# Underground Movement.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Clay soils from DTN.......North Dakota.

Regards, Mike

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2017/03/20/tackle-tight-clay


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

That's my goal here too. You could tell when plowing to deep when you turned up the clay. Hard part is it does not happen overnight and it so easy just to keep doing it the way it's always been done.


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## hcriddle (Jul 5, 2014)

This is my second year of planting cover crops

1st Year Mix

Annual Ryegrass - 30%

Hairy Vetch - 20%

Burseem Clover - 25%

Austrian Winterpeas - 20%

Tillage Radish - 5%

2nd Year Mix

Gulf Annual Ryegrass - 5%

Hairy Vetch - 15%

Burseem Clover - 25%

Wistler Winterpeas - 10%

Tillage Radish - 15%

Burr Medic Clover - 25%

Oats - 5%

When I started this process 3 years ago I pulled a 16' disc across this place and might as well have been pulling it down the middle of a four lane concrete highway. Barely scratched the surface of some of my more clayey soils. After planting the first cover crop and then pulling the disc over it to prepare for sprigging it was a completely different place. It turned over very nicely and made a good bed for sprigging. Now I am curious to see how it affects fertilizer needs. I figure to have about 2-3 more years before I see a significant change but I have soil tested it every year for the last three so comparing it should not be too difficult. This year I had some tillage radishes that were 3" diameter and 2-3 feet long. Wish I had taken pictures but I got behind the power curve and had to run a shredder over it to start the termination process because I missed my spray window due to the unusually warm weather we have been having.

So far I believe this has been a good move for me in improving the soil health on a place that was not taken care of for 50+ years.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Sounds like our soils around the home farm to a T. Anything from mud to slime when wet then cracks like a bad pour job on concrete when dry. Chisel plowing was definitely better than moldboard plowing and pattern tiling helped some more, but cover crops made the biggest difference with minimal cost.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Will forage radishes work in low ground that has water a foot from the surface? Anyone try it?


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