Welcome! Please use the navigational links to explore our website.
PartsASAP LogoCompany Logo Auction Link (800) 853-2651

Shop Now

   Allis Chalmers Case Farmall IH Ford 8N,9N,2N Ford
   Ferguson John Deere Massey Ferguson Minn. Moline Oliver

Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question

Welcome Guest, Log in or Register
Author 
jlmtractor

04-19-2007 12:19:47




Report to Moderator

why do you plow i am not much of a farmer i have a little garden and i just till it but why do you plow a field i never could get anything but a laugh from the local farmers sorry if this is a stupid question




[Log in to Reply]   [No Email]
jlmtractor

04-20-2007 13:55:58




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
thanks i have just always wondered i had a general idea just didnt no if it was right



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
MLD

04-20-2007 05:28:25




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
It gives you fresh soil to plant in & buries the old waste material in the ground where it can rot & reblenish the soil. Besides, could you ever picture a tractor with 20' rotary tiller working up a couple hunderd acres???



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Dave 2N

04-20-2007 04:01:59




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
Because it's fun!



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Allan In NE

04-20-2007 02:49:07




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
Short Version:

It is "healthy" for the soil.

Allan



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
richard in nz

04-19-2007 23:10:01




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
From my old college notes: A properley adjusted plough will simultaneousley achieve these several functions in one pass through the soil: 1 It will completely bury weeds, and in so doing, will cut through any deep roots. 2 It will leve the soil in a suitable condition for producing a seed bed with a minimum amount of further cultivation. 3 It will incorperate crop residues, farmyard manure and other organic matter into the soil to improve its texture and fertility. 4 It will restore soil struture when damage has resulted from the passage of heavy eqipment. 5 It will aerate and expose the soil to the elements so its texture is improved by weathering and thereby reduce the work requred to produce a good seed bed. Things were long winded back then!

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
VADAVE

04-19-2007 16:08:06




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
Boy you really want to stir up a debate.
There are two different schools of thought on plowing. You've one side and in general that is a pretty good position. The other side says there is no reason to plow and there is evidence that ground that has been in continuous no-till shows no decline in yields and better soil structure, plus it costs less in that there are less passes over the field and therefore less wear on the equipment and less fuel burned. The continious no-till group had footing until the arrival of the no-till drill. Prior to that the ground had to be worked up for a drill to work correctly.
My opinion--and that is what it is. The no-till boys are right in that it does cost less time and money to get the seed in the ground. I am trying it right now and so far my experience is that continious no-till is not necessary to see equal yields to tilled ground. My yields match! Year ago I till 1/2 of a field and no-tilled the other 1/2, otherwise treated the field the same--could tell the difference at harvest.
What I will say is that it doesn't matter, either tilled or no-tilled the fields need to be deep-tilled or ripped every so often to remove compaction. One more thing no-till drills and deep-till equipment are expensive particularly since they are relatively new.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Joe (Wa)

04-19-2007 15:41:49




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
Some of the benefit of plowing is to aerate the soil providing oxygen to accelerate decomposing of organic matter. Same as turning & stirring compost.

Joe



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
135 Fan

04-19-2007 15:49:48




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to Joe (Wa), 04-19-2007 15:41:49  
Even if you use a rototiller, they recommend deep cultivating or plowing every 5 years as the soil that doesn't get tilled gets too hard packed. Dave



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
jdemaris

04-19-2007 12:41:20




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
There are many agricultural "experts" that argue that plowing is not necessary and damages soil structure - and causes errosion. I'm not an expert though. I see it like this. You start out with a field full of some sort of residue on top - old crops, dead grass, manure, etc. And, the ground is often hard. You plow it - and it gets rolled over - although the results can vary from moldboard to chisel plows. The organic stuff on top gets sent down a little deeper where new crops can better use it. After plowing, and it dries a little, you can disk it to make the soil fine engough to allow seeds to be planted and later sprout.

An option that used to be popular in my area of hard-pan soil New York - was no-till seeding. The County Ag. department was pushing it for awhile in attempts to stop plowing and limit errosion. Doing so takes a special "no-till" seeder for most crops and also takes a lot of chemcials. Some "experts" finally decided it was not cost effective - and perhaps did more damage with all the chemicals needed. Most experiments with no-till in my area was with corn and the results were not very good. Somebody else might give you different reasons for plowing, or perhaps for not plowing.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Brokenwrench

04-19-2007 12:34:49




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
I`m sure others will have a better answer but I`ll give it a shot. When you plow you actually turn the topside (sod, trash, stuble, etc) under.
That actually serves as compost.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
RustyFarmall

04-19-2007 12:33:58




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
Because we don't have time to run a garden tiller across a few hundred acres.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
shannon from ohio

04-20-2007 16:04:16




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to RustyFarmall, 04-19-2007 12:33:58  
Garden tiller? How about one of them 2 cycle ones with about a 10 inch path on 200 or 300 acres LOL....



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
jd2120

04-19-2007 12:30:56




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jlmtractor , 04-19-2007 12:19:47  
well for different reasons, it'll differ from person to person, but i like to plow because at the end of the season you usually have trash in the field to either burn off or you can plow it under, it will rot and go back in to the ground as humas. another reason is if its hard sticky clay, winter freezing and thawing will loosen up the ground and in the spring it'll be really soft and workable, not have big clods in it and have to deal with those all year.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
KRUSS1

04-19-2007 13:31:37




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to jd2120, 04-19-2007 12:30:56  
A lot of people plow because that is how thet always did it. Anyone in an erosion prone soil has learned how to farm without a plow (or at least seen others learn).



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JohnDeere2Cylinder

04-19-2007 19:28:01




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to KRUSS1, 04-19-2007 13:31:37  
It turns the worms upside down. They like that.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
steveormary

04-20-2007 06:41:28




Report to Moderator
 Re: wut is the purpose of plowing stupid question in reply to JohnDeere2Cylinder, 04-19-2007 19:28:01  
Well now, You have the smell of fresh earth"the smell of deisel smoke and the bark of the old 706 ger.making 5mph plowing with an IH simi-mount 4-16 plow.

steveormary



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
[Options]  [Printer Friendly]  [Posting Help]  [Return to Forum]   [Log in to Reply]

Hop to:


TRACTOR PARTS TRACTOR MANUALS
We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]

Home  |  Forums


Copyright © 1997-2023 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters

Website Accessibility Policy