32 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | November 2024 RESIDUE MANAGEMENT cation equipment that can easily be driven over the top of shorter corn. We also need to keep in mind the principle of carbon to nitrogen ratio. If carbon is more than 25:1, residue will be slow to break down and require nitrogen to help with microbiological activity. Below a 25:1 ratio, this will speed things up, with more nitrogen being made available to microbes to help with this process. In the future, biological additives will assist with the biological breakdown of residue, which, in essence, acts like a recycling program in your field, returning valuable nutrients and carbon back into the soil for next year’s and subsequent years’ crops. Do not get me wrong – extra residue is putting more nutrients back into the soil. The question is: How are we managing this residue, focusing on next year’s planting season? Switching gears … let us think about residue and how it can affect a crop being seeded into it. The first issue is plant ability – getting proper seed depth and seed-tosoil contact. Poor seed depth or seedto-soil contact can reduce plant stands, as in the case of planting soybeans into heavy residue corn fields. Residue can act like an old-fashioned oil lamp. If “wick” residue is caught in the seed trench, it wicks moisture away from the seed, affecting germination, especially in soybeans planted into corn. In high-residue corn fields, corn residue (some people refer to it as trash) acts like a spring, preventing the downforce of drills/ planters, and impeding the pressure needed to achieve proper seed depth. I always get asked which is better – chopping corn stalks with the combine header into fine residue and leaving it on the surface, or leaving it standing? In principle, finer residue will break down faster. One issue is timing of harvest. Compared to our friends down south in the United States, we harvest later in most parts of Eastern Canada – which means cooler fall temperatures and less microbiological activity in the soil. This can also mean a mat left on the surface the following year, leading to cooler temperatures and slower dry-down at planting time. However, residues on the surface assist with soil management from an erosion standpoint, especially if you are in an area with highly erosion-prone topography/soil. There are assorted options to manage this residue, such as strip tillage to move this residue and create a seven to eight-inch soil management zone, or the addition of row cleaners on planters. For soybean growers who are planting wheat and chasing the combine out of the field with the planter, ensuring residue is evenly distributed is a priority. Setting the combine up right from the get-go is critical to achieving residue distribution across the entire header width. This will aid in consistent uniform emergence of wheat. When we think about residue, think about it as a house. The wheat seed needs to live in this as it starts its life cycle. Too much soybean residue in an area will mean cooler, wet conditions will persist if too much rain occurs after planting. Seeding depth can be dramatically changed with residue being caught in the seed trench. This can lead to differences in emergence timing and potentially lead to less tillering. Fall harvest season is busy, and we are all anxious to get the crop in the bin. Taking some time to adjust combines properly and thinking about the next growing cycle will go a long way to setting ourselves up for the next big win. Here is hoping harvest has gone smoothly on your farm operation. All the best. BF PAUL HERMANS Paul is the 2024 International Certified Crop Advisor of the Year. He is an area agronomist in Eastern Ontario with Corteva Agriscience.
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