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Signs of soil compaction
Fields that show standing water or poor drainage may indicate compacted soil. slow or uneven seeding emergence, drought stress, yellowing of plant tissues or "purplish" color of early corn can all signal compacted fields. Obviously, lower yields can also result from compaction-sometimes as much as 60% lower!
You can't identify compaction for sure without checking. Use a soil probe, a surveyor's flag or small soil sampling tube and push it two feet into the soil at several sites in the fields. When you feel stiff resistance, it indicates a hard layer. The probe may push easier after it passes through the hard layer. If you check several sites, you can develop a pretty good "map" of field compacted areas.
Check an area most likely to be compacted, such as the edge of a field next to a fence or near the field entrance where heavy equipment (combines, loaded trucks, etc.) has traveled. Probing in this area and comparing it to probe sites out in the field will help you determine the amount of soil compaction.
During the growing season, you can check compaction by examining crop roots. Roots growing horizontally along the top of a soil layer indicate compacted soil. Wash the roots in a bucket of water to remove the soil, then eyeball the root mass. If most of the roots are growing horizontally, it's time to rip!
How compaction cuts into your bottom line
Minimum tillage is touted as a way to minimize soil compaction. But even minimum-tilled fields can be compacted, often because they are still too wet when first worked in the spring. Studies show that 70-80% of compaction is caused by the first trip over the field. A study by Ohio State University, where fields were deliberately compacted for three seasons, showed yield reductions of 15% to 40%. Even worse, the effects of compaction cut into yields for as much as eight growing seasons after the compaction occurred!
Similar research at Purdue has shown compaction cut corn yields by 30 bushels per acre the first year. Yields were still 15 bushels off the second year, and symptoms were still showing up in the third crop year. Even cotton field tests in Australia showed that rows under the tractor wheels at planting ended up with 29% lower yields than outer rows.
Don't depend on freeze/thaw
Natural cycles such as freezing/thawing or wetting/drying were once thought to alleviate soil compaction. These conditions help the surface layer, but they typically don't alleviate subsoil compaction, for that, it takes mechanical deep tilling!
Subsoil, deep till or rip! It's all the same.
A few years ago, a Clemson University agronomist figured that deep tillage increased soybean yields on a 500-acre farm by as much as $20,000 per year. Cotton yields increased 14% annually with subsoiling in a three-year study at the Southeast Research and Extension Center, Monticello, Arkansas.
"Cotton, soybeans, wheat , grain sorghum and corn are all crops that can benefit from
subsoiling," said Dr. Scott McConnell of the Southeast Center.
Ohio State agricultural engineer Randall Reeder determined that subsoiling 14 to 18 inches deep every second year increased corn yields an average 5% in the fields that had been deliberately compacted. Soybeans yielded about 2 bushels more per acre after
subsoiling.
Deep tillage, ripping or subsoiling-it's all basically the same operation, but equipment design and shank types can vary. Subsoiling depth, according to University of Nebraska research, should be about 50% deeper than the compacted layer and shank spacing should be equal to the tillage depth for greatest shattering of the compacted layer. For this reason, you can figure it will take from 20 to 40 PTO horsepower per shank for deep tillage.
The payoff? More moisture retention. More efficient use of fertilizer. Improved soil aeration. Reduced water runoff and erosion. Improved irrigation efficiency. Better soil condition. Greater yield potential.
Agri-Products Mulchers increase crop returns
Agri-Products Mulchers are designed to leave more surface residue for conservation tillage. The Mulcher left up to 86% residue in a Husker Harvest Days demo; 10% more than the next best tillage machine.
1. Use the Mulcher for deep ripping after harvest to break up compaction and increase moisture penetration throughout winter.
2. Use the Mulcher to apply NH3(fall or spring) and get better penetration and minimum loss. Plus, you reduce field trips, helping reduce compaction. Anhydrous tubes
attach conveniently to rear of Mulcher shanks.
3. Inter-row rip to break up field compaction for stronger root growth and better irrigation water intake in standing crops. You can rip between crop rows in most row crops, including corn, cotton, beans, peanuts, etc.
4. Save irrigation water and reduce erosion by deep tilling with the Mulcher. Ripping opens up subsoil for improved aeration and water penetration; reduces the amount of water you need to put on, saving additional energy costs.
5. The Mulcher works equally well on ridges or beds without tearing them up.
Models
and configurations for all crops
You can custom order an Agri-products Mulcher to meet your
individual farming requirements.
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More Mulcher Features |
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Heavy duty 7"x 3/8" wall steel twin toolbars with 4" x 6" x 3/8" cross members for working through all kinds of tough ground conditions. |
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5 Year limited warranty on toolbar | |
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1 1/4" x 6" high-strength steel shanks are adjustable for maximum versatility and protected by shear bolts; 7" shanks available as an option. | |
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Spring-loaded coulters furnished as standard equipment. | |
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8,000lb ratchet jack gauge arm adjustment. | |
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Category III top link to keep machine level during operation on pull type machines. | |
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Hydraulic pull package available for larger tractors, includes heavy duty drop foot jack and hydraulic lift wheels to reduce stress on tractor and toolbar. | |
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Tool bar tank mounts for convenient or liquid fertilizer application. | |
Research in states such as Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas shows the value of deep ripping or mulching. It pays off in field condition and yield potential.