The topic field hygiene focuses on the post-harvest management of maize, oilseed rape and cereals where the goals are to bring the seedbank to germination and the residues to decompose as fast as possible. A reduced seedbank improves the competitiveness of the following crop and may reduce the cost for herbicides.
Many seeds and weeds are triggered by light. If buried too deep, they can stay dormant in the soil for many years. By providing a good seed-to-soil contact with access to light, ultra-shallow tillage makes sure the seeds will germinate into a stale seedbed when you want them to not years later. The extensive stale seedbed can later be eliminated with a second pass, to provide great field hygiene for the next crop.
According to research, the depth of seeds of oilseed rape, weeds and grain directly affects the time needed for the seeds in the stale seedbed to germinate, grow and emerge. By reducing the time spent on waiting for the stale seedbed to emerge enough to be eliminated, means that the following crop can be drilled sooner. Alternatively, this additional time provides great opportunities for increasing the yield potential by conducting value-adding field work before the next crop establishment.
1. Weed days until emergence
2. Oil seed rape days until emergence
3. Wheat days to emergence
After cover crops and silage maize the mulching and incorporation of crop residues is crucial for success. To increase the cultivation intensity, CrossCutter Disc can be combined with the knife roller CrossCutter Knife. Using an aggressive packer such as a SteelRunner will further improve the cultivation effect.
When terminating a standing cover crop, a full cut-out at ultra-shallow working depth provides high capacity and great agronomical benefits. Working intensively at 0-3cm depth, crushes and mulches the cover crops without mixing the residues in depth. After one pass, the cover crops stems are crushed and access points for microorganisms are created. This fully eliminates the cover crop, while also minimising the risk for problems in the following crop.
After silage maize two main objectives needs to be fulfilled; destroy the habitat for the European corn bohrer and avoid the creation of mycotoxins that can be transferred to the following crop. CrossCutter Disc will achieve both tasks at a very low cost, increasing the breakdown rate compared to chopping the residues. A benefit compared to a mulcher, is that CrossCutter Disc also handles the residues in the wheel tracks.
By cutting in its entire working horizon, CrossCutter Disc completely breaks the capillarity. This conserves valuable ground moisture for the coming crop. The ultra-shallow working depth ensures that a minimum amount of soil is dried out, while the high amount of residues left in the topsoil helps reflecting sunlight to further conserve moisture.
By working ultra-shallow, a minimal amount of soil gets loosened and vulnerable to erosion. This is crucial in hilly conditions as well as on farming conditions where wind erosion appears. The large amount of residues mixed in the topsoil absorbs the impact of raindrops which prevents runoff as well as eliminates the risk of capping the soil.
The ultra-shallow tillage in the dry topsoil leads to minimal earthworm losses and the following capillarity cut increases the soil moisture making the earthworms more active.
Leaving residues in the topsoil benefits the earthworm activity, increasing the rate of decomposition even further. This at the same time as the earthworms fertilises the soil and gives the coming crop better conditions.
