Making changes for 2024 at Calmer Farms

Marion discusses what changes are being made in the research being done on soil stratification on the Calmer Farms. After we found a 20 bushel advantage from our research this year we are looking at new ways to see what methods of strip tilling might work best. Stay tuned for updates throughout next year. #farming #agriculture #research #corn #soybeans #harvest #planting

[@chronicallydepressedwildfa2789]

I think you best results will come from you strip tilled acres. I switched to strip till several years ago and I cannot understate the importance of having nutrients right below the seed. It’s impossible for roots to avoid the P,K, and N that I apply. Every year I wonder why I didn’t start doing it sooner.

[@LtColDaddy71]

I’d say your problem would be solved via cover crops and microbial action. We put so much thought in to the chemistry, and not enough in to the biology. A living root trades carbohydrates for nutrients with the microbes. All those little bastards do is go back and forth, back and forth like robots.

[@CalmerCornHeads]

We are starting to use cover crops!

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

We need to do a video interview. I was that really handsome big guy that you met that Iowa strepto conference last year I think we could have a really good time just talking about this and you getting an opportunity to answer all these questions

[@billsauberlich7337]

Have you taken a soil test inch by inch on the ground you tilled for several years now and compared with the original samples?

[@TJ-bk9vf]

Yeah he does have another video where he shows that. After the plow that soil test shows the nutrients are redistributed and there are higher concentrations deeper in the soil.

[@joeykoehn6038]

​@@TJ-bk9vfCan you tell me which video that is?

[@TJ-bk9vf]

@@joeykoehn6038 kzbin.info/www/bejne/inu4h5V-ir5rjbcsi=24qnzA5nKn9uVqQs

[@philrizzo]

I like the change you are making. Instant gratification concerning stratification. No pan left to interfere with roots or nutrients or moisture

[@PatrickHenry-bz9qd]

Your ph is very low. I would not expect any nutrient application to have a good roi until the ph is corrected.

[@CalmerCornHeads]

Agreed on the PH. We did add lime this Fall!

[@taylor11089]

I am curious what had already been done to that ground that was being Strip Tilled at 3:52-4:17 ? It appears to have already been Inlined Ripped or had Anhydrous Ammonia applied to it. I am just surprised to see Strip Tilling at a Angle if you are going to be Planting Corn into that the Following Year.

[@jvin248]

The drone image at 4:15 showing the wide grass swath being skipped over, is that a drainage erosion-risk strip? Or an equipment road? If used for traffic I'd push it to the perimeter where trees and deer eat up the yield. If erosion control, is it seeded with anything other than grass like beneficial insect/pollinator habitat?

[@ryanmoeller9609]

It's a waterway, low spot in the field where water will run when it rains, and seeded with grass so it doesn't erode

[@KevinNieman-i1q]

If you do a longer then two yr study the yield will even out. We did a 4 yr comparison and yrs 3 and 4 evened out as long as it is in the same spot every yr

[@CalmerCornHeads]

Good point on the soil tests. We plan to take soil tests in the Fall of 24 to compare to the original tests in Fall 2021.

[@KevinNieman-i1q]

Yields will even out, too, after the microbes run out of residue stay around

[@taylor11089]

@@KevinNieman-i1qAre you saying that the a 4 Year No-Till Study with 1 Year of Tillage of that 4 Yrs with Tillage to Mix in Nutrients, compared to a 4 Year Conventional Tillage Study that the Yields Averaged Out to be the Same?

[@davidkottman3440]

Seems to me that problems typically arise from using the same techniques continuously. People want to plow, rip, or no-till everything every year. Crop rotation has proven benefits, & there's probably a beneficial rotation of tillage as well.

[@KevinNieman-i1q]

@davidkottman3440 we have actually found the opposite. The diversity of crops is good, but tillage is different. If you have one program stay with it. The chisel plow after no till will look good for about three yrs then the yields will lower and be about the same as no till. By the time you put in cost of tillage not sure which one is better long term,