Hey 48 , Dennis & ses

[ECI]

Got this off the world Famous -- Chat ' N ' Chew Cafe -- But the artical is out of K-State -- K State ? Well anyway that's where it's from -- LOL

It's the first one on Summer Fallow .

http://www.agronomy.ksu.edu/doc4204.ashx

[dennis1]

Well shucks, got to page 12, counted over 3 from the left and dropped down one---see that little green dot(only one in the
county)---that is 48's farmstead....he's out pisz'n in the wind. Then the next one east, the 55 range has some green tint
so he hasn't caused ses to evaporate, then the next county east of ses, and you see this little blue lake...well. today we
are going to be getting lake effect winds off the lake...it shows blue, but there are an awful lot of dry beach around it...

so ECI, you want'n 48 to disCUSS fallow with ole stone(r) at K-state?

I'm giong back and look at those ugly soybeans...

[48]

ECI: Good post. BTW, this is an excellent deal that KSU does. You can get it e-mailed to you weekly for free. I highly recommend it.

Now...to the Summer Fallow BS. Let me explain this to you. Way back at the turn of the century...late 1800's...KS was continuous corn and some oats for the horses. In the early 1900's is when they started switching to continuous wheat. They used NT single disk drills. This is what cracks me up about NT...it is back to the future. lol. There was no weed problems on the fresh broke sod. Wheat was cut with a header which conveyed it up into a header barge (wagon with high side opposite of header discharge canvas conveyor). Then, they made stacks all over the wheat field. Then, they pulled threshing machines to each stack. They mucked the straw away from the threshing machine. They saved whatever straw they needed for bedding. They BURNED the rest of the "stacks." Then, they no tilled wheat right back into the stubble.

Continuous wheat in W KS made about 10bu/a.

If you look at the bell curve of when we receive moisture, wheat is the wrong crop to match to when we get rain. Corn is ideal.

Anyway, as weeds started to become a problem, and the Dirty '30's and the Farm Program, they figured out that they could plant half the acres...fallow=store subsoil moisture on the other half...and grow 20 bu/a wheat. 2X the wheat on half the acres.

That right there is the whole essence of SUMMER FALLOW=store subsoil moisture for wheat...a crop who's water use requirements do NOT match when we get rain. Back then, there was a lot of manual labor, horses, and small tractors, and small implements. Sooo...getting 2x the yield from half the acres seemed like a miracle from heaven. But, they kind of over looked the tillage necessary to control the weeds...which by now were becoming a problem. The primary tillage tool was the one way disk...just like a plow...you could only go one direction...leaving a ditch...and filling it with the next pass. Aerial photos to THIS day show the old one way marks.

KS is the No. 1 wheat state. But, wheat is the worst crop for matching when we get rain. Corn is the best. And, that's why continuous dryland corn on corn is the most profitable crop...just like on irrigated.

Corn stalks leave residue to shade the ground and preserve subsoil moisture. Corn STALKS trap and hold more snow than wheat stubble. There is no fallow period with continuous corn. Fallow produces ZERO income. In fact it's worse than that cuz you have expenses to control the weeds in the fallow period.

Finally...it's SIX feet...not five feet... that we monitor on subsoil moisture. On silt-clay-loam 1" of rain/irr goes down 6". 2" of rain goes down one foot. Sooo....to fill the Six foot profile, you need 12" of rain/irr/precip/snow.

-----------------

BTW...thanx for the High Plains Journal article on the weather for W KS. So far, it has been dead on accurate...unfortunately. lol.

[48]

ECI: BTW...look at the drought/precip maps at the back. You have to study the title and think about each before you look at the pics. Anyways....see why I say that the Eastern Corn Belt does not appear to have a subsoil moisture problem?

[H. Bell]

I'd say here in sw OHio we have more than what we need in moisture. I am wet wet wet, have been for days. Got a bunch more last night.

[dennis1]

U cantell 48 didn't grow up in Kansass,

The primary tillage tool was the one way disk...just like a plow...you could only go one direction...leaving a ditch...and filling it with the next pass. Aerial photos to THIS day show the old one way marks.

any of us that did that know it was called the dead furrow...right up the middle of the field, and all four corners....
you could throw it the opposite way, but texass people couldn't figure out how to make right hand turns and not get
into the furrow wheel

[48]

U cantell 48 didn't grow up in Kansass,

The primary tillage tool was the one way disk...just like a plow...you could only go one direction...leaving a ditch...and filling it with the next pass. Aerial photos to THIS day show the old one way marks.

any of us that did that know it was called the dead furrow...right up the middle of the field, and all four corners....
you could throw it the opposite way, but texass people couldn't figure out how to make right hand turns and not get
into the furrow wheel

Dennis: I have prolly one wayed more than you have. I have done the RH gig plenty of times. We started leaving corners...sometimes middles...and working them with a Graham-Hoeme shovel tool. Working terraces was a PIA.

And...I know what a dead furrow is. I try to explain things in plain English so people know what I am talking about.

[48]

ECI: I always leave out the punch line. The whole purpose of SUMMER FALLOW is to store the summer rain in the subsoil.

BUT...what about drought summers like 2012 when there isn't any rain to store???????????

My renter's continuous dryland corn burnt up. He sold it for $47/T net profit to the dairy, and it made 6T/a. 6x47=282/a. Plus, he collected the crop insurance. Bottom line: He made more than if we had had normal rain fall.

The guys who summer fallowed had chemical/tillage fertilizer expense and couldn't even get wheat up.

Bottom line: They stored zero/nada/zilch subsoil moisture, and if it was conventional tillage...there is no wheat out there...or very small...dirt is blowing...and they will have to chisel. So much...for summer fallow.

[dennis1]

" And...I know what a dead furrow is. I try to explain things in plain English so people know what I am talking about.

Last edited by 48; Today at 02:23 PM. "

ROTFLMAO

[davidm479]

I have one of those ROME plows 26 inch blades on her made back in the 60s 10" a hand full pull it ever now and agian in mostly new or real rough pasture ground---------------dave