# I had a HayTalk Affair!



## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

I admit, I have had a long standing affair on Haytalk and have been on...yikes...other forums! Yes I admit it. I have also admitted that I am smaller than most of you guys in farming, but bigger than most hobby farmers too, so it is an awkward place to be. Anyway this other forum had a woman that made some pretty wild claims, basically anything short of adding macrobiotic admendments to the soil would destroy it.

Really?

It is interesting to me because about 6 years ago I crop rotated a field from hay ground into corn and as I ripped it open with a moldboard plow, I noticed it was just teeming with earth worms; a sign unto itself it has excellent soil health. But then this year I decided to convert it back to a hayfield and moldboard plowed it again.

Now keep in mind for the last 6 years I have done everything this woman says I should not have done. I tilled it every year (minimum tillage, but still tilled), used Urea in pelleted form and side dressed with Urea spray, used solid and liquid cow manure, grew GMO corn, and did not use cover crops. (I am not advocating any of this per say, but I am being honest and this is what occurred.) And yet it is still teeming with earth worms, the NPK levels are still high, and soil tests prove it is actually on the high side for organic matter. It does need lime to correct some PH issues, but other than that its actually healthy soil and produced a really decent crop of corn silage.

I was going to tell this poor woman that whomever gave her the information that tillage and GMO corn kills soil health was wrong, but sometimes you just cannot argue with these people. Though this has been a family farm for 270 years, I am sure in her eyes I am just big bad agriculture ruining the earth. I guess that is just what happens when you cheat and have an affair with HayTalkers!


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Many, many factors go into earthworm populations. Types of soil, types of crops or grasses grown(Orchard grass is a much better host than Timothy), PH levels, tillage methods and so on. Here is a very good and short educating tool on earthworms.

Regards, Mike

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_053291.pdf


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

RuttedField, your earthworms are 270 years old, she is referring to the younger versions that have not been in your family so long. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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