This sounds like a dumb question, but it is very apropos. It happens on farms all across the northeast and Midwest. Real farmers grow corn and alfalfa, so they do. Multiple years of corn makes drainage worse as the soil structure collapses and machinery compaction squeezes out what little porosity the soil originally had. In Canada, on silt soils, they now tile on 25 ft space as 50 ft no longer works because of compaction and over worked soils. As I mentioned in the November issue, 15 years of alfalfa grass sod did not remove the yield and root limiting pan that restricted roots to only 7 inches of soil. It was like a paved road underneath. Nearly every, somewhat poorly drained or silty/clay, field I have dug in has a yield/ root/drainage limiting compaction when it was plowed while too wet sometime in the past .
Tom
Jan 2019 Money in Manure
The dairy farm recession is into its fourth year. Farms are struggling to find places to tighten or worse, cut corners. There is one place that dairy (and confinement livestock) have that is often overlooked – maximizing the use of the manure that is produced. Yes, it is a waste that must be disposed of – but it has more value than many realize or make use of.
November 2018 Rutted Fields
The wide spread soggy conditions that started in mid-July have continued through harvest across most of the New England, Mid Atlantic, and upper Midwest dairy region. The corn silage was to dry to harvest and fields were too wet to drive. Dump wagons off loading at the edge of the field, tractors pulling trucks as the chopper fills them, broken chains and cables were common sights as they tried to get the harvest. The end result is tremendous amount of soil compaction across all soil types. It happened, now how can we correct it
September 2018 Winter Forage and Manure Part 2
For optimum results winter forage needs to be planted as soon as the corn is chopped off. Research in the August 2018 newsletter showed the advantage of fall manure before planting. Our research found (graph at right) incorporated pre-plant fall manure for winter forage may meet the spring nitrogen needs for yield, but NOT meet our forage crude protein goal of >18%. This is a problem as the field crew is busy chopping while you are trying to get the manure on, incorporated, and the winter forage planted. The other problem of trying to meet all the nitrogen needs by applying manure at planting, is the sheer amount of nitrogen this crop can remove.
August 2018 Manure & Winter Forage Part 1
With the fall harvest season, it is time to plant the high quality winter forage that builds soil health while making you money. As discussed in the March issue, crude protein of 18 – 20% is common with proper management and fertilizer (nitrogen & sulfur). Last year Relative Feed Quality was 180 at harvest. Our variety trial averaged 3.5 tons of dry matter (10 tons 35%DM silage) at harvest
July 2018 Sorghum Variety Trial 2
The bouncing ball of weather has left us with a wide range of conditions across the northcentral and northeast regions of the country. Some areas have had a continuous parade of storms dumping tremendous amounts of water. In others, the corn is rolled and alfalfa collapsed from the lack of water. Except for a rain just before and during July 4, the last decent rain for us was early June. Regardless of the conditions, each year someone some where is scrambling to get a crop in by the beginning of July.
Sorghum, sorghum-Sudan, and pearl millet are all full season/emergency crops getting a second and third look at across the US.
June 2018 Sorghum Variety Trial
As more farms take advantage of winter forage yield and quality, the season length for corn gets squeezed. For many farms, BMR corn available today has difficulty fitting in the shorter rotations. Thus, the major increase in interest in getting the BMR advantage by planting sorghum species with their shorter season and potentially wider harvest window. The other reason farms are adding BMR sorghum to the rotation, is that the forage is perfect for optimum growth of heifers and maintaining dry cows in good but not excessive condition. This is often at a much lower cost than growing corn silage.
May 2018 Getting Late
This season for the Northeast and Northcentral has one of the latest dates to start planting corn. Planting earlier would have made a muddy mess of the field, severely restricting yields all season. The cold and wet would probably have decimated the stand. So we waited and are now full-tilt planting corn. It is mid -May, shouldn’t we be worried about the hay crop as we are usually starting mowing about now. The good news is that while the corn is going in late, the hay crop is also one of the latest I have seen in many years. Depending on the haycrop makeup, you may still have some room between planting corn and cutting haylage.
April 2018 Managing a Cold Spring
Don’t panic. Spring and summer will arrive. After this warm burst, the weather is forecasted to be below normal temperature through May. Except around the great lakes region, the summer is predicted to be above normal, especially in the center of the country. The great lakes and southeast is slated to be slightly wetter than normal. We have had this weather multiple years before and survived. Learning from those years, there are a few key steps to take and some to avoid.
March 2018 Maximize Protein From Winter Forage & Grass
Each year more farms are adding winter forage, especially triticale, to their crop toolbox. The high yields and very high-quality forage quality are a real bright spot in this gloomy economic condition on many dairy farms. High yield of high quality is not something you buy, but rather through the application of management. Research, much supported by NY Farm Viability, over the past 18 years (and still on-going) shows that fall and spring nitrogen plus sulfur are critical. The key question: when and how much are enough?