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Clean Bean Field! – John Viertel

Thursday, 22 August 2019 09:44
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On Tuesday, August 20, my brother asked me to get in his pickup with him to go look at some of his soybeans. This is one of the fields where we rolled down the cereal rye with the Rogue VT®. It has been mentioned here in several blogs, and if you remember, it received only one post emergent herbicide application – no burn down application. Yes, the cover crop of cereal rye has done its job of weed suppression, both early and late in the season. Rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days, hope we get some, it will really help these beans.

Next week, we are going to be at the Farm Progress Show (Booth #358) in Decatur, IL and there will be two Rogue VTs there. One at our booth, and one will be doing tillage demos in the field. Come see it in action and come by our display with any questions about using it to roll down cover crops! We will have all our products on display there and we are ready to visit with you about all of them!

Hope to see you in Decatur!

John Viertel

 

Rogue VT at work in Missouri – John Viertel

Tuesday, 23 July 2019 11:15
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On July 18, 2019, we moved the 15-foot Rogue VT® to Lebanon for a rental. Had some weed pressure (Marestail that round up did not kill). This field was going to take two passes to get in shape to plant, but it was doing a great job! The customer is probably going to rotary mow the other fields before working them.

A forage is to be planted after the Rogue VT has gotten the fields in shape, then this fall a grass mixture is to be planted for hay crops. We will keep updated on how everything looks, but the job this versatile vertical tillage tool was doing while I was there was fantastic!

We set the tines to the most aggressive 10 degree setting for the first pass. The second pass was done at 2.5 degrees.

My contact info: jviertel@soilserviceinc.com or 573-680-6951 (call or text)

Soil Service, Inc office: info@soilserviceinc.com or 888-313-2360

 

John Viertel

Missouri Update – John Viertel

Monday, 17 June 2019 08:32
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Ten days after rolling this cereal rye field and planting directly into it, this is what it looks like. You can row the beans and virtually all the cereal rye is dead. The Rogue VT® did an excellent job terminating it! NO burn down herbicide was used. The plan for this field is to apply our Liberty Herbicide Program, along with Foliar Opp® for soybeans three to four weeks after planting. More on that in a later post.

The advantages to rolling down this cover crop is:  

  1. The Rogue VT set at 2.5 degrees disturbs a minimal amount of soil, but there is some loose soil under the residue for good seed to soil contact.
  2. With the penetration of the tines, there is air infiltration into the soil.
  3. The tremendous amount of residue reduces the impact of hard rainfall. Soil stays intact, no erosion!
  4. The residue is a fabulous mulch, holding moisture longer and keeping the soil temperature down. Important for root development.
  5. As the residue breaks down over the next few months, it will release nutrients for the soybean crop.
  6. NO herbicide has been used to this point.

The versatility of the Rogue VT is tremendous! Here are what it has been used for since our roll-out last fall:

  1. Manage corn stalk residue after harvest in the fall.
  2. Prepare a seed bed to sow wheat after a soybean crop.
  3. Size corn residue in the spring to be ready to plant beans.
  4. Plant corn into a very nice seed bed in spring.
  5. Roll down a cereal rye cover crop to plant beans.
  6. Aerate pasture.
  7. Potential to seed a cover crop with the air seeder attachment.

That is seven different operations that the Rogue VT can handle! TRUE VERSATILITY!

There have been several videos posted to our YouTube. Find them at our channel, which is the SOIL Service, Inc. Channel. Check them out!

My contact info: jviertel@soilserviceinc.com or 573-680-6951 (call or text)

Soil Service, Inc office: info@soilserviceinc.com or 888-313-2360

John Viertel

Rogue VT on Cereal Rye – John Viertel

Thursday, 06 June 2019 12:29
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Got into the field again on June 4 to plant beans. This field had been in corn last year, with a cereal rye cover planted right after harvest. Since we were getting a lot of rain the second half of May, there was a delay of three weeks to get the cover crop rolled and planted.

This was the first time that we have used the Rogue VT® roll cereal rye. Very, very pleased with the results! This machine is truly a very versatile vertical tillage tool!

The setup of the Rogue VT: tine angle – 2.5 degrees and the coulters were set to the deepest setting. This gives a very minimal soil disturbance, but will let any more rainfall soak in to the soil profile under the mulch, no erosion!  We ran with just a little high in the front, so there was good pressure on the double rolling baskets to get a good “crimping” of the cereal rye. Examining the stalks, the majority were crimped in about six places from bottom to top. I will follow this field and keep you updated on how long it takes to for the cover crop to die.

Running the tines at the 2.5 degree angle, moves just enough soil under the “mulch” to give good seed to soil contact, and making it easier to close the seed furrow. With sharp no-till coulters and double disk openers on the planter, there were no issues getting the seed through the “mulch.” Also, there were no issues no matter which way the planter ran. The Rogue VT run here, is a fifteen foot model, while the planter is twenty feet wide. So part of the time it was running against the way the cover was laying, no problem.

Rolling down a cereal rye cover crop, with the Rogue VT, saves us a burn down. It also, helped pull some of the excess moisture from the soil. The conditions were almost perfect in this field. The plan for this field is to post apply herbicide in 2 to 3 weeks, including Foliar Opp®, for extra nutrients for the soybeans right before, or at blooming.

For more information on the Rogue VT, get in contact with me or our office.

My contact info: jviertel@soilserviceinc.com or 573-680-6951 (call or text)

Soil Service, Inc office: info@soilserviceinc.com or 888-313-2360

John Viertel

Rogue VT Demo Video (3)

Thursday, 09 May 2019 11:04
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