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. |
Case 7140 MWFD Tractor and 25 foot wide Krause 8200 Disc Harrow |
Sunday was a long day. |
thanks for stepping us through the process... we all need to know the basics of how our food production system works, and you do a great job in bringing us in.
ReplyDeleteFarming is more complicated than a lot of people realize. Thanks for sharing the process. SLF
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