![](media/image1.png){width="6.635416666666667in"
height="0.7145833333333333in"}Natural Resources Conservation Service

6200 Jefferson NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109

**Phone**: (505) 761-4400 **Fax**: (505) 761-4462

**Web site**: [www.nm.nrcs.usda.gov]{.underline}

[\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_]{.underline}

May 25, 2005

**New Mexico AGRONOMY TECHNICAL NOTE NO.73**

**SUBJECT: ECS -- HOW TO MONITOR RESIDUE**

**[Purpose]{.underline}**: To distribute an Agronomy Technical Note No.
73.

**[Effective Date]{.underline}**: When received.

**[Filing Instructions]{.underline}:** Maintained on web page.

Attached is Agronomy Technical Note 73. This should help when
identifying visual estimates of crop residue. Use this to get a mental
picture of various levels of small grain reside. Take this with you to
your fields to compare your levels of residue with these pictures.

GEORGE CHAVEZ

State Resource Conservationist

Attachment

![](media/image2.png)

**Picture your residue**

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="6.996527777777778in"
height="5.029166666666667in"}

**Look down, not out across the field, for an accurate estimate of
ground cover**

To get an idea of the amount of crop residue on your fields, it can be
helpful to make a visual estimate.

Use these photographs to get a mental picture of various levels of small
grain residue. Take this with you to your fields to compare your levels
of residue with these pictures.

The effectiveness of ground cover depends on both the amount of crop
residue and its distribution. Evenly distributed residue provides the
best protection.

It's easy to over-estimate residue levels by looking out across a field.
From that perspective, residue appears to cover most of the ground.

For a true picture, look straight down at the field, as was done with
these pictures. Ask yourself what percent of the ground is covered with
residue.

You'll develop confidence in your ability to visually estimate residue
levels by using these photographs and measuring residues a number of
times.

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="6.470138888888889in" height="4.7in"}

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="6.470138888888889in"
height="4.634722222222222in"}

![](media/image6.jpeg){width="6.445138888888889in"
height="4.704861111111111in"}

![](media/image7.jpeg){width="6.470138888888889in"
height="4.654861111111111in"}

![](media/image8.jpeg){width="6.465277777777778in"
height="4.654861111111111in"}

![](media/image9.jpeg){width="6.445138888888889in"
height="4.654861111111111in"}

![](media/image10.jpeg){width="6.284722222222222in"
height="4.634722222222222in"}

**Can you pass the residue test**?

![](media/image11.jpeg){width="3.365972222222222in" height="2.6875in"}

**Do you know how much crop residue is called for in your conservation
plan?**

Your conservation plan tells you how much residue you need to maintain.
It also tells you when you need that residue cover. Residue is measured
before the critical erosion period-the time when there is the greatest
potential for erosion to occur.

![](media/image12.jpeg){width="3.4069444444444446in"
height="2.5305555555555554in"}

**Does your tillage and cropping system allow for leaving that amount of
residue?**

**Points for higher residue levels**

The point or blade of a tillage implement can make a big difference in
crop residue levels. For example, a shallow chisel plow with sweeps
could leave up to 85 percent of the existing residue on the surface
while a deep disk chiseling with 4-inch twisted points could leave as
little as 30 percent of the residue on the surface.

Consider using the tillage points that bury less residue like those
featured on these pages. Use the values under the photos as a guide.
Your best guide will come from monitoring residue before and after each
tillage pass.

**Blades**

Blades, often in a V-shape, undercut the residue and disturb very little
of the small grain residue on the soil surface. Blades that are 30 or
more inches wide will leave about 85-95% of the small grain residue that
existed before a pass with a blade.

![](media/image13.jpeg){width="6.5in" height="3.359722222222222in"}

Residue management begins at harvest. This is the starting point for any
residue management system; it's also when you have maximum ground cover.

Write down the sequence of tillage and planting operations you are
planning.

Estimate how each operation will affect residue levels. Your local SCS
office has charts that will help you make those estimates.

Compare the amount of residue you estimate with the residue target in
your conservation plan.

If it is more than the residue level called for in your conservation
plan, you're doing okay. If you fall short of the residue targeted in
your conservation plan, try deleting an operation in the sequence and
see how it impacts the residue amount.

Your goal here is to follow a tillage sequence that will leave enough
residue to meet your conservation and production goals.

![](media/image14.jpeg){width="6.529861111111111in"
height="3.5743055555555556in"}

**Straight and twisted points**

Straight points and twisted points have been used for years on chisel
plows. Straight points turn and mix the soil less than twisted points.
In small grain residue, straight points leave 60 to 80% of the residue
that existed before a pass. Twisted points leave 50 to 70 % of the small
grain residue that existed before one pass.

**Sweeps**

Sweeps can be operated shallow or as deep as 10 inches. Sweeps with low
crowns fracture and loosen the soil but turn it very little. In small
grain residue, chisel plows with 12-inch sweeps can leave 70 to 85 % of
the residue that existed before the pass.

*Photos courtesy of Successful Farming*

![](media/image15.jpeg){width="3.267361111111111in"
height="2.420138888888889in"}

**Did you measure that percent ground cover?**

Measuring residue cover in the field after an operation is a way to
verify that your actual tillage operations are leaving the amount of
residue you predicted.

When residues are laying flat and randomly distributed, the
line-transect method is one of the easiest field sampling procedures to
estimate percent residue on the surface.

This method is not appropriate for standing stubble.

-   Use any line that is equally divided into 100 parts. Fifty foot
    cable transect lines are available for this purpose. Another tool is
    a 50-foot nylon rope with 100 knots or marks, six inches apart. A
    50-foot tape measure using the 6-inch and foot marks also works
    well.

-   Stretch the line diagonally across the field. Walk back along the
    line and count the number of times a piece of residue lies under one
    edge of a mark.

![](media/image16.jpeg){width="2.9993055555555554in"
height="1.7743055555555556in"}

-   It is important to use the same point on each mark for accuracy.
    Don't count residue smaller than 1/8-inch in diameter.

-   Walk the entire length of the string, rope or tape. The total number
    of marks with residue under them is the percent cover for the field.

Your best estimate of residue cover can be obtained by averaging at
least three representative locations in the field. Avoid measuring areas
not representative of the whole field, such as end rows, field edges, or
areas of tillage overlap.

**Leave it standing in the wind**

Standing stubble is more effective in controlling wind erosion than
residue that is flat on the ground. Standing stubble is also less likely
to be buried during tillage operations.

To get the best wind erosion protection from standing stubble:

-   Use undercutting type tillage; it disturbs standing stubble the
    least.

-   Minimize tillage passes; wheel traffic will tend to flatten residue.

+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| **Percent ground cover to       |       |         |       |         |
| pounds residue**                |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| The required crop residue may   | \%    | lbs.    | \%    | lbs.    |
| be expressed in percent ground  | cover | per     | cover | per     |
| cover in some plans and in      |       | acre    |       | acre    |
| pounds per acre in other plans. |       |         |       |         |
| This table should be used to    |       |         |       |         |
| make the conversion from        |       |         |       |         |
| percent ground cover to pounds  |       |         |       |         |
| of residue.                     |       |         |       |         |
|                                 |       |         |       |         |
| Residue weight varies with the  |       |         |       |         |
| variety of small grain grown.   |       |         |       |         |
| Some varieties might convert to |       |         |       |         |
| more pounds than indicated on   |       |         |       |         |
| the table.                      |       |         |       |         |
|                                 |       |         |       |         |
| Your SCS office may have a      |       |         |       |         |
| table that better represents    |       |         |       |         |
| the small grain varieties grown |       |         |       |         |
| in your area                    |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 5     | 80      | 55    | 1240    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 10    | 160     | 60    | 1420    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 15    | 250     | 65    | 1630    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 20    | 350     | 70    | 1870    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 25    | 450     | 75    | 2150    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 30    | 550     | 80    | 2500    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 35    | 670     | 85    | 2940    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 40    | 790     | 90    | 3570    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 45    | 930     | 95    | 4650    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
|                                 | 50    | 1080    | 99    | 7140    |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+

![](media/image17.jpeg){width="3.1972222222222224in"
height="1.395138888888889in"}

**If you answered "yes"**

**to these questions**

**YOU PASS**