you’re looking to bury residue, especially heavier residue like corn, we would recommend a more conventional product that buries it 6" to 10",” says Aaron Faessler, McFarlane Manufacturing principle engineer.
If you’re looking to size residue or work the soil at shallower depths, say 3", use a vertical tillage-type tool. If you need a hybrid option, choose a tool that both buries and sizes residue without completely disturbing the soil profile.
There are multiple hybrid tillage options on the market. Kinze offers the Mach Till machine for hybrid horizontal tillage. In addition, Great Plains recently launched a hybrid tool of their own, Terra-Max.
“Hybrid tillage tools often exhibit varying gang angles, which may range from zero degrees up to 18 degrees, shallow concavity blades with aggressive edges, narrow blade spacing (8" or less), and a combination of different rear finishers that are uniquely distinguished between either the vertical or conventional tillage tool,“ says Blake Bergkamp, Great Plains agronomist.
Make sure you’re using the tool that’s right for your operation. Also double check attachments and settings in every field to make sure performance is maximized by field characteristics and soil types.
Easy Ways to Save $ During Tillage
In a 2013 study at Iowa State University, fuel use reduced 18% to 34% when operating the tractor in a higher gear and at a reduced engine speed while maintaining travel speed.
In the same study, raising disking depth from 5" to 3" saved 6% in fuel use.
However, dropping tillage depth from 9" to 18" in continuous corn almost doubled fuel use, with no added yield advantage.
