UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Now is the time when far
mers are considering options for
postharvest management of leftov
er cornstalks and other crop
residue. And the question many
are asking is, "To chop or not to
chop?"
Before deciding whether to
chop cornstalks or leave them
intact, several factors should be
considered, said Lynn Hoffman,
senior research associate in Penn
State's College of Agriculture.
Proper management of crop
residue has become widely
accepted as a means to reduce soil
erosion. To keep as much residue
as possible on fields, Hoffman said
he generally recommends leaving
cornstalks alone. If chopped, he
said, the smaller pieces may be
blown or washed away by wind or
rain.
But there are circumstances in
which chopping may be the .best
option.
"If you plan to use secondary til
lage equipment, such as a field cul
tivator or harrow, after planting in
the spring, you'll probably want to
chop the cornstalks," Hoffman
said.
"A lot of secondary tillage tools
■''7 J-tJT ~
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That Puts
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Chop Or Not
To
don't have enough clearance to
allow those uncut stalks to pass
through without plugging up the
machinery. But if the stalks won't
present a problem with secondary
tillage, I'd recommend you leave
them alone."
If you use a com-picker to
harvest your com, cutting the
stalks also might help to distribute
the material more uniformly over
the field. "But if you use a com
bine," said Hoffman, "it usually
will shred the stalks enough to give
you reasonably unifomm distribu
tion without chopping them.”
Some farmers who chop their
cornstalks in the fall perform some
type of tillage operation to partial
ly cover the cut stalks and keep
them in place. But Hoffman says
there are risks in that practice.
"You have to be careful that you
don't violate the conservation plan
assigned to the farm or to that par
ticular field," he said. "You have to
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be aware of and follow normal ero
sion control measures."
Hoffman said some farmers
chop cornstalks thinking that it
will help control insects, such as
com borers. But he said that's not
necessarily true.
"We’ve never been able to
demonstrate that chopping the
stalks reduces the number of insec
ts enough to have an effect on next
year's production."
If you plan to use a no-till drill to
plant alfalfa or oats in the early
spring, then you are better off not
cutting leftover cornstalks, accord
ing to Hoffman. "When there’s still
a little frost and the stalks are stuck
fast to the ground, you get less
plugging of the grain drill when the
stalks are left intact," he said.
For additional information on
managing crop residue, contact the
Penn State Cooperative Extension
office in your county.
170/each
State
Lam
(evening)
;aster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 1991-A27