Corn belt renovation?

[Stocker Steve]

I am trying to create a cost effective 4 year forage and 1 year corn rotation. I graze the corn stocks so I can not plow until spring. Any trade offs between moldboard vs. chisel plowing at that point to create a good seed bed?

 

[1wlimo]

Kind of depends on your ground, and soil structure. and what machine's you have.
Personally I would look at moldboard plow, with a press, then straight in and seed.

 

[AllForage]

When you say "cost-effective" my mind goes to the least amount of input to grow the corn. I would look more at a 5-7 pasture rotation and then attempt to capture all the nitrogen to grow the corn crop with very minimal to no nitrogen. This is the way Argentina used to operate I read. Utilizing alfalfa or good clover content in pasture should collect the most nitrogen possible. So I would mold-board. I have heard you should let this plowing sit for around 30 days for the soil to digest all nutrients just turned over. That is just what I heard. I tried to grow turnips this way and got a mediocre stand, but the pasture I turned over was still low organic matter. Open pollinated corn has less nitrogen needs but of course less yields.

A dairy neighbor just chisel plows his hay fields and then hits them twice with the field cultivator. Then plants.

 

[terra8186]

How about round-up and no-till.

 

[1wlimo]

When you say "cost-effective" my mind goes to the least amount of input to grow the corn. I would look more at a 5-7 pasture rotation and then attempt to capture all the nitrogen to grow the corn crop with very minimal to no nitrogen. This is the way Argentina used to operate I read. Utilizing alfalfa or good clover content in pasture should collect the most nitrogen possible. So I would mold-board. I have heard you should let this plowing sit for around 30 days for the soil to digest all nutrients just turned over. That is just what I heard. I tried to grow turnips this way and got a mediocre stand, but the pasture I turned over was still low organic matter. Open pollinated corn has less nitrogen needs but of course less yields.

A dairy neighbor just chisel plows his hay fields and then hits them twice with the field cultivator. Then plants.

Correct if you moldboard plow in grass a 30 day wait is good prior to seeding, if you are turning in corn stalks you could seed the same day.

If you are set up correctly moldboard plowing can be two pass operation plow then seed, nice level seedbed, no residue etc.

Chisel plow and you work more acres per hour but have to go twice, or run disks etc. You may not remove all compaction, and unlikely to leave a level trash free surface.

Moldboard plowing can be more weather resistant in the fact that if the seeder is following the plow with in minutes and the soil is not too wet when turned up, you can work longer into rain.