1982vett
Well-known member
I noticed something today that really shocked me. Bear with me while I try to set up and explain the story.
I bought a shank type renovator in 2004 when diesel was a lot cheaper. I used it several years when I had time and I had enough moisture to get it in the ground 4 - 5 inches. Often wondered if I was really doing any good. I could theorize and understand that scratching the surface should make moisture soak in the ground better instead of running off to the creek but just didn't know how much good came from it, especially after the $4 plus diesel of last summer.
For several years the rain situation was soaking wet or bone dry. We got by on cycles of rain for 10 days and nothing for another 30 - 40 days. Then in February of 2007 it got wet and stayed wet till latte summer when the rains went back to 7 days on and 30 days off. Then we got to May 2008 and precipitation was rare till it basically stopped raining at all in November. Well January brought us 6/10ths and February a little over 5/10ths. Now on March 12th and 13th we got our first rain of over 1 inch since Ike last September. I got 1 8/10ths and others up to 2 1/2 or more. Then this past week another 1 3/10ths. It is remarkable what good warm sunshine and moisture can do in two weeks.
Lets go back to last October, I pasture drilled oats and ball clover into some pasture hoping rains would eventually show up late fall like they have in the past. Well they didn't but we did get that 1/10th - 2/10ths every 2 - 3 weeks with several days of damp air behind. After each of these little "wet" spells you could see that green strip of oats perk up. Just amazed me how tough it is to be able to hang on like it has. Well I slung some Jumbo rye and ran the pasture renovator across this same pasture in November of 2006. Got decent grazing off of it and also cut hay off of it. Really couldn't say if renovating it did much good. I could certainly see the ripper marks because not much was growing in them.
So fast forward to today. I could see that it was greening up nicely, faster than I really expected, so I went to take a closer look. Well that oats that had disappeared 2 months ago was making a come back. Some places better than others but it was their. Then I noticed something that really surprised me. Hence the pictures.
This first picture is of the drilled oats. In this picture it is pretty weak but you can see the drill line of the oats. View attachment 1
Now as I was driving across the pasture and looking at a different angle this caught my eye.
Looks like I drilled something in but I didn't. That is the direction I ran the pasture renovator 2 1/2 years ago.
I bought a shank type renovator in 2004 when diesel was a lot cheaper. I used it several years when I had time and I had enough moisture to get it in the ground 4 - 5 inches. Often wondered if I was really doing any good. I could theorize and understand that scratching the surface should make moisture soak in the ground better instead of running off to the creek but just didn't know how much good came from it, especially after the $4 plus diesel of last summer.
For several years the rain situation was soaking wet or bone dry. We got by on cycles of rain for 10 days and nothing for another 30 - 40 days. Then in February of 2007 it got wet and stayed wet till latte summer when the rains went back to 7 days on and 30 days off. Then we got to May 2008 and precipitation was rare till it basically stopped raining at all in November. Well January brought us 6/10ths and February a little over 5/10ths. Now on March 12th and 13th we got our first rain of over 1 inch since Ike last September. I got 1 8/10ths and others up to 2 1/2 or more. Then this past week another 1 3/10ths. It is remarkable what good warm sunshine and moisture can do in two weeks.
Lets go back to last October, I pasture drilled oats and ball clover into some pasture hoping rains would eventually show up late fall like they have in the past. Well they didn't but we did get that 1/10th - 2/10ths every 2 - 3 weeks with several days of damp air behind. After each of these little "wet" spells you could see that green strip of oats perk up. Just amazed me how tough it is to be able to hang on like it has. Well I slung some Jumbo rye and ran the pasture renovator across this same pasture in November of 2006. Got decent grazing off of it and also cut hay off of it. Really couldn't say if renovating it did much good. I could certainly see the ripper marks because not much was growing in them.
So fast forward to today. I could see that it was greening up nicely, faster than I really expected, so I went to take a closer look. Well that oats that had disappeared 2 months ago was making a come back. Some places better than others but it was their. Then I noticed something that really surprised me. Hence the pictures.
This first picture is of the drilled oats. In this picture it is pretty weak but you can see the drill line of the oats. View attachment 1
Now as I was driving across the pasture and looking at a different angle this caught my eye.
Looks like I drilled something in but I didn't. That is the direction I ran the pasture renovator 2 1/2 years ago.