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| Hi all. Lots of discussion lately here locally about managing the straw load in our perennial grasses. Especially with the price of commercial fert being what it is, and the price of straw being way up as well. I've tryed googling as much as I can figure out what to type into the search engine, but have'nt found what I'm really trying to find.
So,.....one question is, does the size of the residue pieces make a difference in its nutrient tieup for breakdown? Again, this is in a perennial grass crop in an area of around 30-40" of annual rainfall. Harvest is in july to august, rainfall starts about october 15 or so, and we do swathe the crop at ground level before combining. Depending on the grass variety and growth regulator use, up to around 4 tons/acre of straw need to be dealt with.
Our current method has been removal by bale. Or if putting the full straw load back down, (behind a case ih rotor) has been twice over with a flail shredder after harvest.
One of the biggest questions allways asked in conversation is how much MORE N is required to break the stuff down? Well, my thought is since the small pieces adhere to the soil and breakdown a lot quicker than the longer pieces, is that it would use less N to do the job. ??? How far off am I? But then, it costs more fuel to get the pieces that small, so........ Do I loose more N with the smaller pieces before the rain hits? What if anything, do I get out of the rain or give up because of the rain nutrient wise?
Thanks for any input or opinions. | |
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Residue management in perennial crops questions.
