NO till vs FULL tillage soybean trial. SOYBEAN experiments

[@maxgustafson5664]

Just wanted to let you know I watch all your videos and appreciate your perspective. Given me a lot of courage to continue down my path and against conventional wisdom!

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Thanks! Good luck.

[@farawayfarm2520]

I've never grown a Soybean but I like experiments. I love when something that "won't work there" works out just fine.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

ha yep. my whole life i have been told this is how we have to farm. turns out not so true.

[@TheStockCropper]

The start of this video is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen on KZbin. Love it!

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

lol! thanks.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Are you the same stock cropper working with Jason M.?!

[@TheStockCropper]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 you know it. Been a fan of yours for a while

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Ha thanks. My neighbor Lance Peterson loves you guys on Twitter.

[@TheStockCropper]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 lance was the original spark that created the stock cropper..had the idea to put a pen of livestock in between the strips of intercropped corn. Local hero!

[@bradchoq]

Nebraska soybean record is 132 bushels with 65k stand. Rule of thumb is plant thicker the later you plant in the season. More plants make up for less nodes later plants make. Thinner stands will have less white mold trouble. Plant sandy spots thicker for weed control. They don’t bush as much. Love seeing northern notill farmers proving the naysayers wrong. Also, AMS or pelletized gypsum will help with nodulation if planting into cold soils. Good luck this year.

[@jvin248]

Lol, "glad I became smarter than my dirt!".

[@Heimerviewfarm]

That opening scene is a comedy scene for the ages, I'd put it up there with Chris Farley scenes.

[@tysecord7082]

Excellent insight , I’ve found the same results using fungicides Jon . Oh coarse I’m the only kook in the neighborhood Actually lost yield on soy checks in ‘20 had an early frost . Only place I’ve found pay is corn on corn , not a great long term practice I know … not affordable at the fert $ now

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

early frost. grrr, or brrrr. mother nature always can get you. lol what about corn on corn with covers? for me corn has been a big help in soil conditioning. lots of roots, lots of residue on top! now i am following that with cereals and legume mix. all them plants should really help the soil, the legumes can make N for the next corn crop. i am trying to go from a single mono crop per acre to multiple crops per acre.

[@timpingel9607]

Population in soybeans is a very interesting.I know for a fact when I plant with a drill I have different populations in the field every year trying to get it dialed in. In the fall you can't tell the difference.

[@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin]

All interesting... In the end, it's cost of yield. And it costs to switch to notill..... But I believe worth it in the long run.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

yes. i dont agree when people say "my soil is so much different or my climate" but everyone's goal of what they want out of their farm is different, your point of profit on your hay is different than mine. so things that make money are at a personal level, if that makes sense. my goal with soil health is to make money per acre and use less commercial inputs to do it. some guys take this as you cant farm without P and K. and they are correct. but all our earlier generations had P and K in crop rotations and manure not writing a check.

[@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 you are correct.. it's different for everyone.. And yes, if you put something back into the ground, you don't have to buy it!! We have done well with that over the years. Only commercial fertilizer has been urea.. usually ureasol. We have added selenium too.. as we are in a deficient region.. Inputs are too high anymore.. straight urea at $1k is hard to pencil!!

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

@@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin what are you doing up at this time of night. its 1:40 am here. my heart burn was acting up so i had to come up and sit. have to get up in a couple hours to go to work! yes. i am just trying to farm like my great grandpa with a nice tractor not a horse. lol a couple years ago i would ask in my videos and on the ag forum what are you going to do when fertilizer gets to expensive or regulated. never thought it would actually happen like this. lol

[@PaulsonFarms]

Seed treatments are cheap insurance, I don't plant a bean without treatment on it. Literally takes less then a 1/4 of a bushel to pay for it.

[@robmiller2919]

I know what you mean on side job , truck driver by week , farmer on weekend

[@e.a.bfarms]

How do you figure maintenance p and k? Just crop removal or set standards for soil tests?

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

soil tests and treat each field independently. ifi a field needs a good moldboard job to clean it up then thats what it gets, if the other field is working fine in no till then thats what it gets. the only disclaimer is that if a field needs primary tillage simply for compaction then we need to break the cycle. the primary tillage is why the soil is compacting.

[@e.a.bfarms]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 So where do you like to keep the p and k at on the soil tests? I really like the sound of maintenance p and k instead of pouring in on to "feed" the crop.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

That's a great video idea

[@farmingnodak]

@@e.a.bfarms those tests could get rather interesting depending on previous crops and climate.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

And type of clay, dry spells amount of soil life.....

[@stevenstart8728]

I've never seen yield response too sowing rate here in canola, wheat or barley. I think I have in faba beans and narrow leaf lupins though. I put that down to more biomass which gets the pods higher of the ground so I can get the header under them. Our retailers also flog us a whole lot of stuff I don't think we need.👍🇭🇲

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

you grow Lupins?! i would love to have a market for it here. how pretty would that field be! for us planting date is a huge deal. we dont have much season so every day counts. that is why when i say tillage to warm and dry is a myth most of Minnesota farmers gasp and tell me i am on crack.

[@stevenstart8728]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 narrow leaf lupins are only used for stock feed here. At 30% protein they make it easy to get a ration of 16% protein and 13 megajoules of energy. Planting dates here play a big role also. As we plant in April May every day of growth before the winter sets in is critical, especially if the spring cuts out early. Its my belief that timing is the biggest thing that you can control with no additional cost.

[@TheGrumpyFarmer]

Oh hell let’s talk snowmobiles instead it’s winter ❄️🥶🤣

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Building another channel for that! Lots more story telling as well!

[@farmingnodak]

POOlaris? Ski POO? Arctic CRAP? Yama yea right?

[@jimmydykes7961]

I'm just a small truck farmer,work nights and farm days,and no till works as far as time is concerned.I've looked at biological s and seed treatments and have come away with feeling that cover crops will pretty much fix my soil...along with a scattering of chicken manure every now and then.I still need fungicide for sweetcorn due to our summer.weather here in alabama

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

does a guy use some biologicals from like John Kempf type stuff to jump start the soil?

[@chrisbertrand3989]

So what is a feild thats fit to be no tilled ? And what is one that is not ?

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Oh boy that's a fantastic video idea. In a nutshell for me up here I would walk the field with a probe to make sure it's not overly compacted and then do a basic soil test to make sure that it's not very depleted. So the flip side would be a field that has had good fertility management looks good on a basic soil test is fairly mellow soil would be a great candidate to move to reduce tillage or no till. But then we want to monitor that compaction throughout the years of no till

[@chrisbertrand3989]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 so what do we do if we want to transition away from disk ripper/cult ? Strip till until we can no till ?

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

@chrisbertrand3989 That really depends on your budget your soil and the context that you're farming in your crop rotation and things like that. The strip till is an absolute wonderful tool to transition away from primary tillage. If you bring fertilizer into the strip till program it becomes a wonderful nutrient management tool When I get through Harvest we're going to have a lot of videos to talk about this

[@TAHDAHFarm]

This year I hope to be able to do better trials. I got a Loop Yield monitor for the combine. So now I can do a field test to see how it is different in the field side by side. This si going to be huge for me.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Nice. I thought you said that you had one trial last year that you saw no significant difference?

[@TAHDAHFarm]

I did but it was from one field to another. Now I can do side by side in the same field.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

@TAH-DAH Farm yes! With your guidance you could do a couple round of tillage to match a couple passes with planter. Then skip a couple no till or reduced till passes, then you get a bunch of trials.

[@mn-1381]

Whats your opinion on lowering bean pops while using a drill? I am going to be on 15s this year and am planning 140,000.

[@jaredklug3502]

Bought a 750 drill 2 years ago. First 35 acres we planted with it we figured out we only got around 100k on. They looked thin the first month and then looked fine. Before we used it the second year it got openers, boots, tabs, and a population monitor.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

beans are cheap seed, to go a little heavy and work your way down on the settings to get to the right population isnt a bad thing. i would like to do some drill population checks if i have time this spring. I am going to drill 1 field of beans just to see how it goes and try a couple other things. to me the drill into rye would be an organic field with chemical backup just in case. i did some 15 inch trials back then as well. simply doubled back on a couple rounds for very high population hoping for big yields, then did a couple rounds of 15 inch at normal population. little dry that fall and saw no difference between them two or the regular 30.

[@farmingnodak]

How accurate is your seed rates and soil type? Do a quick weight calc to know how much ground you should be able to cover per unit. I'd say with a drill to go a little bit more. I usually go with from 145 to 168k pop pending on soil and conditions. Also watch how damp the topsoil is, can cause issues if seeding with a drill if it's too wet, could make the ground a little too firm where the plant might not have enough to push through.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Very good points. That's how I do a drill, put in a measured amount and then set it according to the chart do that little bit and see how it turns out and adjust as you go

[@jaredklug3502]

@@farmingnodak The monitor is a Loup 2 with 4 sensors. Last year when I would start out with a new bean number I would have to adjust it around three time to get it close. I was shooting for 160 but was happy + or - 10k. This was running 5mph in standing corn stalks.

[@tippyscanoe]

I would like to learn more about how to set up trials. I'm a beginning farmer I'm getting tired of the coop agronomist treating the whole farm like one field and telling me that is how its done.

[@jamescall6029]

Jon, I’m new to strip till and no one in my area does it. I was wondering if you have done different trial with tillage depth in the strip, if so what have you found? Mostly I’m trying it on vegetables.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

What does your soil profile need? Can you get by with just a very shallow strip-till almost like a potato Hiller machine? Or do you need that shank to go down and shatter compaction? Are you running a lot of fertilizer in your strip-till machine that maybe you need to run a little deeper to put some soil between the fertilizer and your seed for safety? My soil is very prone to compaction so for me I've had great success strip tilling in the spring with a deeper Shank running about 8 to 9 in because then we're also putting a lot of our fertilizer at the same time. With primary tillage system by the time the planter goes over the field the soil is already settled back down and now it no longer wants to allow much water or air infiltration. With the strip gel it takes the whole season for that slot to firm up. So you have huge channels in the soil that will take every drop of water they can and put it right in the root Zone but at the same time helps keep the seedlings out of standing water

[@jamescall6029]

Thanks Jon, that is insightful. I’m in northern Utah and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from others. Our environment is different then other parts of the country so adopting some of the soil Heath practices is a challenge compared to “how it’s always been done”. Been watching your Chanel for a couple years now and you always have great information. Thanks again.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Thanks, flattery will get you... we'll everywhere with me! Lol Your getting close to Steve Groff territory?! The principles of soil health will work it's just how do you fit them to your farm

[@jamescall6029]

Yes, Mr Groff farms similar crops. I guess the only difference is he gets rain and we don’t. I’ve read most of his book and it’s pretty good, but it’s missing a lot of “how to information”. Gabe browns book was great and informative. I wish both of them had some more information on different trials they have done.

[@tysecord7082]

Ever try giving the plant a shot of love instead of death at those critical growing points ? I’m thinking a sugar/fulvic/kelp and maybe micro mix . Tried any of that ?

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

since i started in soil health no. tried some foliar products back then but saw no result. now we know that soybeans can work very well with a foliar feeding but it needs to be the right time for the product. i would like to try some sugar in furrow on stuff and see how it works now that i have given the soil some time to heal and we can see good microbial life. the biggest change has been the more i got into the soil health thing the more i am learning that there is a whole world of farming outside of corn and soybeans.

[@matthewanderson8231]

Just purchased a 8/16 kinze to be strictly used in soybeans. 16 row 30” beans in the past hoping to transition more acres to no till. Got about 20 acres that will be no till soybeans and 45 that will be no till corn. My father has his doubts for sure. Fingers crossed I get a 40 purchased next week that will be 100% no till if I get it.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Good luck, you can always try small areas of reduced tillage just to see how it's going to work out.

[@AlextheDutchDairyfarmer]

Always interesting. But show us the numbers Jon! 🤪😅

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Oh boy is it time to bring back white boards. LOL

[@AlextheDutchDairyfarmer]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 YES! You don't need to show how much you made, but show us the input side. Fuel, time.. the lot

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Oh yeah, the stuff that made me famous!

[@justintaylor882]

Do you farm full time now

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Yes but have full time job in the shop.

[@chrisbertrand3989]

Yeah buddy getcha some lol !!!

[@farmingforfunandprofit940]

When we row cropped cotton and peanuts we No Tilled.... One pass in crops that requires sometimes 8 to ten passes through out the season....But all that ended...when we went total Hay.....Once planted never needs replanting.....Forever.....Weed control and fertilization...... baling and selling.....year round sales

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

On cotton ground did they used to till a bunch of times for disease or bugs?

[@farmingforfunandprofit940]

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 The previous year crop litter was still present...... Usually Rotated between cotton and peanuts.......avoided land that had soybeans planted because of root disease transmission....

[@mrbill4187]

I wish someone would of told my dumbass they were going to 15 bucks a month ago when I sold for 12.65🤣. I never have planted a soybean in worked ground, don't have time and don't like pickin rocks. I've noticed in 30 inch rows the beans pop out of the ground quicker and look greener. If I stop with the drill the beans will be greener and taller in that spot.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

nice! yes why is that? i always joke a guy has the best spot in the bean field where the seed got spilled filling the planter. or you should plant by stopping and starting, because that spot is always good.

[@pinesedgefarm1155]

It's all food for thought.

[@donalddraper4443]

Does this guy own a comb?

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Does that change the outcome of my experiments?

[@robmiller2919]

Lol