 |
ProCrop |
Soil Management
How wet is too wet to till?
One of the keys to good soil management is to develop and then maintain a good soil structure. Tilling the soil when it is too wet will destroy that structure. Sandy soils work best when the moisture content is near field capacity. Clays, on the other hand, usually work best in a narrow range of moisture that is well below field capacity.
Sandy soils work wetter than medium-textured soils, and medium- textured soils work wetter than clay soils. Tilling too dry is not good either. Tilling excessively dry soils will pulverize the natural soil aggregates and, once again, destroy the structure. Heavy rains following tillage can result in crusting. Deep seeding is often a problem in dryer soils.
Many soils may become lumpy and compacted due to early tillage. Good stands of grain are difficult to establish. If soil compaction or lumping occurs stop tilling and wait for dryer soils.
Back to Flooding -
Environmental Damage Menu
Back to Environmental Damage Menu
Back to Main ProCrop Index
