Our earlier planted rice does better because we get it out of the field before the heat extremes and late-season diseases get so bad. As a result, we improve our chances for higher yields with early planting. On-station studies over the past several years of how planting date affects yield indicate that farmers could expect that planting after the recommended dates can cause yield reductions of 1,000 pounds or more, says rice breeder Steve Linscombe. How conservation tillage systems work The basic practices are fall stale seedbed, spring stale seedbed or a true no-till system, Bollich says. In Louisiana, true no-till mostly follows soybeans, he says.
Farmers harvest the beans, pull the levees and plant directly into the soybean stubble.
With stale bed production, fields are prepared weeks or even months ahead of actual planting. Spring stale seedbed is seldom used. If I can go out and plow, Bollich says, I might as well plant. Spring stale seedbed is mostly an option farmers choose when they ve got the field worked and ready to plant and it starts raining. Instead of waiting for the field to dry enough to work the ground again, Bollich says, let some weeds grow, don t disturb the seedbed again, just wait for it to dry enough to support a tractor and a planter and plant.