Wheel rakes and soil quality

[dun]

Our soils are typically pretty low in organic matter, rocks not being considered organic. A wheel rake pretty much picks up all of the material down to the soil and a side delivery rake will leave a small amount of material on the surface. I'm curious if the wheel rake would ultimately have a negative affect on the orgainc matter in the oil since there wouldn;t be any left to break down.
Just a thought!

 

[cfpinz]

We've been using wheel rakes for about 20 years now and can't say I've seen any downturn in soil quality, but we have considerably more topsoil than your area. I like the way a wheel rake cleans up the extra hay in a field and dethatches the dead areas between plants. I think it allows the grass (or more likely weeds) a better opportunity to move into those dead areas. If I rake a field behind someone else who used a side delivery rake the year before it's pretty amazing the stuff the wheel rakes pick up. To me the little hay left behind by a side delivery shouldn't have that much impact on your organic matter when you consider what a low percentage it is of the amount of dry matter removed from the field.

 

[mnmtranching]

When I buy hay I can tell what has been racked with a wheel rake. Lots of crap in the bales. And a lot more ground clutter. Good deal for guys selling hay by the ton. For instance CRP hay raked with a wheel rake will have last couple of years of decaying organic mater in it. Very poor feed, but good for building soil or used as fertilizer. Yup, I think wheel rakes will have a adverse effect on soils, especially light soils.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If you are not selling hay then you are just putting the plant residue on a different part of your ranch. The best thing for your soil is to buy in someone else's organic matter.

I buy in a lot of hay and I can really see effects after a couple years. Pastures I have fed on grow more grass when it rains and are much more drought tolerant. I have cut back on chemical fertilizer like most folks - - but I think hay, lime, and boron are still cost effective here.

I am talking about feeding 2 to 6 round bales per acre per year, which is way more material than what your wheel rake will pull up.