I think you will like what you are doing with the crimper. I have only been at no till for 3 years but the improvement in soil has been impressive. For equipment I only have my ATV, a crimper made from an old lawn roller, a 15 gal sprayer, and a bag spreader which shows you can do this with very little equipment. I still use gly to help with weed control but it is getting less each year. I only do a couple of 1/4 to 1/3 acre plots and mainly plant cereal rye and some turnips and radishes and buckwheat as a summer cover crop. I am completely surround by ag fields so I do not try to compete with them and only care about helping the deer in winter and early spring hence the rye. My advice to anyone thinking about doing this is don't try to beat a farmer at their own game as you can't. Plant what helps the deer when they need it most. You do not need to have acres of plots and keep it simply so you can enjoy the results even more!
It’s a very good method for little to no equipment! I’ve seen people successfully terminating rye stands with a pallet drug behind an atv! Everyone can do this. The benefits of using cover crops to continually put nutrients back into the soil, retain moisture, and protect from erosion are not arguable. I’m excited to keep running this system and improving upon it. I appreciate you sharing. Good luck this season!
I’ve had an awful pigweed problem in all my plots the last couple years food plotting conventionally (spray till repeat) so far, this has virtually eliminated the problem. Standing rye shades competition, grows fast in the spring to overtake them, also is aleopathic which makes it hard for weeds to get established. I am excited to see the results… in theory and from what I’ve seen so far not allowing exposed soil for competition to thrive is the key. With this process there is zero lag time from my next crop (summer blend) currently is it growing up through the dying stalks of winter rye and establishing itself nicely. So if there are still weeds (which of course there will be some) (not a bad thing either) that summer crop will have a head start on those to overtake them by the time they get the opportunity to take off… will be documenting as I go, but I appreciate you tuning in
@@Gunnar-Hanson Yea, always enjoy content like this and everyones experience. Looking forward to your thoughts. Just to clarify what I found when crimping. The Rye is a great cover crop and def inhibits weed growth while growing. Unfortunately when you plant there is already weed seeds in the ground as well just waiting for the rye to die and sun to hit em as well as your recently planted seeds. I feel like if you can get away from weedy areas (like big ag) and chemically terminate weeds for a few years before starting you might have a chance but otherwise residual seeds from over the years, weedy fields next door with wind borne seeds will be tough to overcome with just a crimper. My no till drill was just enough disturbance for mares tail to come up in my planted rows. I'm staying tuned for your results though. Good luck.
I had this crimper made out of an old pressure tank. Had a 3pt attachment laying around the farm and mounted that on with some bearings and added the cutters with some basic 1/2 in. steel. Added a couple plug holes to be able to fill with water and add some extra weight.
I had all of this done with labor for a local welder for about $1700 Considering the price of a crimper off the lot it is much more reasonable… guys that are more handy than I am can do it themselves for less than 1k
I think you will like what you are doing with the crimper. I have only been at no till for 3 years but the improvement in soil has been impressive. For equipment I only have my ATV, a crimper made from an old lawn roller, a 15 gal sprayer, and a bag spreader which shows you can do this with very little equipment. I still use gly to help with weed control but it is getting less each year. I only do a couple of 1/4 to 1/3 acre plots and mainly plant cereal rye and some turnips and radishes and buckwheat as a summer cover crop. I am completely surround by ag fields so I do not try to compete with them and only care about helping the deer in winter and early spring hence the rye. My advice to anyone thinking about doing this is don't try to beat a farmer at their own game as you can't. Plant what helps the deer when they need it most. You do not need to have acres of plots and keep it simply so you can enjoy the results even more!
It’s a very good method for little to no equipment! I’ve seen people successfully terminating rye stands with a pallet drug behind an atv! Everyone can do this. The benefits of using cover crops to continually put nutrients back into the soil, retain moisture, and protect from erosion are not arguable. I’m excited to keep running this system and improving upon it. I appreciate you sharing. Good luck this season!
Be ready for weeds to go crazy too. Once that rye dies they'll come up too. Good idea in principle but tough to accomplish.
I’ve had an awful pigweed problem in all my plots the last couple years food plotting conventionally (spray till repeat) so far, this has virtually eliminated the problem. Standing rye shades competition, grows fast in the spring to overtake them, also is aleopathic which makes it hard for weeds to get established.
I am excited to see the results… in theory and from what I’ve seen so far not allowing exposed soil for competition to thrive is the key. With this process there is zero lag time from my next crop (summer blend) currently is it growing up through the dying stalks of winter rye and establishing itself nicely. So if there are still weeds (which of course there will be some) (not a bad thing either) that summer crop will have a head start on those to overtake them by the time they get the opportunity to take off… will be documenting as I go, but I appreciate you tuning in
@@Gunnar-Hanson Yea, always enjoy content like this and everyones experience. Looking forward to your thoughts. Just to clarify what I found when crimping. The Rye is a great cover crop and def inhibits weed growth while growing. Unfortunately when you plant there is already weed seeds in the ground as well just waiting for the rye to die and sun to hit em as well as your recently planted seeds. I feel like if you can get away from weedy areas (like big ag) and chemically terminate weeds for a few years before starting you might have a chance but otherwise residual seeds from over the years, weedy fields next door with wind borne seeds will be tough to overcome with just a crimper. My no till drill was just enough disturbance for mares tail to come up in my planted rows. I'm staying tuned for your results though. Good luck.
Thanks for the video. I may have missed it but what crimper do you have?
I had this crimper made out of an old pressure tank. Had a 3pt attachment laying around the farm and mounted that on with some bearings and added the cutters with some basic 1/2 in. steel. Added a couple plug holes to be able to fill with water and add some extra weight.
I had all of this done with labor for a local welder for about $1700
Considering the price of a crimper off the lot it is much more reasonable… guys that are more handy than I am can do it themselves for less than 1k