trash, no-till and spring rains

Before this we were running anhydrous spikes to put down N2, then vibra-shank to clear enough trash to get the 7" spacing hoe drills through. Lost way too much moisture and had blowing and washing problems. Very seldom do we have any land blow or wash away now - and a much better crop because of moisture conservation.

Some farmers bale chaff to grind with feed. Other people do minimal disking, chisel plowing, etc.
Hardly ever do we see a fully plowed field. Potato farmers nearly require plowed fields to get a loose footing for crop growth. Ground compaction is relieved by plowing. Around here, ground that is 'no tilled' is so hard from rolling over it numerous times. Plows will eventually become necessary here thanks to the sticky clay that we have.

I was over to PEI a few weeks ago and they are big potato producers and the erosion this winter was crazy! Every building was plastered with dirt, the roads had dirt on them too. The ground, although frozen had dried out in the tops of the furrows from fall tillage and was blown around. If they had waited for spring tillage wouldn't be a problem but they can save a few days on spring planting this way.