Removing perennial forages in a crop rotation has never been easy. Beyond the tillage costs for plow-down, the risk of soil erosion and moisture loss, there is also the sacrifice of seasonal production. Fuel costs are rising, but fortunately herbicides for sod-termination remain reasonable. What are the real costs to remove or terminate an unwanted hayfield or pasture? A cost analysis on AAFRD’s Farm Machinery Cost Calculator may serve as a guideline or tool to provide some relative numbers.
Compare these examples:
With a typical 180hp FWA tractor, for tillage operations farmers might use a 6-bottom plow @ 4 acres per hour (a/hr) for a cost of $25 per acre (ac) on a quarter section. Another possibility is a 24 ft. tandem disc @ 10 a/hr which calculates to $10/ac. A third option, tillage with a 31 ft. HD cultivator @ 13 a/hr, equals $7.00/ac.
Now the question needs to be asked: How much work is required to get the field ready for re-seeding? The answer will vary for each location. A combination of passes, with various tillage implements similar to the ones in the above calculations, is normally used to break sod. With tillage, remember that additional operations like harrowing, rock picking and re-seeding will apply. Direct seeding simplifies and reduces the workload.
Given the advanced technology available for direct seeding into sod, the traditional tillage-break methods no longer seem necessary. The cost calculator shows $/ac savings in equipment when tillage is reduced. For example, in a no-till scenario, the same tractor pulling an 80 ft.sprayer @ 40 a/hr costs $3.00/ac. With a 10 ft. no-till drill @ 3.5 a/hr, direct seeding into the killed sod is $36/ac. Of course a cash outlay for herbicide is also required – i.e. Monsanto’s Roundup Transorb HC® @ $6.00/litre (January 2006) is a good choice. Most conditions need the full 2 L/ac recommended rate of glyphosate. That makes sod-termination with herbicide cheaper than the average wild oat treatment.
On a time line, forage termination for direct seeding begins pre-harvest (August) and the next crop can be in the ground by early May the following year. I call it spray-wait-seed. In contrast, forage removal with tillage must often start in the spring of the year (or even the previous fall) to obtain the best jump on the sod, when it’s not as active. Generally, numerous field passes are required to eventually break down the sod and smooth out the field again for seeding. This process demands a lot of time, fuel, maintenance and cooperative weather to ensure adequate weed control and seedbed preparation – frequently delaying seeding time and compounding the effort and risk. I call that a dusty headache.
Summarizing these calculated costs to take out 100 acres of unwanted forage crop, there appears to be a range of expense from $2000-$2500 (plowed once / disked twice / or cultivated 3 times) just for initial tillage. The suggested herbicide rate will cost about half that, and sod-seeding another $3600, less than $50/ac total. Assessing the ownership and operational cost of machinery requires a sharp pencil, but I think in some cases the fuel and repairs alone for tillage exceed the price of herbicide termination methods. However, to compare the two systems, the question is really how much tillage can get the job done? These calculations will differ by situation farm to farm. The number of direct seeders with sod-seeding experience continues to increase. No-till drills can be rented and custom operators found.
My advice? – Break away. Try a small field, consider the results and see for yourself that reducing tillage really does save moisture, soil, time and money.
