The first step in breaking down last years crop before a new one can be planted is, in this case, to disc the corn stubble. What remains of last years corn crop is 18-30" tall stalks, cut by the combine last fall when it harvested the ears of corn. They are tough and hollow, a little like bamboo.
The ground we're working on will be seeded with oats and red clover, immediately after a second pass with the disc. It is supposed to rain tomorrow. By the end of the week it should be dry enough to drill the seeds. We (myself, Gramps, and Max) will be using my Deere 750 grain drill, video here.
These 4 parcels, totaling about 102 tillable acres, are being transitioned to USDA Organic production. The first certified harvest will be in the fall of 2022.
The oats will be mowed off as a "green manure", along with any weeds that make it through, by the end of June. The clover will continue growing underneath, fixing Nitrogen and putting down deepish roots, until it is disced under in late summer of 2021. Then a "tillage" radish will be planted in order to scavenge nitrogen and break up any hardpan in the soil. In spring of 2022 it will be planted to organic (feed) corn.
(Click on any picture to make it bigger.)
A lot of residue.
After one pass with the disc.
If I saw big rocks I'd stop and put them in the rack. If they were too big to pick up but near the edge of the field, I'd roll them to the edge. There were several that were too big to move at all and we'll need to take the loader out there to get them moved.
Case 7140 MWFD Tractor and 25 foot wide Krause 8200 Disc Harrow
One of the rear tires, a 11L-15SL 12 ply, on my John Deere 750 Drill was badly worn and needed to be replaced. I jacked up the back of the drill and took out the lug bolts, but unexpectedly it wouldn't come off. I'd hit the rim with a hammer/block of wood - nothing. Finally I warmed the rim up with a propane torch and I was able to knock it off. I'll take it to the tire shop and have them put a new tire on the rim.
I'm glad I took care of it now, where I have all my tools and I'm on smooth flat ground. Changing this tire on tilled ground out in the middle of the field would have a been a challenge.
Last minute seed starting rack. COVID-19 made my decision to grow a garden this year an easy one.
I might have to till a few more strips so I have space to plant everything. The ryegrass roots are so thick that I need to turn it all over with a shovel before I can use the rototiller on it. Otherwise the rototiller just rides along the surface of the ryegrass. Running it in reverse/backwards gives me the most bite into the soil. In order to break up the large chunks of sod I end up going over each strip 3 or 4 times.
I'll also need to repair the deer fence in a few spots.
Here are the new pieces of equipment that I recently bought. I still have a few more to get. A gravity box/seed tender. Three headers for the combine: corn, beans, and pick-up head for grain. Header carts for the corn and bean heads. Maybe a new grain cart.
Most of this will eventually be stored/over wintered in the new 50' x 80' pole barn that should start being built in 6 weeks.
2007 Deere 9560 STS Combine
Deere 9560
John Deere 590 Pull Behind Swather
2011 Krause 8200 Disc Harrow - 25'
Krause 8200 Disc. Case 7140 and Ford F-250 in background
I bought a second Deere RM6 row cultivator. It's the one closest to the camera in the pic above and is in better shape than the first one I had. A couple reasons for having two. One is that new replacement parts are expensive and used are hard to find, short of buying the whole thing. With two of the same model I can "borrow" parts from one to get the other to work. More importantly is that I can adjust one cultivator to cut closer to the row and the other one to stay away from the crop I'm cultivating. They are time consuming to adjust.
Spring is coming, despite it being 18ยบ F last night. A little over a week ago I took delivery of the all the seeds I'll be planting on the farm this spring: Oats, medium red clover, and soybeans. About 15,000 pounds.
