StripperHeader-snow catch

        Thanks to a reader looking for an update on snow catch with the stripper head, I checked out Thornton where we have standing stripper headed sbly stubble, --and more snow.  It was a timely look as our snow is being effected by this beautiful 48 degree day.  Hard to imagine that a couple of days ago we were in the highs of upper 20's, and New Years eve we were at -2 degrees.  There is some frost in the ground.
       In December, while St. John/Ewan area was getting a mixture of snow/rain, Thornton received all snow with winds that blew both from the NE and SW during these snow deposits.  This left drifts on both sides of the hills on vulnerable land.
       The drought of 2015 reduced the stubble height to ≈19" and barley being relatively weak straw, didn't stand very well after experiencing some weather events (wind, rain).  However, I could see a significant difference in snow redeposition comparing, cultivated ground and short stubble (4-5"), to our stripper headed field.  A new harvest technique is becoming quite popular in the region.  This technique uses high capacity combines with fine chop straw processors, and 40' flexible draper heads that can follow close to the ground, and process most of the crops top growth.  It has it's advantages when trying to direct seed with a hoe type drill, or when cultivating.  The technique is not so great for disc type drills.  This new technique does have it's down side for saving moisture by allowing snow redeposition, and air movement near the soil surface.

         When I approached Thornton this was a scene that greeted me.  This is a significant snow drift on a northwest facing slope.  Obviously a major redeposition of snow on this cultivated field.  The rough surface did not give much resistance to snow movement.  

       Above is a pic showing the snow redeposition on a NE slope, where the top pic shows a NW slope.  This pic shows snow moved off the short (4-5") stubble left by the new harvest technique.   

       The pic above shows two farming methods side by side.  On the left is our stripper headed sbly, and the right shows plowed ground.  The plowed ground shows obvious redeposition.  The stripper headed field has some redeposition where there is thin short stubble (eroded ridge lines, wheel tracks), but all the ground had >4" in the worst cases.

       This pic shows the effect of short thin stubble.  This is our stripper headed sbly on an eroded ridge.  The stubble is relatively thin and ≈12" tall compared to the better ground with thicker stand and 19" or greater stubble height.  There is still >4" of snow left on this exposed ridge.  The pic's upper left shows redeposition.  There is 9-12" in that N facing drift, so we lost some snow from the weaker ground.

     This pic sort of shows redeposition of snow from wheel track to standing stubble.  There is 2-3" difference in many places, depending on slope, direction, width, and condition of the stubble.  

      Notice that the snow is lower where stubble is standing tall and dense.  Radiant heat is being transferred down the stems and melting snow near the stem.

     This pic from Feb. 2014 gives a better view of the same phenomena of snow melting around/close to the stems.

      This pic is from November 2015 following a nice 1.1" of rain on what had been a very dry fall at Thornton.  There is a very heavy mat of residue and the sbly stubble is about 26" tall in this location.  This spade hole is ≈7" deep, and it shows moisture through that depth at the sides of the pic which exposes two seed rows.  You can make out the root line on both rows.  The middle(mid row) wetted to 3".  We seed on 10" row centers.   

       I didn't take a shovel with me today to dig through the snow and frost, but I'm betting, that in our field, the snow is melting and moving into the soil profile through those undisturbed stem/root channels, similar to what is seen in the pic above.

      For several years (even prior to the introduction of our ULD system) I have been aware that the moisture moves quickly through the soil profile in our fields.  The soil doesn't get mucky under foot.  Most of the time I feel we could spray or seed the day following a significant rain.  We resist the temptation, --mostly.  I have some concern about what is happening to the soluble nutrients, --they have to be going with the water deeper in the profile, --and that is, in part, what is driving my interest in cultivars like radishes (cover crop cultivars in general), to recover deep nutrients and redeposit near the surface for crop use.  Recently I read a summary of some research stating our field crops are only utilizing 35-50% of applied nitrogen.--that further raises my concern.  Well, this topic is for another post.

      TO SUMMARIZE:  

     ----I am extremely pleased with the direction we are going with our ULD system.   The stripper head is doing it's part in the effort to gather and maintain our limited moisture resource.  It's been part of the answer to all the problems we have faced in the past with direct seeding, and offers us the versatility to solve problems I envision we will encounter in the future. My only regret is that we probably can't make the stripper work for all of our crop types.