StripperHeader - snow catch 2

Today I relaunched my HOBO's temperature sensors, which should have been in the ground 6wks ago.  This is in the SJ-Ewan area.  We actually had enough snow to show significant difference between mowed stubble and tall stubble.  This field was fallowed in 2015 behind WW.  The stubble stood (26-30") but has succumbed somewhat to the elements.  The mowed portion of the field stands ≈4".  The only place I encountered frost was in the bare ground site for the HOBO sensor, and it was soft.

This pic shows the mowed portion with a lot of wheel tracks, which reduced the height even more.

This pic shows the un-mowed portion.  The stubble at this point in time is a jumble.  Between weather events and wheel tracks, a lot of snow catch has been compromised.  There are snow depth variations within the standing stubble.  The snow depth is fairly even in the mowed area.

These two pics show the snow depth in the stubble on the left, and also the depth in the mowed area on the right.  The stubble here doesn't demonstrate the melt around the stems as it did in Thornton.

     Now that our interest is to keep the stubble as tall as possible, and noticing that it lays down, crumbles, or in other ways shrinks, we need to rethink some aspects of our operation to improve this condition.  Maybe: --change to narrower wheels/tires on the sprayer and combine to reduce trample.  Change wheat and barley to stiffer cultivars that will resist deterioration.  This would help maintain residue during periods when low residue crops are raised.