May 28, 2016 - Crop Quiz #86
While there were some good replies submitted for CT Crop Quiz #86, we had no winners. One person almost had all the answers correct. Here are the answers for this quiz.
1) What is the form or type of CT that is shown by this photo?
This is a field that is being seeded to soybeans using an 8-row no-till planter.
2) What is actually going on in this photo?
The soybeans are being seeded when the rye cover crop is still green and standing.
3) Where was the photo taken? (What is the nearest US town?)
The field where this photo was taken is near the town of Cambridge, IL. Monte Bottens and his Dad, Bob, are the farmers.
4) What was the farmer's primary motivation for using this form of CT in this field this year?
This was the first year that Monte and Bob tried no-till seeding their soybeans directly into a standing cover crop. Their goals in doing this were to first of all add residue from the cover crop as a partial means for controlling weeds and to also try to reduce their overall reliance and use of glyphosate herbicide at their farm. They were also trying to avoid problems that can be encountered when trying to plant into a “half dead” cover crop that has been sprayed with herbicide, but that isn't yet dried down and easy to plant into. The 8-row planter that is shown in this photo is Monte's research and demonstration planter. You can see the 24-row planter that they typically use at their farm in the short You Tube video that is linked below.
You can also see more about “no-tilling green” in the attached article that was in a recent issue of the No-till Farmer Magazine's Conservation Tillage Guide for February 2016.
A new CT Crop Quiz will be issued soon. Here is a hint for that quiz.
What will be shown is similar, yet different from what has been shown in CT Crop Quiz 86.
Good luck with CT Crop Quiz # 87. Remember that any CASI member associated with what is shown in the quiz photo or any family member of someone involved with what is shown in the quiz photo is ineligible and not able to win the $100 cash award for correctly answering the quiz.
Special thanks to Monte Bottens for sharing the photo used for CT Crop Quiz #86!