Crimping vs terminating rye cover crop discussion with Charles Vollmer. Plant soybeans after rye
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2023
- Charles Vollmer, Northeast Kansas Farmer, shares his knowledge learned through farming corn and soybeans. Due to erosion, weed control, and soil health concerns, Charles is testing rye as a cover crop.
Rather than being harvested, cover crops are used to improve organic matter in the soil, protect the topsoil from precipitation, control pests and diseases, and much more. Cover crops also sequester carbon, meaning that they take carbon from the atmosphere and store it. Before planting a crop for harvesting purposes, the cover crop is terminated by chemical or mechanical application.
A roller-crimper is a pull-behind piece of mechanical equipment that terminates the cover crop and suppresses weeds at the same time. Charles shares that not many of his neighbors have tried crimping rye yet. While this practice is still new to Charles, he has already seen the benefits. One of the immediate benefits is no need for a burn-down herbicide application and a reduced need for pre-emergence herbicide application to control weeds.
The Jackson County Conservation District in Kansas has a roller-crimper available for loan. Call your local county conservation district to see what resources and equipment are available for you to use.
KACD helps forge key partnerships among federal, state, and local entities all committed to a common goal: wise and efficient conservation practices to protect the state’s natural resources. These partnerships spanning more than six decades have been highly effective and mutually beneficial, allowing for shared space, equipment, and knowledge.
Our mission: "Providing local leadership to protect and improve Kansas Natural Resources through collaboration, education and implementation."
Visit kacdnet.org for more information and to learn about our programs and resources!
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Thanks for sharing!
Our pleasure!
Good Work! Keep us updated. That organic material will be free nitrogen in the future-a major cost savings!
We will!
My testing reveals a few tips that could be helpful for you, certainly experiment for yourself where it's not critical: Plant Rye Sept (early spring oats if missing that rye window), run the no-till planter right through the standing rye, don't crimp first! Crimp After the corn/beans emerge/before V1 to flatten the Rye/Oats into a mulch mat, you will more likely hit the perfect time to flatten the rye/oats while getting the crop planted to your preferred time ... Planting into standing rye allows the rye to continue shading out weeds, actually draws moisture up from 4-6ft below ground, plus traps morning dew giving good germination even when drought conditions prevailed. I even broadcast dry beans into standing rye and they sprouted easily, then rolled the rye down. ... If you don't have an exotic no-till planter nor fancy roller-crimper nor even a huge tractor to pull all that big gear, know that you can "cheat with 1950s technology" using two passes at each step: Strip till with with your cultivator shanks to draw your rows and follow those cuts with an old shoe-style planter (keeping in mind target planting depth, some fiddling is involved the first time), roll the rye down after emergence with a cultipacker (rolls only) or even a smooth lawn roller (gang a couple for more width) but go "down and back" so any rye/oats that try standing up after the first pass are bent over the opposite way and they stay flat that time. ... I used 30in rows previously but I''m going to 15in this year to give my heirloom corn more effective space between plants in the rows but still boost population per acre by 30%, hoping for more 1.5 - 2 ears/stalk too. I'll also try more dry bean broadcasting instead of drilling this year. I'm all non-chemical plus heirloom but if you're nervous about it, certainly use your hybrid seed so you can keep your weed spray on hand just in case.
Buy one, rent it to others.