> I am looking for an implement that will incorporate residue (Rye
>(sometimes waist high), hairy vetch, red clover, etc.) into the top 4
>inches of soil (mostly silt loams) without causing a lot of grief .
A large part of your problem has been that you're trying to incorporate
rye that is *much* too mature. Ideally you should nail it at about 8
inches high. Wet springs will certainly mess up that approach.
The problem with rye taller than about 10 inches isn't the top, but
rather the root balls. They get in the way of planters and can be quite
aggravating if impaled on the rotary hoe. In organic soybean production
the rotary hoe is one of your best friends. By the time rye is waist
high it is fairly slow to digest in the soil, causing another set of
problems.
Depending on circumstances and time available you could harvest the
tops for bedding/low-grade hay, you could mow/chop them (big flail
mower) and then disc the whole mess in. Or no-till into the stubble
might be an option depending on how far south in the state you are ---
in which case shift your beans to a *higher* group number. That's a bit
counter-intuitive but the later you plant the shorter days you'll have
at key phases in the crop's life, and higher group beans do better with
shorter days.
The main thing with rye is to get it early in the spring if you
possibly can. It will avoid a lot of the dancing around described in
the previous paragraph.
Organic farming in a wet season is not a lot of fun --- and you'll look
way worse than the neighbors. On the other hand, *conventional*
farming is more of a challenge in a drought, and your place with look a
bunch better than theirs.
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail