No-Till Notes: 10 tips part 5, managing residues

I have been discussing in the past several articles important tips for continuous no-till crop production on dry land and irrigated acres. Managing residues begins at harvest with even distribution of the residues at harvest.

I’m a big fan of stripper heads in harvesting small grains like winter wheat. The stripper head leaves the residues in place and attached to the soil surface. The entire plant is left undisturbed for maximum residue height. You’re not cutting the residue in half and expecting the combine to handle and distribute the residue evenly out the back of the combine. This makes f...