Raised Beds
Raised Beds
Planting crops on raised beds is a potential new practice for Oklahoma cropland prone to waterlogging or cold spring soil temperatures. Raised beds are utilized extensively in Arkansas, Mexico, and Australia. In these areas they have been found to be effective in protecting crops from waterlogging during rainy seasons. In NE Oklahoma, excessive moisture during spring in combination with poorly drained, clayey and nearly level soils require producers to cultivate cropland prior to planting corn. Establishing permanent beds will provide a planting environment with lower soil moisture which will allow for more rapid soil warm up without tillage. This hypothesis is currently being tested in on farm field trials near Miami and Nowata, Oklahoma and at the OSU experiment station in Stillwater. Planting corn on 30 inch beds is showing promise for improving corn emergence rate and early season growth. However, 30 inches were too narrow to protect wheat and canola yield from waterlogging that was problematic this spring.
Disk bedder in action in Ottawa Co.
