A free newsletter available from this web site. It is a continuation of 34 years hardcopy of this newsletter. The newsletter is focused on research and management for dairy and field crop in the Northeast in the continually changing economic and weather conditions farms successfully operate under. The latest research and cutting edge forage concepts are discussed. To subscribe send email to:
In the last issue we discussed the use of aeration tillage for rapid establishment of new legume seedings. It is also used to prepare the soil for conventional drilling small grains. Where interest has really taken off is its use to capture more of the nitrogen in the manure without subsequent soil erosion while simultaneously dramatically reducing the smell effect that has neighbors up in arms.
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Aerators were originally designed for improving the air/soil interface of lawns and golf courses. In other countries they developed heavier units to aerate pastures that were compacted from grazing. They have had sporadic use here in the Northeast. There are two basic similar designs with differences in how the blade is designed and enters the soil. Most units have replaced the solid iron holding the shaft (picture at
right) with a heavy “C” shaped spring, to cushion the impacts with rocks.